Newlyn questionable Levy on vehicle

[Ibs]

Hi , I made payments to Newlyn for council tax owed to brent in 2011 and have recently discovered that over £200 of the payments were for Newlyn charges. I queried the charges for Attendance to Remove as no levy was ever carried out as far as I was aware. I have attached the response I got back from brent and would like some clarification on certain things;

 

1) If a vehicle was levied upon, don't they have a legal requirement to store and provide the registration number of the vehicle to me.

 

2)In the attached letter it is stated "there was a vehicle parked immediately outside the property which the bailiff believed he had seen previously , This was subsequently levied upon ". There is no designated parking or drive way outside my property as I live in a flat, so the cars can belong to anyone who lives along the road.

 

Please advise on what further action I can take, regarding claiming back both the Levy fee and the Attendance to Remove fee. Letter is attached below

 

 

[ATTACH]40192[/ATTACH]

[dx100uk]

the vehicle MUST be yours

 

else everything back please

 

scan the required letters/agreements/sheets - as a picture[jpg] file

don't forget you can use a mobile phone or a digital camera too!!

'

BUT......

ENSURE: remove all pers info inc. barcodes etc using paint program

but leave all figures and dates. {DO NOT USE A BIRO OR PEN]

convert existing PC files to PDF [office has an installable print to PDF option]

..

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites [http://docupub.com/pdfconvert/]

it would be better to upload a multipage pdf if

you have many images too rather than many single pdfs

.

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

or use word and save as pdf

try and logically name your file so people know what it is.

i'e Default notice dd-mm-yyyy

.

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

.

dx

[brassnecked]

You should put the bailiff on strict proof as to the ownership of the vehicle, and initiate a Formal Complaint to Head of Revenues copied to council CEO, Leader and your MP, stating that as the bailiff and council are unwilling to provide details of the levy and the vehicle, the bailiff not having left a notice of seizure listing the vehicle at the correct time, they are therefore in breach of the regulations, and unless details of the vehicle are forthcomiong, you may well initiate a Regulation 46 complaint in the magistrates court, with the council named as defendant, as you are aggrieved by the levy and associated fees of their agent Newlyn for which they are wholly liable both jointly and severally with.

 

As to this contained in the reply ". It would no longer be possible to process DVLA checks due to the amount of time that has passed since the levy was taken and there is every possibility that this vehicle may now have changed ownership. "

 

Tough DVLA would be able to provide information as to when a vehicle changed hands, and who the keeper was at the time of the levy. I wonder is/was Brent council and or Newlyn on the DVLA banned list?

 

No proof no levy imho, to continue to justify the levy without proof is fraud in my book.

Edited December 27, 2012 by brassnecked

[outlawla]

.....Tough DVLA would be able to provide information as to when a vehicle changed hands, and who the keeper was at the time of the levy. I wonder is/was Brent council and or Newlyn on the DVLA banned list?

 

No proof no levy imho, to continue to justify the levy without proof is fraud in my book.

 

 

Brent doesn't appear on this Local and public authority suspensions list taken from a FOI request made to the DVLA about Sussex police and Brighton & Hove council being banned from accessing its database.

[brassnecked]

Brent doesn't appear on this Local and public authority suspensions list taken from a FOI request made to the DVLA about Sussex police and Brighton & Hove council being banned from accessing its database.

 

Thanks outlawla, they have no excuse then, so should either justify levy with proof, or remove and refund the dodgy fees.

[hallowitch]

legislation states you should have received a notice of seizure listing the goods levied (the car) on the day the levy was made

 

send a formal complaint to your council ask them to produce a copy of this notice

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/613/regulation/45/made

The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992

 

(5) The person levying distress on behalf of an authority shall carry with him the written authorisation of the authority, which he shall show to the debtor if so requested; and he shall hand to the debtor or leave at the premises where the distress is levied a copy of this regulation and Schedule 5 and a memorandum setting out the appropriate amount, and shall hand to the debtor a copy of any close or walking possession agreement entered into.

[seanamarts]

Good advice all round here, I suggest you get a formal complaint off to the council asap, they are responsible for their acting agents.

 

I would also request who the bailiff was who carried this out and request a copy of his certificate. If they refuse this add this to your complaint. You are entitled to know who levied the car.

[Ibs]

Thank you very much for everyone who has provided information. I have just recieved confirmation from Newlyn of the registration number. The car does not and has not ever belonged to me. They took money from me for a levy on a car that was not mine, I am going to ask for a refund but is there anything I should add in my correspondence to them regarding this? Thanks again

[brassnecked]

Thank you very much for everyone who has provided information. I have just recieved confirmation from Newlyn of the registration number. The car does not and has not ever belonged to me. They took money from me for a levy on a car that was not mine, I am going to ask for a refund but is there anything I should add in my correspondence to them regarding this? Thanks again

 

I would send this as part of a Formal complaint to the council, copied to Newlyn, CEO and Council leader, and MP, Reiterate that the vehicle has never belonged to you, and that they should have checked with DVLA, remind them that as the vehicle was not yours that they should look to the Local Government ombudsmans investigation into Blaby Council and Rossendales, where third party levies are condemned:

 

http://www.lgo.org.uk/news/2012/jul/blaby-council-criticised-bailiff-charges/

 

Tell them that as a result all fees except a First Visit of £24.50 should be refunded, and that if they are not, then you will be seeking their recovery through the small claims track, which may result in a CCJ against the council and Newlyn who will be joint defendants, and if they remain unpaid a bailiff may be instructed to seize goods....

[seanamarts]

Re post#7

[Ibs]

Hi guys just an update I took the advice suggested, Below is a snippet of the letter I sent

 

"On the 27th December I Spoke to a Newlyn representative called **** who provided me with the registration of the car levied upon which was a Porsche with the registration number of **** ***. This car does not and has never belonged to me, so the ‘levy’ and the ‘Attendance to Remove’ fee are totally invalid and must be refunded. DVLA hold and can provide information relating to vehicles for 6 years and over so if need be ownership of this vehicle on the date of levy can be confirmed quiet easily. Before the Levy fees were applied the bailiff should have confirmed ownership or this can be construed as a form of fraud /deception as money has been collected based on this lie. I request a full refund of all monies paid relating to the levy on the vehicle as I do not and have not ever owned it. If fees are not returned I will seek their recovery through the small claims track, which may result in a CCJ against the council and Newlyn who will be joint defendants.

 

Please read the Local Government ombudsman’s investigation into Blaby Council and Rossendales, regarding third party levies. "

 

 

I got back a rather suprising reply which stated

 

" There does not seem to be any compelling reason why you were unable to complain about this matter at the time and therefore my view is that the issue should not be revisited."

Its taken 1 month exactly to get this response and i've been asked to escallate it again if i'm not happy with it. Feels like there trying to ware me down.

[Ibs]

Is anyone here aware as to whether or not there is a time limit in which one can complain about issues such as this. This issue occured in 2011, as far as i am aware information is held for up to 6 years so the issue can still be investigated. Its only come to light in recent years that baliffs are corrupt and the corrupt methods they use to obtain money so is it unreasonable for someone who finds out they've been duped to request their money back a year or two later?

[outlawla]

Who did you write to, bailiff firm or council?

 

Either way they're fobbing you off. If they robbed you they robbed you, simple as that..

[Ibs]

Sorry, I wrote to the council. I will escalate one last time.

[tomtubby]

The local authority are wholly responsible for the levy and fees charged by their agants. It is for this reason that all complaints should be addressed to the council and COPIED to the relevant bailiff company.

 

If you had written to the council and they have rejected your complaint then you will need to write back to inform them that you are not satisfied with the response that you have received and that accordingly, you require the council to esclate the complaint to a Stage 2 Complaint.

[Ibs]

Hi, this was a reply to an escalation. I have now written to another senior complaints officer to escalate for the second time. I also called Newlyn baliffs and have now been advised if I can produce proof from Dvla that the car was not mine they will return the money.

Called DVLA and apparently if i fill out a V88 form I can get the information for a fee of £5

[outlawla]

Hi, this was a reply to an escalation. I have now written to another senior complaints officer to escalate for the second time. I also called Newlyn baliffs and have now been advised if I can produce proof from Dvla that the car was not mine they will return the money.

Called DVLA and apparently if i fill out a V88 form I can get the information for a fee of £5

 

Will the returned money include the 'Attendance to Remove' fee as that should also be returned, not that they'd have incurred those costs anyway.

 

P.S. I'd expect nothing less than that from the profiteering DVL (Agency)

[wonkeydonkey]

If you know the owner you can simply ask them to provide evidence to ownership....if you don't know them,then let the prats at Newlyn,s lift the car and suffer the consequences?

 

WD

[brassnecked]

You have 6 years to reclaim, if Newlyn are stupid enough to lift a Porsche belonging to a third party, i don't think they would look good in the press with the current witch hunt on bailiffs.

 

They are stonewalling you as they don't want to repay the beer tokens they have taken from you wrongfully.