Help needed with Bailiffs

[Chrir]

Hi all,

 

I hope somebody can help with my situation.

 

I have received an email from Goodwillie & Corcoran saying that I owe them money from an old council tax debt. This debt was incurred over 2 years ago when I was in a previous relationship.

 

From the breakdown of charges, which I requested from them, the total debt in the beginning was £225, there are now added fees totaling £182 on top, less £88 my ex had paid, therefore £319.

 

I have never received any liability orders from the council and a bailiff has never visited any property I have lived at, but I was aware of the original debt.

 

I therefore have a few questions:

 

1. can the bailiff claim those fees from me as they had never visited me?

2. Are those charges excessive, given the amount of the original debt?

3. Can a bailiff even claim anything from me personally as I had never received the liability notice?

4. If the council do take the debt back and cut out the bailiffs, is the amount due £225 less £88?

 

The breakdown of the fees are:

Visit Fee 1 - £24.50

Visit Fee 2 - £18.00

Levy Fee - £29.50

Attendance Fee - £102

Debit Card Fees (£2 x4) - £8

 

I cannot find any information online about what a levy fee is

 

As an FYI

- I had agreed with my ex she would settle this debt as I had cleared all the others when we split,

and this one popped up a couple of months after the time.

 

When she told me it had gone to bailiffs I agreed to pay my half and had wired her over £100 already before becoming suspicious

and asking for a breakdown of what was left.

 

She has now done a runner, hence why I guess the bailiffs are turning their attention to me.

 

Please help

 

Thanks in advance

Chris

[ploddertom]

Have they given dates to go with the charges if so can you list them? Is there a levy on goods & if so what? Unfortunately due to joint & several liability either of you can be made to pay what is owing regardless of whether you say you have paid your share.

[Chrir]

Hi, I dont have any details of dates and I don't know if there was a levy on goods either. My ex partner says she never let the bailiff in the house or signed anything if that helps.

[tomtubby]

I would "assume" that the bailiff has levied upon a motor vehicle. In any event there is a legal requirement for the bailiff to leave a notice itemising the goods levied upon.

 

The bailiff is merely andagent of the local authority and accordingly, you must call the council and ask them what goods have been levied. Can you also ask the council why they are allowing their agent to charge an "attending to remove" fee at the very same time as the visit to "levy" !!!!

 

Another local authority who should be ashamed of themselves !!!

[Chrir]

Can they charge a card fee for making payments?

[lookinforinfo]

It appears that the bailiff may already have been in touch with your ex. [so I assume the L/O will be for her address ] and thus the bailiff charges may have been chalked up [including the levy] during their

dealings with her. Might even explain why she has now disappeared.

 

You will need to write to the Council asking how much you owe them and if it includes any money paid by the bailiff.

 

You will also need to write to the bailiffs asking for the dates and times of all bailiff viists, the amount of their fees on each visit, what they levied on and confirm where and when each bailiff who has called was

certificated and which Court they were certificated at. Add that this is not and SAR and so there is no charge payable for your query.

[Chrir]

Yes she had been dealing with them, she had an agreement to pay them, but had missed a month. She still says that they have never had access to the property though, so I am unsure how they have done a levy. She does not have a car, the shed belongs to the housing association and had nothing of value in it.

 

The bailiff have now told me a limited amount of information, the dates of the charges. They levy fee and attendance fee were made on the same day. I have written to them requesting all the detailed information above. I have done this by email as they don't have my address, so I hope that they are obliged to respond to emailed requests too, and not just written requests.

 

On a related matter, the original debt was £135, plus £90 in "court costs", which I think was just a liability order. I have read in the process of dealing with this, that the council are only supposed to charge £3 for a liability order. Is this correct?

[ploddertom]

The chances are the levy has been made on a random car in the area. Put them to strict proof on what they have levied.

[Chrir]

Hi,

 

this bailiff has failed to respond to my request for more information, as advised above.

 

What should I do next?