Ripped Off by The Sheriffs Office Fees

[manxie]

Due to a judgement in default Last Autumn( I did not receive the court papers but that is history and now dealt with)

I was visited by two HCEOs from the Sheriffs Office.

 

They were extremely intimidating, blocked my driveway and went around the back of my house.

 

They waved a sheet of paper at me and demanded immediate payment of the court judgement plus their fees.

 

After making a couple of quick call I told them a family member would pay then over the phone but they refused.

 

This meant we had to transfer the money to my account which took a little longer.

 

Whilst this was happening they clamped my car (which I need for business as I am self employed)

and kept racking up the costs saying that they had sent for a tow truck.

 

I enquired why as I was in the process of getting the money for them. etc etc.

 

I paid up and would now like to have a go at getting some of the fees back as I know they have taken me to cleaners. I

 

wrote and asked for a breakdown of their fees and am attaching their reply.

[wonkeydonkey]

'

 

A quick appraisal of your post leaves a lot of questions to be answered but before we go down that road can you expand on the ' I did not receive the court papers but that is history and now dealt with'...... the way in which this was dealt with could provide a clue to a starting point to getting your issues

on the right track.

 

WD

[manxie]

Hi WD and thanks for you reply.

For a short period in 2011/2012 I was not working from my home office

and some correspondence with a disgruntled client was received and sent from the temporary office address.

 

I had heard nothing for a couple of months from this client and had assumed the matter was not being pursued (my mistake).

 

The client' solicitors issued a claim in the County court and all paperwork was sent to the 'office' address.

They then got judgement by default and realised that they had used the wrong name on the judgement and had this changed by a Judge.

Even when he amend details of the claim this was sent to the old office.

Consequently I had no idea of the court hearing and I would have been more than prepared to defend it;

which I had previously put in writing to the client's solicitors.

 

However the first inkling I had of a judgement against me, was the HCEO knocking on my door.

I told them I had no idea of the Judgement but they were not interested.

 

I did have the writ stayed and put in for a hearing to have the judgement set aside

(even this paperwork for this was sent to the old address by the court). I

 

got my hearing on January but the judge said that my situation was of my own making and would not list the case to be heard.

 

I now am trying to recover some of the money that the Bailiffs took.

[Surfer01]

I think a lot of those fees are incorrect , but hopefully some one with better knowledge of fees can update. If you never knew anything of the case, you could probably get it set aside.

[wonkeydonkey]

If Claim was also sent to your old office address then you did not receive the claim pack and were denied a defence, therefore you can apply to set aside that Judgment.

 

if you are successful at set aside the Judgment will be cancelled and with that go the writ and fees charged by the HCEO...however the Claim can still go ahead for hearing and if you do not have the money to pay the debt in full you will technically be exchanging one ccj for another. BUT at least you do get the opportunity at this stage to make an offer to repay by installments.

 

If the creditor refuses your offer and you can support it to be fair with an I&E then the court get the final word and the creditor gets what he Judge decides...You will need Form N244 from HMCT website and when completing this make sure you have also asked for a stay of execution to the writ pending the outcome of the set aside hearing. as that keeps the HCEO at bay.

 

Alternatively you can apply to stay the writ and submit a variation order to a repayment plan again you will need Form N244 for the stay and N245 for the variation. each of these carry fees to the court but if you are claiming any benefits you may well be eligible for fee remission see form ex160b.

 

If you need help with the forms just ask here and caggers will guide you through.

 

WD

[manxie]

I did apply to get the judgment set aside on two counts. firstly that I did not receive any paperwork from the court (claim pack) and secondly because I had a robust and good defense to the claim. Even the paper work for the set aside was sent to the wrong address by the court and consequently I only had my day in court in January. The judge was slightly sympathetic but she said that she didn't feel court time would be best served hearing this case and that it was my fault for not doing a postal redirect for my mail. A number of people have commented that they think this was a harsh judgement.

[wonkeydonkey]

Yes it certainly was and grounds for appeal I think?

[impecunious]

All very well advising people to apply for a set-aside - but please advise that if they lose their set-aside, they may be liable for costs.

 

Four years ago, despite not receiving any paperwork regarding a claim for personal injury against me - it had all been sent to an address I had left 4 yrs earlier and had moved many times after that and had spent a considerable time travelling ... my set-aside was refused -- VERY HARSHLY in my opinion and I was effectively unable to defend the case and ordered to pay £800 in costs for the hearing. I certainly wasn't expecting that - it was difficult enough tryiing to find the fee for applying for the set-aside!!! The Judge reduced the order to by about £250 as he considered the barristers' fees to be excessive. i thought the whole lot was excessive and the whole amount remains outstanding.

 

 

Impecunious!

[ploddertom]

Looking at the breakdown of charges there are a couple of things that don't sit quite right for me. Have you served a subject access request on them, this may give the same results but in a different manner that may be worth looking at. Cost of doing is £10.

[manxie]

Hi, I really must do something about his. What do you think a SAR would yield please.

[manxie]

Just a quick update; I sent the SAR which was signed for on the 25th April. To date they have not banked the cheque or made any response. Thanks

[wonkeydonkey]

They still have 9 days to respond ....you do not need to do anything at the moment as the ball is in their court. If you do not get a reply by the due date come back and let us know, we can then tell you how to progress the matter to the next stage.

 

WD

[manxie]

Thanks WD

[ploddertom]

Just a quick update; I sent the SAR which was signed for on the 25th April. To date they have not banked the cheque or made any response. Thanks

 

I would suggest send them a reminder via email possibly.

[manxie]

Sent an email reminder yesterday.

[manxie]

Answer to my SAR received yesterday - scanned copies attached. The only other paperwork they sent was the "Instruction to Transfer Up ( if necessary) to Writ of FF" This has most of the content blacked out as but can still be read and contains my details and those of solicitors etc.

The writ of FF does not contain all of the charges they took from me and this batch of paper work is no the same as the original letter they sent, which is attached to a previous post.

Edited June 2, 2013 by manxie

[Surfer01]

I don't think they are allowed to black out anything on a SAR, but hopefully those with better knowledge on SAR requirements can advise.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

If any document included in the data provided with a SAR contains data referring to any third party by name or implication the document must be suitably redacted.

[Surfer01]

If any document included in the data provided with a SAR contains data referring to any third party by name or implication the document must be suitably redacted.

 

As a matter of interest, how would you know if it is blacked out? For all you know, it could be a reference to yourself. Are bailiffs allowed to pass on your details to third parties without your permission?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Data would be redacted by blacking it out , a bailiff may have genuine reasons for passing on information in pursuance of their particular task, eg informing a party that goods are seized at part of a walking possession..

[ploddertom]

To my mind your SAR is not complete. No explanations as to how charges etc have been applied or made up?

[tomtubby]

The starting point is the following:

 

BEFORE the High Court Enforcement Officer enforces the writ (of fi fa) the following fees are included as standard:

 

Judgment cost : £95

 

Execution Costs: £111.75

 

Interest ( in your case £10.68)

 

The query in your particular case relates to the "Officers fees" of £658.08

[manxie]

So I presume my response is to write stating that the SAR is incomplete and request a breakdown (with receipts/proof?) for the Officers fee. Thanks

[manxie]

Can somebody please help me on this Thanks

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

so i presume my response is to write stating that the sar is incomplete and request a breakdown (with receipts/proof?) for the officers fee. Thanks

yes!