Bristow & Sutor Council Tax

[Phase 1]

Hi all,

Came home to a Bailiffs letter posted through door with a notice of seizure of goods. Two things that are important her is that I have an arrangement with Council for arrears, due to an accident was unable to pay at the time but have been paying since back at work.

I have not received any letters from Bailiffs to say that they now handle the case ? I have received letters from council threatening action but brought the account up to date on the arrangement.

Now these Bailiffs have put a seizure notice on my Daughters car that was in the driveway, is this a measure of there level of intelligence or just there idea of trying to frighten people.

I do understand they can not take anything that is not mine but what reason would they do this ?

The other thing is they have 5 levy fees as the Council tax for whatever reason is broken up into separate bills, the levy fee charges are relevant to the amount owed ie. the higher the amount owed the higher the levy fee ? is this correct.

They have given me a 5 day notice for removal of goods ( Daughters Car )

Lastly the council will not deal with me, have told me I have to deal with the Bailiffs now !

 

Thank you for any help you can give

[ploddertom]

You need to speak to someone at the Council and ask the following questions:

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

8 - the dates & amounts of any payments

[ploddertom]

The 5 levy fees you mention, do you also have 5 separate Notices of Seizure & if so have they listed the same goods on each one? Have they also listed what charges they have made - may be on the reverse?

[Phase 1]

Thanks for the reply, will ring the Council with these questions.

The levy fee has only one reference on it regarding one of the outstanding amounts ? There are 5 reference numbers in total but only one Notice of seizure.

Thanks

[ploddertom]

They may only seize the goods of the debtor - therefore your daughter will need to write to them advising it is her vehicle - they will try to make her jump through hoops for this, but she should maintain that if the Bailiff had done a simple DVLA check as advised by several LGO Reports then this would have revealed who the likely owner was. After she has sent this you must write yourself that as the good seized were the the property of a 3rd party you expect them to remove any & all costs associated with the levy and replaced with a Visit Fee if applicable - again they will be awkward about this. make sure a copy of the letters sent are also sent to the Council, when the Bailiffs reveal themselves to be intransigent then that is the time to lay everything at the feet of the Council to sort out as they are ultimately responsible for this.

[ploddertom]

If you have no fees listed you should write to the Bailiffs asking for a breakdown, this is best done initially by email followed by a copy in the post. Here's an example of what to use, adapt & use as you see fit. Email for B&S is [email protected] - take the spaces out for the correct address.

 

"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

 

Ripped off customer"

[Phase 1]

Once again ploddertom thank you, i now see why these people are being sought to be regulated properly.

I myself do not fret about people like this but do feel they prey on the vulnerable and this to me is wrong and should be looked into.

I will deal with these issues now I have the correct advice and will keep you informed

[tomtubby]

Phase one.

 

It would seem that this particular local authority are allowing their bailiffs to IGNORE completely the highly critical report from the Local Government Ombudsman against Blaby District Council concerning the levying upon a car that is not owned by the debtor and the charging of "multiple fees" for enforcing more that one Liability Order !!!

 

Would you mind posting back with details of the exact fees that have been charged. It would be most helpful if you also indicate which local authority are involved.

 

The LGO really should be advised. This is simply disgraceful.

 

Please do post back...

[Phase 1]

Hello tomtubby,

Glad you agree, I think this is disgraceful with the facilities they have.

Anyway list as on the paperwork is as follows. Waiting for a break down from the council as I am paying online at £ 20.00 per week, there beef is they want more and I don't have more. My payments are paid 4 weekly sometimes run over as now back to work and self employed so payments are sporadic to myself. But they do get paid, they had Jacobs last time but they took it back from them after talks with me. They don't want to talk to me this time.

 

Top form is notice of seizure for full amount total of 2617.78 B&S reference SHL-T 603

 

Middle form is inventory of car. reference no: SHL T 603

 

Last form is Memorandum of amounts due.

 

SHL-T 603 CT £523.67

Levy fee £ 42.00

 

SHL-T 604 CT £178.63

Levy fee £ 29.00

 

SHL-T 605 CT £365.64

Levy fee £ 36.00

 

SHL-T 606 CT £133.65

Levy fee £ 27.00

 

SHL-T 607 CT £1198.69

Levy fee £ 59.00

 

Balance transferred to Notice of seizure £ 2617.78

 

The seizure Notice only has one of the reference numbers on it ?

 

Council are SHDC ( South Holland District Council)

 

Thank you for your help

[Phase 1]

Here is reply to email today

 

We acknowledge receipt of your email the contents of which have been duly noted.

 

Firstly, the bailiff is not obliged to make enquiries with the DVLA prior to seizing a vehicle if he believes that the person named on the Liability Order is the Owner. However, we can confirm that we are now making further enquiries with the DVLA. We also suggest that documentary evidence of third party ownership is provided to us. It can be sent to Bristow & Sutor, Bartleet Road, Washford, Redditch, Worcs, B98 0FL.

 

There has been one bailiff visit to the address, the details are as follows:

 

14/02/13 at 9.14am Mr ........... attended.............. with a view the seize goods. As you have 5 Liability Orders you have been charged a levy fee for each one as follows:

 

SHL-T/603 £42.00 and a Redemption of Goods fee £24.50

SHL-T/604 £29.00

SHL-T/605 £36.00

SHL-T/606 £27.00

SHL-T/607 £59.00

 

We will review the fee’s charged upon response from the DVLA.

 

Mr ....................... was certificated at Worcester County Court on the 01/11/12.

 

Your current outstanding balance is £2617.78, please complete the attached form and return to our offices by the 25/02/13 along with your proposal of payment.

 

Failure to comply will result in further recovery action being taken against you, for which you will be liable for any additional costs incurred.

 

We trust this clarifies the matter.

 

Yours faithfully

Edited February 18, 2013 by Phase 1

[Phase 1]

Ok have until today to pay the Bailiffs a fixed amount which I cant afford. Have offered what I can afford, do I pay what I can afford to the council or the Bailiffs ?

My offer is for £ 80.00 per month, and if I pay the council do I inform the Bailiffs that is what I intend to do from now on.

Thanks for any advice