Is my Form 4 complaint justified? **Result + Compo Award**

[tomtubby]

Gosh this has taken a long time to get to court and it is good that you have updated your thread to let us all know the outcome !!

 

Can you let us all know any more about this .....

 

What sort of compensation was awarded to you?

[lgwarren]

I was awarded £500. I think that I could have pleaded for more, but the result was the main objective.

[queensclose]

well done

[ploddertom]

Pleased to hear of your success, I will amend your thread title to suit.

[brassnecked]

excellent it was time a Jacobs bailiff had a slap.

[hallowitch]

im very pleased to her you won

 

I hope you inform the CEO . leader of the council your MP all local councillors ect of todays events after all they were quick to defend their bailiffs

[lamma]

"and with it, the bailiffs right to earn a living as a bailiff"

I was not aware that this is a right. (leg pull - how is this right granted ? )

[tomtubby]

For all of us that are interested in the outcome of your case can you provide a few more details.

[lamma]

I second that. There are multiple interested readers.

[lgwarren]

For all of us that are interested in the outcome of your case can you provide a few more details.

 

I would like to wait for the "court papers" to come through (5/10 days), I will then expand.

I would like to be accurate regarding the judges comments and conclusions. It was my first experience in a court, and representing myself, it will take some digesting and understanding. I would like my experience to be useful to as many people as possible.

 

I am still pressing my LA to come up with some legal answers regarding this bailiff, and will let you know how that proceeds too. It seems that the bailiff companies are also the LA's advisers on bailiff matters.

 

I ask a hypothetical question..........................

 

If a LA gets a complaint from you about the dog barking next door, should they let the owner of the dog deal with the complaint?

 

It seems as though this is what happens with bailiffs in my borough, and it is wrong.

[citizenB]

 

I ask a hypothetical question................. .........

 

If a LA gets a complaint from you about the dog barking next door, should they let the owner of the dog deal with the complaint?

 

It seems as though this is what happens with bailiffs in my borough, and it is wrong.

 

 

I don't quite understand the question - surely if a complaint is received then the Dog owner would need to be advised in order to respond ? Or is that not what you are asking ?

[lgwarren]

Advised YES

Left to deal with/handle the complaint? NO.

[citizenB]

Advised YES

Left to deal with/handle the complaint? NO.

 

Righto understand ... but not sure how the Person (dog) being complained about can handle the complaint.

 

Hopefully someone else will be able to answer this one for you

[lgwarren]

Sorry to be a bit cryptic.

Essentially what happens, it seems, is that my LA send any complaint about a bailiff, to the bailiff company to handle.!!

[tomtubby]

This is one local authority that need to be reminded that they are wholly responsible for the levy and fees charged by THEIR AGENTS !!!

 

Also, from the many bailiff contracts that I have seen it is commonly the case that there is a provision that the bailiff provider must advise the local authority of any Form 4 complaint. It may be worth asking the question of the LA...

[Clunks]

Sorry to be a bit cryptic.

Essentially what happens, it seems, is that my LA send any complaint about a bailiff, to the bailiff company to handle.!!

 

The LA should also investigate the matter themselves and consult with their provider. As TT says, LA's are wholly responsible for their Bailiffs actions. Might be worth now heading to the LGO if the LA are refusing to deal with the complaint, if you haven't done do already?

 

Which Council is this?

[silverfox1961]

Hi and a very well done to the OP

 

Just an 'out there' thought.

 

As the local authority are responsible for the bailiffs actions and he has been proved to be acting in an unlawful way, wouldn't a formal complaint to the LA be in order as well.

 

As has been previously mentioned, the LA passed the buck to the bailiffs so, if they were to reject any complaint (after following their procedures) I would think the Local Government Ombudsman would be interested.

 

OR am I too 'out there'

[seanamarts]

When i carried out my form 4 the LGO wasnt interested as they said I had taken my own route of complaint and that they couldnt interfere with that process. But this was 6 years ago so things may have changed. It may be worth a mention, but wouldnt ou have to go through the complaints procedures first.

[seanamarts]

Oops, where are my manners. Well done to the OP

[tomtubby]

The LGO will not get involved if an "alternative remedy" has been taken.

 

There is a huge amount of misinformation on the internet regarding issuing an N1 claim in the County Court with some less informed websites stating that a court cannot order costs to be payable by a losing party. This is absolute nonsense and is the main reason why I have always advocated that the first step should be to issue a Formal Stage One Complaint to the LOCAL AUTHORITY as they are wholly responsible for the levy and all fees charged by their agent. If the LA reject the complaint there is the provision for it to be reconsidered by a different dept as a Stage Two Complaint. If you are not satisfied at the response then the matter can be referred to the LGO to investigate. Crucially, taking this route of complaint costs NOTHING.

 

If however a debtor even issued a claim form and within a day decided to stop the action the LGO cannot get involved. This happened to a debtor earlier this year and the summons had not even been sent to the local authority !!!

 

In the particular case with lgwarren I would be inclined to think that as the bailiff has lost his certificate the LA would find it very difficult indeed to reject a complaint.

[lgwarren]

This is one local authority that need to be reminded that they are wholly responsible for the levy and fees charged by THEIR AGENTS !!!

 

Also, from the many bailiff contracts that I have seen it is commonly the case that there is a provision that the bailiff provider must advise the local authority of any Form 4 complaint. It may be worth asking the question of the LA...

 

My strategy with this is as follows.

I have dealt with this incident in court, and my previous experience (early on) is that the council will say that my complaint has been dealt with by the courts. Therefore I have turned my reasons for wanting to complain, into an enquiry of the LA.

The first is regarding clamping. I have asked under what legislation are they allowing their bailiffs to clamp when collecting PCN's. In the 6/8 weeks I have had numerous spurious answers, with which I am systematically dealing with. Not one satisfactory answer yet.

Secondly I have asked if they allow a "van/attendance fee where there is no valid levy" . Again I have not had a conclusive answer. Ie Yes or No.

 

Again thank you for your congrats. I will get back when the judgement gets to me re the form4.

I would just like to say that although my personal issue may have ended, I intend to pursue the other wrongs that I have seen during my brief experience with a bailiff.

[seanamarts]

With regards to the results coming through the post, would you be so kind as to post them up please, taking out all personal information.

 

It is just for information only. It is handy to have and to refer to.

 

Thank you.