Help on challenging bailiff fees

[canyouhelp]

Hello

If anyone can help me I'd be grateful...

 

Last week I had a visit from the bailiffs and (perhaps stupidly) ended up paying nearly £700 to stop them towing my car away. This was for a parking ticket that I never received as at the time of the ticket my car was registered to an old address and my post was not forwarded. However by the time the Warrant of execution went out I had updated my address, yet I received no warnings until the bailiffs turned up at my door.

 

I've sent off an out of time appeal and have written to the council.

 

My next question is whether the fees I've been charged are legal.

 

I've had a breakdown as follows:

 

All these also contain a VAT charge except the debt

Debt 185.00

First Letter 11.20

Finance Check 20.00

Enforcement fee 105.00

Visit Fee 1 57.00

Canx Tow Fee 90.00

Payment by C/C 19.63

 

Just to reiterate I received no other visits from them. Also, is 'Canx Tow Fee' a cancellation of the towing away??? I was told I would be charged for the car being towed, not for cancelling this as well???

 

Any advice appreciated...

[hallowitch]

I have asked site team to move this to the bailiffs forum for you

 

this may be of interest to you

Re: Warrant of execution / DVLA addresses

 

Originally Posted by

Diggydog

can someone please clear something up for me. I am a bit confused as to the rules on PCNs (from Local Authorities) and the RK address supplied by the DVLA.

 

So if someone moves house and therefore doesn't get the original paperwork can the council simply amend the address from that supplied by the DVLA? Also can they issue warrants of execution to addresses different to that supplied by the DVLA?

 

sorry if this seems a really stupid question but I thought I had read somewhere on this forum that warrants of execution could only be issued to the address supplied by the DVLA at the date of the contravention. Is that the case or have i dreamt this up?

 

I will also put this post on the bailiffs

section in case i read it there.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

.

originally posted by tomtubby

 

 

Thank you for posting this question !! This is a subject that really does get to me so I will say sorry in advance for the long response......

.

.

 

If you incur a pcn

the local authority will make a request to DVLA for details of vehicle keeper and a letter will be sent to that address to request payment. ALL further notices such as the Notice to Owner, Order for Recovery will also be sent to that same address.

 

We have had cases where the registered keeper moved home within days of apparently incurring a PCN and even though they had advised DVLA of their NEW ADDRESS all notices would still have to go to the address originally given by DVLA.

 

Unless a person has arranged for postal divert then they would not have received these notices and eventually the local authority make a request for the debt to be registered with the Traffic Enforcement Centre and this will lead to a Warrant of execution being issued and passed to the relevant bailiff

company to enforce.

 

What happens next is CRUCIAL.

 

Bailiff companies will then "data cleanse" (their wording not mine) the warrants using various agencies and they will then locate a new address.

 

The motorist will be sent a letter to his NEW address and most times this is the very first that they knew of the PCN (other times are when a car is clamped or removed after being located using the bailiff companies ANPR vehicles).

 

When the Operation Guidance for Local Authorities was issued last year by the DfT for the new Traffic Management Act 2004 it provided that a bailiff

could change the address on a Warrant.

 

This prompted an immediate complaint by yours truly and a question was raised in the House of Lords which led to this provision

being removed.

 

That should have been the end of the matter.......but was not !!

 

 

 

Clearly complaints were made to the Ministry of Justice (possibly by bailiff companies) and for reasons that are still unclear the MOJ issued changes to Part 75 of the CPR Rules as follows:

 

Warrant of execution

 

75.7

 

(1) An authority seeking the issue of a warrant of execution must file a request –

(a) certifying the amount remaining due under the order;

 

(b) specifying the date of service of the order on the respondent; and

 

© certifying that the relevant period has elapsed.

 

 

(2) The court will seal the request and return it to the authority.

 

(3) Within 7 days of the sealing of the request the authority must prepare the warrant in the appropriate form.

 

(4) No payment under a warrant will be made to the court.

 

(5) For the purposes of execution a warrant will be valid for 12 months beginning with the date of its issue.

 

 

(6) An authority may not renew a warrant issued in accordance with this Part beyond the 12 month validity period but, subject to paragraph (7), an authority may request the reissue of a warrant during the 12 month validity period.

 

 

(7) Where the address of the respondent has changed since the issue of the warrant, the authority may request the reissue of the warrant by filing a request –

 

(a) specifying the new address of the respondent;

 

 

(b) providing evidence that the new address for the respondent does relate to the respondent named in the order and against whom enforcement is sought; and

 

 

© certifying that the amount due under the order remains unpaid.

 

 

 

(8-) Where the court is satisfied that the new address of the respondent given in the request for the reissue of the warrant relates to the respondent named in the order, it will seal the request and return it to the authority.

 

 

(9) The authority must prepare the reissued warrant in the appropriate form within 7 days of the sealing of the request to reissue.

 

(10) A reissued warrant will only be valid for the remainder of the 12 month period beginning with the date it was originally issued.

 

 

 

 

PS: Complaints have been sent to various bodies as this change to the CPR Rules was made without ANY consultation !!

Edited September 15, 2010 by hallowitch

[maroondevo52]

Thread moved.

[canyouhelp]

Thanks very much for that info. I didn't receive any paperwork at all, until they turned up at the door. Have I got grounds to appeal that they didn't send me anything else even when they found the new address?

 

Any other advice on the fees themselves as well would be appreciated. In particular the two 'Enforcement fees' and the 'Canx Tow Fee'- can I appeal to anyone that this is too much to charge?

 

 

Thanks

[Voxter]

that doesnt add up to £700

[canyouhelp]

each one also had a VAT charge which I didn't type out here, total payment was £681

[canyouhelp]

Sorry I also missed out another 'Enforcement fee' which was £120 + VAT

[Zamzara]

In this type of case, you should argue that your witness statement is not out of time. Regulations 23 of the General Regulations provides:

 

23.—(1) This regulation applies where—

 

(a)a county court makes an order under regulation 22;

 

(b)the person against whom it is made makes a witness statement complying with paragraph (2); and

 

©that statement is served on the county court which made the order, before the end of—

 

(i)the period of 21 days beginning with the date on which notice of the county court’s order is served on him; or

 

(ii)such longer period as may be allowed under paragraph (4).

It is clear the 21 days does not run until the order is actually served on you. It is specifically exluded under regualtion 3(2) and 3(5) from being treated as served earlier. This argument was succesful in court here. I'm trying to push this as the council/bailiffs and the TEC are significantly misrepresenting the position by inventing their own timescales.

[canyouhelp]

Thanks Zamzara

 

Since I last posted on here I have had a letter from Tower Hamlets replying to my letter, in which they have completely backed down, cancelled the PCN and told the bailiffs to pay me back! Amazing news and so quick. Just need to get the bailiffs to cough up now...

 

Cheers

[seanamarts]

Blimey!!!!! this is excellent news indeed, lets hope the bailiff company cough up soon, if not get right back on here.

[dja19]

really useful thread...