Bailiff coming tomorrow with additional charges in excess of 200 pounds. Please help.

[nobailiffplease]

I have a council tax bill which has been passed on to the bailiffs and which I have been unsuccessful in having withdrawn.

 

I accept my liability for the CT bill, but not it's 'bailiff status'. After negotiations with the bailiff assigned to my case (From Equita), I was told that my bill has roughly been doubled from the original 234 quid, because of the two letters sent by Equita. I know that at least one visit has also been made to my house, so I expect to be charged something for that. I have just done a little research however, and the fees I have been quoted sound totally unreasonable and perhaps illegal?

 

Tomorrow morning I will try once more to prove to Lambeth council that the liability order has wrongly been passed onto the bailiffs, but I am not confident that I'll succeed in getting them to contact Equita.

 

The bailiff will call between 12 and 1pm. I agreed to pay his quote at that time, during a telephone conversation today. Now I am wondering what my rights are? If I question his quote, will he force his way in and start taking goods to cover it anyway? How can I rightfully challenge this amount quoted?

 

Please help me, as I am in urgent need of advice.

Thankyou

[Yoshiro]

First of all, if they havent levied on anything they can only charge £24.50 for a first visit, £18.00 for a second visit. They cannot charge for letters sent to you. So i would confirm with the council how much the liability order is for. Then if you are able to, i would pay the whole ammount of the liability order to the council.

 

Its up to you if you pay the bailiff fees or not, but in fairness if they have visited then the fees i have mentioned are legal.

[nobailiffplease]

Thanks a lot for the info Yoshiro. What do you mean by, "if they haven't levied on anything"?

 

I am shocked that bailiffs appear to have total freedom to charge what they please. They are a legitimate business like any other. No other business would attempt to charge roughly 8 times the legal value of their work.

 

It is the people who are least able to pay that suffer the most extortionate scams. It is disgusting.

[Yoshiro]

A levy is made where they come to your property and take an inventory of items - the other part of is it is a walking possession order, but if they havent been in your house then the most you owe in charges is for the 2 visits (if they have made 2), but i would pay the council directly using their online system.

[nobailiffplease]

If I pay the council then can the bailiff still bill me for their additional costs?

[Yoshiro]

Its a bit iffy that one, but if you pay the council the £42.50 for the visits as well as the debt then there is no comeback and its dealt with.

[josephbloggs]

"no bailiff please" - if you can, get the first 2 letters sent by equita and take them to the council - they post 2 letters and add the 1st and 2nd fees and dont do a visit. the council will have to tell them to remove the fees. if the council knew this was happening they would not be happy with them, they cant charge unless visiting. they do this on every file they have. really dodgy way of doing it

[seanamarts]

If they have not already been in your house then DONT let them in, they cannot force their way in to your property, and they cannot break in.

If you have a car I suggest you hide it so they do not levy on that, as soon as they do they will charge you for it and you wont know until you request a break down of their fees, even though they are meant to inform you but many do not. Find out how much the liability order is and pay it to the council along with the visit fees. You dont have to deal with bailiffs, you dont have to even talk to them. They may threaten with alsorts if you dont comply but it is a ruse. As long as you dont let them in and they have not levied on anything there isnt much they can do.

[nobailiffplease]

After an unsuccessful visit to the Council office, where apparently nobody with more authority than a customer service representative works anymore, I called up my bailiff and got into an argument.

 

Told him that I knew my rights and what they were and that I would take him to court if he charged me a penny more than the standard 42.50.

 

He went from Phil Mitchell to Billy mitchell just like that and conceded.

Goes to show that they will try anything-don't stand for it.

[hallowitch]

He went from Phil Mitchell to Billy mitchell just like that and conceded.

Goes to show that they will try anything-don't stand for it.

 

 

Love it :lol:

[seanamarts]

After an unsuccessful visit to the Council office, where apparently nobody with more authority than a customer service representative works anymore, I called up my bailiff and got into an argument.

 

Told him that I knew my rights and what they were and that I would take him to court if he charged me a penny more than the standard 42.50.

 

He went from Phil Mitchell to Billy mitchell just like that and conceded.

Goes to show that they will try anything-don't stand for it.

just be on your guard, they are crafty barstewards. he may still come round and try to levy.

[nobailiffplease]

just be on your guard, they are crafty barstewards. he may still come round and try to levy.

 

Yeah, after speaking to him on the phone and then notifying him once I had transferred the total we agreed to the account details he gave me, I found another Removals notice delivered by hand when I got home.

 

This is a violation of my civil rights according to all of the information I have been able to source.

 

So if it continues and somehow the bailiff gains entry to my flat and removes goods, then what chances do I have of getting free legal assistance in a) recovering my losses, and b) prosecuting the bailiff?

 

If he breaks the law in one way, why shouldn't he do it in another way too and break into my flat?

[seanamarts]

He cannot break in at all unless you leave a door or window open.

[hallowitch]

he wont break into your house thats one thing they wont do

 

if you have paid the council tax liability and £42.50 bailiff fees there should be no further correspondence from the bailiffs

If there is formal complaint to the chief of executive of your council

[nobailiffplease]

he wont break into your house thats one thing they wont do

 

if you have paid the council tax liability and £42.50 bailiff fees there should be no further correspondence from the bailiffs

If there is formal complaint to the chief of executive of your council

 

Okay, yeah it makes sense.

 

Brain says relax. Heart says "under threat!"

Goddamn bailiffs really mess with your basic sense of security. Unarmed racketeers kinda...

[sillygirl1]

Send the copy of the latest notice together with a terse letter to your local council, pointing out that you had paid the bailiff as instructed and therefore this is further evidence of their intended overcharging practices.

 

If they do turn up again get the police onto them for fraud.

[regan11]

Send it to the Chief Executive and mark it 'formal complaint'.