Bailliffs charging £115 for turning up at my door!!!

[DonnieP]

Right excuse me if i ramble im a bit peed off to say the least as Ive had a bailiff from Constant and Co (milton keynes) turn up this morning about our outstanding council tax bill from last year that the mrs hid from me.

 

Soon as I found out about it I wrote to them to open some form of negotiation and offered 20 quid a month to start, that was May 13th, had no reply of any form and this morning he's arrived with a truck to take my motorbike!

 

I called the police to ensure there was no breach of the peace too.

 

Now, in the end the wifes managed to get her dad to pay on the credit card but a £700 debt jumped to £1023 and i asked why and he said because weve had to pay the truck man.

 

Before signing the notice of seizure i asked him if there was anything i should be aware of (in front of the policewoman) or anything i should be concerned about and he said no.

 

as soon as i signed he then pointed some bits out to me including the following charges

 

£46 levy fee

£12 walking possession which is basically charging me for him NOT taking the bike in the end

£115 for him just turning up!!!!!!!!!!

£24.50 redemption fee which is basically charging me for them NOT taking it away to sell!!

 

FFS, Im at the end of my tether and just feel I need to complain to someone about this they dont have a complaints department at Contstant and Co, I asked!

 

Is there anything I can do here at all does anyone know?

 

[casbah]

hello Donnie

I doubt very much you can do anything about this. It may just be a very bitterlesson learned.

bailiffs (imo) are the masters of deceipt. And I think he has got you. It will be your word against his with regard as to what was said about the notice of seizure.

They should have written to you warning that they are coming to collect this debt, they can visit your premises twice, charging £24.50 and £ 18.00 ( hence the " redemption fee) Then they should have called and issued a levy, this is basically a list of the items, they feel, could be sold at a local auction to recover this debt, now this is dodgy ground, as I was at this stage and contacted the Ministry Of Justice, who informed me that ALL certificated bailiffs, when levying on property, should leave a form 7 mandate, which you should have signed, ( this is basically a form that you are agreeing NOT to sell the goods listed to anybody else) Then he could impose the levy fees, also on this form you should have come to an agreement as to how to discharge this debt, i.e. weekly payments, and at that point, should you have missed a payment, he had the right to attend with a van and take the goods.

You can challenge what he calls the £115 " for him just turning up" but it will not be easy, I am just trying to summon the bravery to go this route and I have been fighting mine for 4 years, ( stubborn old bat I am )

The law states their fees have to be "reasonable"

Now for the really bad news, I fear they have sent you letters and they were not acted upon, you can send an SAR request, it costs £10 and they SHOULD send you copies of all the information they hold on you, they SHOULD send you copies of the letters they dropped off when they called.

You can go as far as to ask for a screenshot, which shows sat nav print out, be prepared to work hard, the term " flogging a dead horse" comes to mind but to some of us, the injustice far outways the frustrations.

Keep us informed and later others will be by to the voice their experiences.

And on a positive note, you will learn a heck of a lot for future reference.

Cas

Edited July 13, 2010 by casbah
grammer and spelling

[DonnieP]

thanks for the reply Cas, i'd love to take the "lesson learned" angle as a positive one but all this was down to the other half hiding the fact this had all been hidden and I only found out when he visited the first time back in May, this was AFTER it had been to court / summons / passed to bailiffs.

 

The worst thing is that she's done this before several years ago!!!!!!

[hallowitch]

when did the bailiff levy your bike

 

 

£24.50 redemption fee

This fee can only be charged IF goods are removed and debtor pays the debt before the goods are sold

[postggj]

did you wife let them in and sign the walk in possession order

[seanamarts]

If this was the first time he has turned up then he has definately over charged you.. A LOT!!!!

I would get on to the bailiff company and request that you be given in writing a break down of the charges, times and dates the bailiff has been to the property and I would also request a copy if his certificate.

This is not a SAR

Edited July 13, 2010 by seanamarts

[casbah]

thanks for the reply Cas, i'd love to take the "lesson learned" angle as a positive one but all this was down to the other half hiding the fact this had all been hidden and I only found out when he visited the first time back in May, this was AFTER it had been to court / summons / passed to bailiffs.

 

The worst thing is that she's done this before several years ago!!!!!!

 

Hi Donnie,

 

I know how she feels, some of these people can be so intimidating, but you are getting a good amount of feed back from others on here, and maybe just matbe once you're in the know, if it should ever happen again she will know what to do.

One word of warning though, councils are not so slow on the deceiving front either, in my opinion, beware and double check that the money you have paid has gone to the right account, because if you owe any for this years' they will use any money you pay to pay off the arrears thus putting you into arrears for the current year, this has happened to me and its a heck of a job to clear it up

Best wishes

Cas