Reporting Bailiffs For Illegal Charges

[zemon]

I currently have a liability order from a local authority over council tax.

 

I asked the bailiff company for a breakdown of the charges as the amount they state I owe is £290 more than the original liability order.

 

The amount stated on the liability order from the council is £1175.54

 

The breakdown of charges from the bailiff company is as follows.

 

13/01/2012 Debt £1214.54

16/01/2012 Visit 1 £24.50

17/01/2012 Visit 2 £18.00

29/03/2012 Levy Fee £59.00

29/03/2012 Attendance Fee £150.00

 

Visit 1 and 2 was to an address I previously lived and was not living there at the time they visited.

 

Can they charge me a visit fee for an address I was not living at?

 

The levy fee and attendance fee was at my address but they never made it past my front door and also did not sign anything, I live in a second floor flat so they could not levy any goods in a garden or look through my windows.

 

The bailiff company made me a goodwill gesture and removed the levy fee and attendance fee.

 

Can I still make a formal complaint over illegal fees even though they have now removed these charges?

[wonkeydonkey]

They can claim 1st & 2nd visit fees if they have visited you at the property in which you now live, a visit to push a letter through the door without knocking is arguable,if you can prove you were available to them on the day and at the time they allege to have called....you could have paid them on the spot? thereby removing the need for a further visit and the fee that goes with it?

 

It never hurts to bring to the attention of the Head of Revenues you were initially overcharged without reason.

 

WD

[outlawla]

My opinion is they attempted to defraud you and you caught them out. The bailiffs would have happily benefited from the proceeds of this had you not been on the ball and questioned it.

 

Would a perpetrator be let off if his attempt to murder or rob a bank failed?

 

I would 'at least' make a formal complaint. They will of course determine it unfounded but you can argue that in a subsequent stage of the complaint procedure.

[zemon]

Thanks for the advice.

 

I know I can report the bailiff with the following form.

hxxp://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/form4_0606.pdf

 

Can anyone point me towards a template letter for complaining to the council over the fraudulent charges?

[wonkeydonkey]

Form 4 is an absolute last resort down a very long and winding road and not recommended for 'minor infringement' on the main forum you will see a link to the template library...not sure but you might get insight to what you need to write from there.

 

WD

[zemon]

Thanks I will take a look in the template library.

 

One other thing, the liabilty order total was £1175.54 and the original debt amount as stated from the baliff company is £1214.54, how could these amounts be different?

 

Can the council add there own charges?

[wonkeydonkey]

Have you actually sent for a complete breakdown of the bailiff fees....you might be in line for some holiday 'spends' courtesy of the bailiff.

"From:

My Name

My Address

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

Ref: Account No: 123456

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 Access 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

 

Also always advisable to ask the Council.

1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you

2 - the dates they were obtained

3 - the addresses they were for

4 - the period of time each covers

5 - how much each one was for

6 - how much is still outstanding

7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement

[outlawla]

....One other thing, the liabilty order total was £1175.54 and the original debt amount as stated from the baliff company is £1214.54, how could these amounts be different?

 

Can the council add there own charges?

 

You probably paid something to your account in-between the council sending out summons/obtaining the liability order and the slackers sending it to bailiffs. It is not likely they bothered checking the account beforehand. (could be)

[zemon]

The bailiff replied with this as the breakdown of charges

 

13/01/2012 Debt £1214.54

16/01/2012 Visit 1 £24.50

17/01/2012 Visit 2 £18.00

29/03/2012 Levy Fee £59.00

29/03/2012 Attendance Fee £150.00

Total £1466.04

 

When I asked the council for details of the liability order they replied with this.

 

Sum payable and outstanding £1150.54

Costs of the complainant £25.00

Aggregate amount £1175.54

 

I'm confused over the original debt amount as they seem to be different.

[ploddertom]

The Council are ultimately responsible for all the actions & charges of their contractor. It is to them you look to for an explanation. They may try to fob you off with the old "nothing to do with us" or "ask the Bailiff" - you need to be firm and if they still appear intransigent escalate it to a higher authority.

[seanamarts]

Do you know what the bailiffs have levied on ?

[zemon]

They could not of levied anything as I live in a second floor flat there is no way they could look through the window and I have no garden.

[seanamarts]

Do you have a car?

[zemon]

Yes but it was parked in the parking area with another 20 cars its only worth a few hundred I doubt they have levied the car.

 

If they levied the car would they have told me so?

[seanamarts]

possibly not, you would need to request from them a copy of the the levy.

[zemon]

The council just told me that the additional £39 is more bailiff fees but the bailiff did not tell me about these fees on the breakdown.

 

Can they charge for more than two visits on one liability order?

[hallowitch]

Can they charge for more than two visits on one liability order?

 

not unless its a levy fee or an attendance to remove if they have a levy

[zemon]

The council has informed me the additional £39 charge is a levy fee.

 

I asked the council for information about this levy fee and they told me to speak to the bailiff company.

 

I spoke to the bailiff company and they told me the only charges on my account are for 42.50, the bailiff company say this £39 charge is not from them.

 

The council just wrote this to me.

 

The Bailiff Company are responsible for applying their fee. Thus any information regarding fees must be obtained from them.

When the Council instruct the bailiff to collect debt; that matter is soley for the bailiff and the debtor to settle.