reclaiming bailliffs charges

[conncat]

I wonder if anyone can advise? :confused:

I was away in August & the bailliffs called at my house for collection of nonpayment of a parking fine, they put a notice on my car window saying the car had been imobolised, my parents visited & saw the letter as did a neighbour, mymother called the bailiffs & they said she would have to pay £624.70, this she did, she then asked if they could come & reverse the imbolisation, to which they replied they had done it from the office. Both my Parents & my neighbour say the car wasnt clamped.

They have charged £600 for one parking fine.

Can I claim back some of the charges that seem excessive?

The Bailliffs are DRAKES.

[phunkeymonkeh]

I dont see how they could have immobilised it from the office, sounds like bull sh*t to me.

 

Drakes featured heavily in Whistleblower, exposing them for the animals that they are.

 

As recently suggested to myself.

 

Send Drakes a letter asking for a full breakdown of the debt, including payments made by yourself and charges imposed by them.

[falcon185]

Arent they also in breach of the rules governing Bailiffs? I believe they are not allowed to leave any notice on your door or property unless in a sealed envelope, so as to not cause alarm and distress to the debtor and allowing other people such as neighbours etc knowing your business with the basiliff??

[conncat]

Thanks for the advice, I will send the letter asking for a full breakdown & then see what happens.

Shall I let them know they are in breach of the rules?

[falcon185]

Hi Conn,

First I would check the rules and regs in relation to what bailifs can and cant do, they are on the webiste somewhere but cant remember myself, maybe someone else might be able to point you in the right direction. ( I do know that I have read it here somewhere though)

[phunkeymonkeh]

I would get a breakdown before i do anything to be honest.

 

Dont accuse them of anything just yet, get the breakdown and and post back here

[lookinforinfo]

Is not one of the "things to do ", for this forum is to campaign against the

outrageously high levies that are applied by the govenment firstly for a parking

fine, and then for the non payment of parking fines.

 

Here we have a not untypical situation. An original parking fine has escalated to

more than £600! Absolutely staggering. And totally out of all proportion to the original offence.

[Tinkerbelle]

Arent they also in breach of the rules governing Bailiffs? I believe they are not allowed to leave any notice on your door or property unless in a sealed envelope, so as to not cause alarm and distress to the debtor and allowing other people such as neighbours etc knowing your business with the basiliff??

 

They have Codes Of Practice which they ignore. They do what they like. Even when you complain to them pointing out the many codes of practice that they have broken, they ignore you.

 

It's a sad situation that it seems as though there is nowhere to turn.

[falcon185]

I totally agree Lookin, I think it is scandalous that such a thing as a parking fine of say £40:00 can escelate so much, these excessive fees apllied are making people bad debtors which they are not, they just cant afford the exorbitant charges added. Its time these CCA's were taken to task over this and an end put to it. But will that happen?? No, the MP's are on the gravy train and dont want to work for their constituants, too much hard work for £60K for the 6 mths the Houses of Parliament sit each year!!!

[Guest Zooman]

Time is now on your side, 1st thing is first get a break down of the charges, have a read of this http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/38134-issuing-claim-against-bailiff.html#post300078

[Guest Zooman]

BTW I think we may be having a few of these claims soon

[steve dunn]

ok now lets look at this from the start was the ticket as a lot of councils are finding out the wrong thing printed on the tickrt or not invalidates it (check out Neil Herron)

secondly falcon185 is right the bailiff is not allowed to tell people why they are looking for you if they need to leave a letter it must be in a sealed envelope .

read Bailiffs and Bailiff Laws | Payplan

[Guest Zooman]

surly payment of the parking fine was admittance in it self

[lookinforinfo]

One of the problems dealing with bailiffs and their unlawful actions is the general

vagueness by the powers that be as to what is and what is not lawful. It might

be frowned upon, but is it unlawful?

For instance the following url is from the OFT, which claims to give guidance to

the operators of bailiffs and in which they point out that infringements can lead to the loss of their licence. Yeah right. How many will lose their licence over the

recent watchdog programme? Anyway if it helps in your case, here it is

 

http://www.csa-uk.com/Documents/OFT%20debt%20collection%20-%20guidance%20only%20_July%202003.pdf

[conncat]

Hi, couldn't reply back last night had to go out.

Thanks for all the advice.

What they stuck to the car had supposedly a breakdown of charges including imobolising the car (clamping) which they did not do.

The original fine was for £40.

Should I still contact them asking for a further breakdown??

Any suggestions?

Thankyou

[conncat]

Hi me again,

The letter was def not in a sealed envolope, it was there for everyone to see.

[falcon185]

Hi Conn,

it appears that they have breached the OFT guidlines, I would ask for a complete breakdown of the charges from then and then report them to the OFT in relation to the notice they left on your car unsealed, in full view for enyone passing to see.

[conncat]

Hi,

I will do that.

I will keep you posted

Thanks

[Guest Zooman]

STOP

 

Your going the wrong way, first of all you need to find out what you have been charged.

 

I am entitled to make a written request for a full breakdown of the fees the bailiffs have added on to my debt and now I must insist that I am in repcict by 4pm Wednesday 18th October 2006 (give them 7 days).

 

Please ensure it is itemised and shows clearly what fees where added what these fees where for and the date they where added and also shows clearly what payments I made and the dates of these payments.

 

If you fail to send this I will make a formal complaint to the court that issued Mr XXX certificate.

 

The sealed envelope is a side issue that may or may not be used later as the guidelines are just that guide lines and making a complaint to the OFT at this point is a waste of time.

[falcon185]

Oops,

thanks for putting me straight Zooman, its a pity the guidlines arent strictly monitored though but reading your response I agree its a side issue. The main priority should be the request for the full breakdown of charges and go from there.

[Guest Herbie]

Only joined yesterday, and have to say that the site is great and there are a lot of people with a good knowledge of bailiff matters ( Zooman ) being one. Well done.

 

As a Debt Counsellor, I have many situations that bailiffs have acted wrongly, ie; Charges not in line with statutory regulations , "phantom visits" etc

 

I would like to ask two questions: the first is concerning Detailed Assessment of Costs, where we already have the full response by way of an S7.

 

The correct method for Detailed Assessment in court is very expensive indeed and in fact the cost has increased by nearly 90% !! which prohibits most people from going this route. What suggestions can any of you let me have as a cheaper method of applying to the courts for fees to be looked at.

 

Second question, it is a fact there there are many "Certificated Bailiffs" collecting at doorsteps and taking goods who have not in fact got a Certificate. There is a complaint method available in the court, but this is in respect of Certificated Bailiffs, any idea what the case is where he has never had a certificate. Any help would be gratefuly appreciated.

 

A client of mine has a case in the first week of Novemeber where the bailiff has been ordered into court after our complaint, but in this case he had been certificated in the past but allowed his certificate to lapse by 6 months. I will keep everyone updated on the progress.

[falcon185]

HI Herbie,

if a Bailiff Co isnt certificated but states on documentation that it is, wouldnt this be obtaining Money/property by deception? A criminal offence in itself?

[conncat]

Thanks zooman, I will request a full breakdown of what the charges are for & give them 7 days.

I will await their response ( if any)

[Guest Herbie]

Thank you for that Falcon, you are correct, in fact it is also trespass, that much is correct. To collect on behalf of a Local Authority for unpaid council tax, business rates, parking tickets etc etc, by law you have to be a Certificated Bailiff.

 

Remarkably, a lot of people assume that as long as the company are certificated that ok...it's not.

 

Ask any person who has had a bailiff at their door if they were shown a certifcate and you will find that what is show is normally just identification , in other words a phot ID. Everyone beware, a Certificated Bailiff would have an ID that not only has a stamp from the court, but is personally signed by the District Judge !!!

 

If the bailiff can not produce this and can not tell you the date and the court that he was certificated in....close the door immediately. In fact, I would go so far as to consider telephoning the police.

[falcon185]

Thanks for that Herbie,

Keep us posted as to what happens with the Lapsed Bailiff when it goes to Court, I'm sure a lot of people will be interested as to the outcome ;-)

 

Bazza