bailiffs fees

[acerbic]

If a mortgage co instructs bailiffs to attend a property for eviction, but the court then orders a suspension of that order. Can the mortgage co charge your account for the instruction and cancellation?

 

Being charged £30 for telling Bailiffs not to attend any more. Is that right that I'm paying for the bailiff? Even though I didn't ask him in the first place!

 

Any thoughts?

[Killerschick]

Hi Acerbic,

 

Mortgage companies generally charge for everything and make provision for it in their terms and conditions, most fees are added to the mortgage balance including legal costs unless the court orders them not to, this is why costs are rarely considered at mortgage repo hearings. The FSA and OFT provide rules and guidance on how they may calculate charges. The general principle being that the lender cannot recover more than their costs when imposing charges which arise from arrears. That does not mean that they have to calculate to the penny exactly what each piece of work costs on each file but they can work out an average so they can then publish a tariff of fees to give customers a guide to possible costs in advance.

 

Whilst you might not have asked for the bailiff (who would?!) presumably the lender was in a position to apply for a warrant on the basis of there being a breach of a suspended possession order or expiry of an outright order? If they did mistakenly request a warrant when there had been no breach you would be entitled to ask that any costs associated with the application and subsequent cancellation be waived (including asking for any costs you incurred in making the application to suspend). However, if they applied for the warrant legitimately you are unlikely to get any costs waived as they have been incurred for a reason.

 

What you're actually paying for is not the bailiff but the lender's administration although at the point of application for a warrant there will be a court fee. Other than this the lender might either instruct a solicitor to make the application or undertake the work themselves. How much work is involved in this varies dependant on the type of order (if it's a suspended order from 2-3 years ago which has fallen into arrears they will have to produce a substantial payment history, while a recent outright order won't require as much input) although as explained above lenders can charge an average fee.

 

If a warrant is subsequently cancelled there would be further administration which might include liaison with the court, their court rep or solicitor, notification of the cancellation to third parties such as property managers, locksmiths or estate agents and updates to their system to note what has happened and perhaps put in place a new payment arrangement if it was a suspension based on payments.

 

Hope this provides some explanation.

 

KC

[acerbic]

Thank you very much for that informative reply. I think there is a real chance that I will get these charges lifted as they instructed the bailiff the day after the court hearing. The court ordered that the repo be suspended, then they ask a bailiff to attend. Priceless!