Bristow & Sutor Statement of Fees and Letters received do not match, whats next?

[FoxyMutha]

Hi,

I am really grateful for the information on this site, I am tackling Bristow & Sutor currently and have the following info in the hope that someone could advise me of the next steps?

 

My partner has a liability order for Council Tax for £193.90 which is the correct amount and from a previous address.

 

Bristow and Sutor have been calling at our now joint home, I have not let them in at any time and below are the events so far...

 

Letter received in the post dated 16th June 2011 from B&S stating notification prior to sale of goods. It states that "to avoid the bailiffs attendance you must pay £247.40 by 23/06/11. Please note the original liability order was for £193.90.

 

Next, a bailiff turns up at the door, I talked to him through the glass and he told me the whole outstanding amount he wanted to collect was £247.40, told me who the liability order was for - ie.e. my partner, who the order was payable to (are they allowed to discuss this with anyone else except to whom the order was made?). I told him my partner was not in. He posted a Notice of Seizure letter through the door - stating the following charges -

 

£193.90 Council Tax

£24.50 Attendance to Levy Fee

£29.00 Levy Fee

 

This letter is dated 9th July 2011 at 11.45am.

 

Next when I got home there was a letter hand posted "A bailiff removal team visited today to remove your goods for sale by public auction.

 

£120.00 charge for todays visit.

 

This letter is dated 13th July 2011 at 11.06am.

 

It was at this time that I looked on the website for some help. I read and read about their tactics and noted that I could query their fees.

 

On 25th July I emailed Bristow & Sutor with the following letter -

 

Bristow & Sutor

Bartleet Road

Washford

Redditch

Worcestershire

B98 0FL

 

Ref: BOT-T 6841

 

Dear Sir

 

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

 

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were Certificated at.

e - the date of the Certification.

 

This is not a Subject Acces Request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

 

I require this information within 14 days.

 

Yours faithfully

 

On the 26th July another bailiff turned up in a van, whom I spoke to again through the window. This one was a cocky little s**t who said that they were here to remove goods from the house, to which I informed him that unfortunately for him I knew my rights and I was not giving him access to the property. He shouted out loud, so passing people could hear, that he was here to collect Council Tax for my partner, what the amount was, whom the debt was to and said that he was going to charge me for the van they turned up in. Again I told him that I was sure he couldnt discuss the debt with anyone else other than the debtor, at this point my nosey neighbour was at their door, and the bailiff replied that he could discuss the debt with anyone, including my neighbour. At this point I told him that I knew my rights and I beleived their actions and charges to be unfair and that I had requested a breakdown of their charges, he replied that I would not receive this information back, so I replied ok and shut the window. He then posted a letter through the door - amazingly this one had no charges!!

 

On the 29th July I received the following email back from B&S -

 

Dear Sir,

 

We acknowledge receipt of your email, contents of which have been duly noted.

 

We can confirm that all our bailiffs are certified in the Worcester County Court.

 

Having reviewed your account we can now confirm that a first attendance to your property was made on 25.05.11 at 11.08am which incurred a first visit fee of £24.50, this visit was made by our bailiff A who was certified on 23.11.09.

 

A further attendance was then made to your property on 09.06.11 at 11.52am when the bailiff levied upon goods which incurred a levy fee of 29.00. This visit was made by our bailiff B who was certified on 13.10.10. Following this a van call was made on 13.07.11 at 11.15am which incurred a fee on £120.00, this visit was made by our bailiff C who was certified on 05.03.10.

 

A further van attendance was made to your property on 29.07.11 at 11.00am by our bailiff D who was certified on 29.06.10, this visit did not incur a fee.

 

All fees are charged correctly in accordance with the Council Tax Administration and Enforcement Regulations 1992 (as amended) of which you are full liable for.

 

Please find below a statement of account for your perusal.

 

 

At this point we would request you contact our offices by no later than 05.08.11 to discuss payment of your account.

 

Failure to comply with the above will result in bailiffs being instructed to attend your property for the removal of goods to be sold at public auction, which will incur further fees.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Bristow & Sutor

 

I have since paid £20.00 on-line directly to the Council and will remain to pay £20.00 per month directly to them.

 

Could you please advise me if the charges apply, I don't understand what they have levied upon as they were never granted access to the property, however there was a car on the drive which was registered to my partner, however, the receipt of payment for the car is in his sisters name, as she bought it and my partner is paying her back, so he is not the legal owner, plus the vehicle is crucial for him employment. And, if it was the car that was levied we have never had any paperwork to say so, and if the charge of £120 for a van fee was to collect goods - how can they collect a car in a transit van???

 

Please could you also look at the dates that B&S say they attended versus the dates and charges of the paperwork I received and advise me what to do next? We am not avoiding paying as we have started to do so, however I will not have unlawful actions or charges added to my account.

 

Your help is very much appreciated.

 

Thanks x

[ploddertom]

Obviously you calendar of events is totally different to theirs. Each time they visit they are supposed to leave you a letter/note confirming they have been and the charges to date. From what you already have it would appear you do have cause for complaint as receiving a letter in the post demanding the debt + fees is a no no as far as CT is concerned.

 

The chances are you are correct in your guess they have levied the car but whata surprise they failed to leave the Notice of Seizure. Yet another cause for complaint. If the vehicle is not legally yours or your OH then it is a simple matter of getting the legal owner to swear a Statutory declaration as to ownership. B&S will no doubt argue the toss but so what.

 

If you keep paying as you do then that is OK although you may have to budget for some Bailiff fees. Providing you deny them access or otherwise prevent them gaining a levy on anything outside then the most you can be charged is £24-50 1st Visit Fee & £18-00 2nd Visit Fee - total £42-50.

 

PT

[padja]

first of all well done in the actions you have taken. they cant levy unless they have been in and you signed so that fee and any fees after are null & void. a trick I've noticed them do is they assume you have a TV,DVD player, stereo, portable tv, microwave so stick that down and shove levy through letterbox and B&S have done this several times to people I know. keep paying the council until debt is finished then let B&S try and get their fees off you. someone will advise about this

[wonkeydonkey]

:-)As your OH'S sister in actually the owner of the car you will of course ensure you have the simple "I xxxxxagree to finance you to the amount of £ xxx to purchase a vehicle of your choosing. you XXXXX agree to repay the monies at the rate of £xxxx per month and on a final repayment of £xxxx the vehicle will become yours to own outright."agreement ready to hand to them won't you.

 

WD

[FoxyMutha]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the replies....really appreciate how quick you guys are!

 

How do I complain about the fees to get them rectified and who do I complain to?

 

Also, if they have levied the car, and I have the reciept for the purchase in the OH's name and the agreement to pay back OH sister (thanks wonky donkey), am I supposed to keep the car away from the house until this is resolved? How can I resolve it?

 

Cheers guys x

[FoxyMutha]

Hi - sorry that should have said the receipt for purchase of the car is in the OH's sister's name...

[ploddertom]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the replies....really appreciate how quick you guys are!

 

How do I complain about the fees to get them rectified and who do I complain to? Unfortunately you have to give the Muppets the chance to put things right.

 

Also, if they have levied the car, and I have the reciept for the purchase in the OH's name and the agreement to pay back OH sister (thanks wonky donkey), am I supposed to keep the car away from the house until this is resolved? How can I resolve it? In theory the car now belongs to the Bailiff until such time as he agrees his levy is invalid, at the same time the legal owner of the vehicle can kick up a fuss about the Bailiff levying goods that belong to a 3rd party. As said in my first post the owner need to do a Stat Dec - can be done at any Solicitor/Commissioner for Oaths - cost £5/£10.

 

 

 

Cheers guys x

 

PT

[FoxyMutha]

Thanks for that PT, do I just put together a complaint letter stating what I have above about the fees and send a copy to both the council and B&S, I will arrange a Stat Dec in the morning - and send this with my complaints letter? Cheers

[ploddertom]

I would imagine the only arguing point is that your dates are different to theirs, the outcome unfortunately will still be the same regardless. You could put a Formal Complaint to the Council using the fact the dates are all different, they charged you for writing a letter, the argument you had in the street. The chances are the Council will believe the Bailiff and come down on their side.

 

The fact the goods belong to someone else is your arguing point. Wait till you have the Stat Dec, write to them pointing out their error as confirmed by the Stat Dec and ask them to remove the Levy Fee and all other associated costs. Point out to them that if they are unwilling to do this you will have no option but to start an action in the Magistrates Court for a Regulation 46 Complaint where you will name the Council as Defendant as you would at that stage be aggrieved by the levy they have made - you send a copy of this letter to the Council asking them to

a - note the contents

b - put it on your file

 

PT

[FoxyMutha]

Thanks for helping me, I will send the council and bailiffs a copy of the letters that I have so they can see who is the bull****ter! I'll let you know how I get on!

[FoxyMutha]

By the way - the bailiffs sent the car registration to Bolton Council, which was a vehicle we didnt even own. Excellent! Bolton Council wrote to us confirming that all charges relating to the bailffs had been cancelled. We now pay £20.00 per month back to clear the debt. Result. Thank you CAG!!

[hallowitch]

By the way - the bailiffs sent the car registration to Bolton Council, which was a vehicle we didnt even own. Excellent! Bolton Council wrote to us confirming that all charges relating to the bailffs had been cancelled. We now pay £20.00 per month back to clear the debt. Result. Thank you CAG!!

 

well done