Excessive bailiff fee's (Newlyn), already paid for by landlord. Received no warnings.

[depps]

Hi there,

 

Have recently moved to the UK and have been stung with £240 of Bailiffs fee's after having not paid council tax.

 

The Bailiffs went to our landlords house after I never registered for council tax, our Landlord paid the bailiffs fee's and council tax, I registered for council tax and paid the owing amount, the landlord has since been refunded except I now owe £240 of fees for a single visit.

 

This seems excessive.

 

What are my options here?

 

Ask the landlord to send of a template letter for a break down of the fees? I guess the letter needs to come from the Landlord since she has paid.

 

What should I ask the council regarding these costs?

 

I also feel like the Landlord must have had warnings from the council and obviously did not notify me. I never received any mail or warnings. Is that normal?

 

Any advice is appreciated

Edited September 16, 2012 by depps
bad attachments

[renegadeimp]

You need to contact the council to find out how much you actually owe, then contact the bailiff for a full breakdown of fee's.

 

If the landlord got mail in your name, and opened it, then paid the debt, then you have the possibility of filing criminal charges against them, although im guessing its the last thing you want to do right now.

 

The bailiffs are bound by set figures which they can charge, but some decide to ignore it. If you are in arrears with the council, then pay them direct. NEVER pay the bailiffs. Only pay them the amount they actually are entitled to for their fees.

[zydeco]

Hi Dpps, the images are too small to read properly and you've left personal info on them.

they need to be pdf

[havinastella]

Attachments unapproved!

[havinastella]

Dx100 – Instructions on uploading pdfs

 

scan the required letters/agreements/sheets

as a picture file

remove all pers info inc barcodes etc using paint

but leave all figures and dates.

go to one of the many free online pdf converter websites

convert the image to pdf format.

or ir you have PDF as an installed printer drive use that

open a new msg box here

hit go advanced below the msg box

hit manage attachments below that box

hit the add files button on the top right

hit select files, navigate to your file on your pc

hit upload files

NB:you can set where it goes in the post by hitting insert inline.

the hit reply button

[depps]

I don't know owe anything now, the week this happened I registered with the council and setup a direct debit.

 

I dont think the landlord got mail in my name and opened it, she must have been registered for council tax as the property was vacant for a short while. I dont really want to aggravate my landlord as ultimately it was up to me to register with the council and pay council tax. I do however wonder why the bailifs went to her house, i.e. not the flat I live in where I was owing council tax.

 

So now that I've done that and owe nothing how do I proceed?

[mellymoo74]

You need to get a breakdown of fees from them, one of the clever people on here will post it for you.

[depps]

Hi Dpps, the images are too small to read properly and you've left personal info on them.

they need to be pdf

 

Lets try that again with the docs -

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38274[/ATTACH]

and

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38275[/ATTACH]

[renegadeimp]

Ok. so overall they say you owe them a few hundred for a visit? Nope. I think the most you owe them is around £25 although someone should be able to clarify that.

[Jamberson]

In the first post you said "I now owe £240 of fees".

 

So - your landlord paid the fees originally. Has your landlord had the £240 refunded, and the bailiffs are wanting you to pay them?

 

Or do you mean you owe it to the landlord?

 

Or have you paid the landlord in full, and want to get the £240 back from the bailiff?

[renegadeimp]

The bailiffs went to our landlords house after I never registered for council tax, our Landlord paid the bailiffs fee's and council tax, I registered for council tax and paid the owing amount, the landlord has since been refunded except I now owe £240 of fees for a single visit.

 

Looks like the landlord paid the full amount, then when the OP spoke to them the landlord got a full refund. Then the bailiffs started charging excessive fees.

[depps]

In the first post you said "I now owe £240 of fees".

 

So - your landlord paid the fees originally. Has your landlord had the £240 refunded, and the bailiffs are wanting you to pay them?

 

Or do you mean you owe it to the landlord?

 

Or have you paid the landlord in full, and want to get the £240 back from the bailiff?

 

The landlord paid the council tax the next day as she was scared about having her stuff repossessed. She also paid the bailiffs fees. I paid the council tax shortly after. She has been refunded the council tax she paid now that I have paid what I owe/setup direct debit.

 

The landlord is now requesting that I pay her what she paid the bailiffs as I should have paid the council in the first place.

[depps]

Looks like the landlord paid the full amount, then when the OP spoke to them the landlord got a full refund. Then the bailiffs started charging excessive fees.

 

Landlord paid council tax and bailiff.

I registered with council, paid outstanding amount and setup DD.

Council refunded landlord what she paid in council tax.

 

Landlord is requesting I pay her what she paid the bailiffs - £240.

 

I feel that amount is too high for a single visit.

[renegadeimp]

If she wants the money back, she needs to deal with the bailiff. Especially as the landlord got conned into paying unfair fees. Theres no reason why you should have to spend £240 purely for his/her mistake.

[depps]

If she wants the money back, she needs to deal with the bailiff. Especially as the landlord got conned into paying unfair fees. Theres no reason why you should have to spend £240 purely for his/her mistake.

 

Her argument is that this wouldnt have happened if I had of paid council tax in the first place.

 

I quote -

 

"We have received a refund from the council for the amount we paid in August, but minus the bailiffs fees which were subtracted before they passed our payment to the council.

 

The total charges applied by the bailiffs came to £236.74 - please see attached docs for details (for some reason they have randomly split the payments into two statements).

 

Given the bailiffs would not have been sent out if you had set up your account as legally required in your tenancy agreement (again, please see point 3.3 in the attached doc), please could you arrange a transfer of the full £236.74 into our bank account (HSBC XXXX1234 sort code 00-00-00)."

 

I also dont want to push it too far with her and end up getting evicted or make her life unnecessarily hard given this is partly my fault. I also dont want to throw away £240..

[renegadeimp]

She can argue whatever she likes. You could counter it with her opening your mail, which is a criminal charge. She probably doesn't realise the charges were excessive and she was conned. If she did, she would be contesting them.

 

Give it a few until the regulars, such as jamberson come back and they should be able to tell you the correct fees and what to say to your landlord.

 

Remember, if all else fails, she did open private letters addressed to you.

[depps]

She can argue whatever she likes. You could counter it with her opening your mail, which is a criminal charge. She probably doesn't realise the charges were excessive and she was conned. If she did, she would be contesting them.

 

Give it a few until the regulars, such as jamberson come back and they should be able to tell you the correct fees and what to say to your landlord.

 

Remember, if all else fails, she did open private letters addressed to you.

 

She didn't open letters addressed to me. She must have received letters warning her about unpaid council tax however and did not inform me.

 

Will wait and see what the others have to say as you've suggested.

[renegadeimp]

If you had already said you were resident at the address, then the letters would have been addressed to you. The only way she would have letters addressed to her is if she was still saying she lived at the address, otherwise she could have notified the council that the house was empty.

 

The reason i know that is because my brother is a landlord of 7 properties, and the only time he gets letters is when the houses are empty and he notifies the council as such.

[depps]

If you had already said you were resident at the address, then the letters would have been addressed to you. The only way she would have letters addressed to her is if she was still saying she lived at the address, otherwise she could have notified the council that the house was empty.

 

The reason i know that is because my brother is a landlord of 7 properties, and the only time he gets letters is when the houses are empty and he notifies the council as such.

 

I hadn't registered with the council. The letters went to the landlords house where she lives.

[renegadeimp]

Ahh i get you now. But still, why would she be getting the order for the full amount if the council doesnt know you live there. The most she should be invoiced is a very reduced amount, until you do register. Then you become liable for the amount from the date you sign the tenancy.

 

 

Knowing me, im probably missing something, but some of it just doesnt add up, mainly the fact that shes getting bailiff letters and demands, when from your info, the council doesnt know that you live there.

[depps]

Ahh i get you now. But still, why would she be getting the order for the full amount if the council doesnt know you live there. The most she should be invoiced is a very reduced amount, until you do register. Then you become liable for the amount from the date you sign the tenancy.

 

 

Knowing me, im probably missing something, but some of it just doesnt add up, mainly the fact that shes getting bailiff letters and demands, when from your info, the council doesnt know that you live there.

 

 

Maybe she notified the council that a tenant had moved in? It is a little weird. Unless the previous tentant owed money.

[renegadeimp]

Could be. Lets see what others think cos it does sound a little strange.

[brassnecked]

Very strange, was OP resident there for the Whole Periods covered in the Liability Order(s)?

 

 

[i hate bailiffs]

so the money is all paid up to council and now bailiffs say you owe them for there fees

 

the liability order is satisfied/settled no more

 

bailiffs have nothing to act on no levy for fees

 

the debt is settled you owe bailiffs the grand sum of nothing if they come back tell them to play with the traffic and do one

[Jamberson]

You didn't ask the landlady to settle your debt for you, so legally you are not obliged to pay her. It's more of a gift from her to you! But, if you want a quiet life and good relations with her, then I guess you'll have to reimburse her.

 

The situation is between you and your landlord. There may be other disputes between you and the council, or you and the bailiffs, but this one is between the two of you, as I see it.