Jacobs + CTAX..Advice re letter to send regarding £191.50 fees with no levy

[Lisasickofbailiffs]

Hi guys...

..long time no see.

...but yet again I have problems with Jacobs re Council Tax!!

 

Ok here goes..

 

..Liability Order granted by Teesside Magistrates Court on 04/06/2013 for £1106.05 plus a £17.50 charge for granting order (£1123.55)

 

Jacobs arrived on the scene on 27/08/2013 and posted a Bailiff Attendance - 24 Hour Notice with a Balance of £1148.05 + Costs written on it.....

.....I was away with work at the time.

 

He came back on 28/08/2013 and posted a Bailiff Attendance - Final Notice 24 Hours with a balance due of £1166.05 + costs written on it....

..I tried to contact the bailiff on the evening of the 28/8 but got his answerphone

 

left a message to contact me the next day..

..no contact by 11am on the 29/8

 

I called again and yet again he ignored my call, I left another message with all my details asking him to contact me and he never did so I left it.

 

Then a letter came through the post on 10/09/2013 Bailiff Removal with an amount of £1166.05...

..I ignored this as I had never spoken to or seen the bailiff at my house and so have never signed a Walking Possession Order,

let him in or received a Section 4 through the door to state that he'd written my car down as a levy.

 

Today 30/09/2013 I came home to find another hand delivered letter from Jacobs through the door with another Bailiffs name on it..

...Removal 48 Hours with a balance due of £1357.55!!!!

 

He can't take anything away as my car has been moved to a safe place and he can't break in as I have never let him in to the property

(Although this bailiff is the same Bailiff I did let into my property last year when Jacobs were dealing with my 2012 Council Tax)

but I feel I should send an e-mail to Jacobs about the fees as the £1166.05 included the 1st and 2nd visit fee as far as I can work out so what is the £191.50 for???

 

Can someone give me an idea what to send as the last letter I sent to Jacobs asking about fees etc. was in 2012 a

nd it was from a now defunct e-mail address so I can't copy and paste it!!

 

Also can somebody just put my mind at rest that this Bailiff they have now sent me

who I dealt with in 2012 can't break in by saying he's been in the house previously in 2012 regarding a different Liability Order??

 

Thanks in Advance

Lisa xx

[dx100uk]

you are correct he cant break in, regardless to the old LO etc

 

the £191.50 is prob for a van fee, he can't do that, had nothing to levy on, no levy posted

 

i'd p'haps stop trying to contact him

 

theres no need.

 

if you can pay you should be paying the council

direct via your internet banking site

never ever pay a bailiff.

.

Here is something to be getting on with. First of all establish from the Council how much was owing etc 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

.

Next you need to send off for a breakdown of the charges the Bailiff applied. Here's an example, use and adapt at will and best sent initially by email backed up by a copy in the post.

.

"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"

.

[ploddertom]

The worst thing you are doing is phoning him, at least text him instead. Better to have things in writing where you can prove you tried to make contact.

[brassnecked]

Text him as PT suggests as the outgoing texts are evidence that the bailiff is ignoring you to garner fees for himself, do as DX suggests and pay tye council direct. Make sure any car is away from your home however as Jacobs are noted for clamping, and levying/removing and selling cars, even third party ones

[tomtubby]

I have always stated on the forum the danger of calling a bailiff on a damned mobile phone and most importantly...agreeing a payment plan over the phone !!!

 

In your case a simple text message could prove worthwhile. Make sure that you provide your account reference.

 

Something along the following lines should suffice:

 

Yesterday you posted a letter through my door to demand a sum of £1,357.55. It would seem that the amount now demanded is £191 more than was stated on your last letter. You have not gained peaceful entry into my home.....a levy has never been made on any goods of mine and neither has a Notice of Seizure been provided. Unless you are able to provide a satisfactory explanation by midday today for this fee I will making a Stage One Complaint to xxxx council without any further reference to you.

[Lisasickofbailiffs]

Thanks guys...

.I will text him now..

..there was no way I would arrange a payment plan with Jacobs as I've fallen into that trap in the past

and been forced to pay extra fees for signing a Walking Possession Agreement and Header H Fees!

 

Should I also e-mail Jacobs direct or just start with the text to the Bailiff??

 

I have a feeling the first bailiff has written my car down as it was on the drive when he called as we were away at the time!

 

We also have a van but it is on a finance agreement so know he can't do anything with that.

 

Lisa x

[tomtubby]

If a levy had of been made then there is a LEGAL requirement to provide evidence by way of a Seizure notice.

[Lisasickofbailiffs]

Hi,

Sent text to Bailiff and this was his reply.........

 

Hi, a levy was taken on a vehicle yesterday what was parked outside your property and a neighbour confirmed it to be your husbands. I don't wish to text and I do not have an e-mail address, please phone me and we can discuss this account in detail and get you into an arrangement to pay the outstanding balance. Regards

 

When I popped home yesterday the letter was through the door and we'd been out in both vehicles for hours....so no idea what vehicle he is supposed to have levied......I texted him back saying......

 

If a levy was taken, by LAW you have to put a Notice of Seizure through my door which you haven't done! What is the registration of the Vehicle that you have apparently levied?

 

His response was.......Please phone me and all the details will be given. I am unable to text I do not have a free text package, only calls, I could call you if you need me to? Thank you.

 

So I am presuming my next step is to e-mail Jacobs asking for information......the only vehicle here yesterday was my husbands van which is on a finance agreement which is why I asked him for the Reg no. of the vehicle he has taken!!

 

Thanks

Lisa x

[ploddertom]

Well certainly do not ring him, he will try & browbeat you. I suspect he may make a "manufactured" Notice of Seizure listing one of your cars in the belief you were at home and not out. I think I would start on the Council as this Bailiff is their responsibility and you obviously cannot trust him.

[Lisasickofbailiffs]

I spoke to the council yesterday who informed me that they can't do anything now it's with the bailiffs!

 

The only advice they would give me was to speak to the Citizens Advice Bureau and get them to liaise with the bailiffs to put a 4 week hold on the account

to stop the action until it was looked into??

 

I am about to send an e-mail to Jacobs and CC the council in on it.

 

..I am sending the letter as above but attaching it to an e-mail with the same info in that I texted the bailiff this morning regarding the false levy!

I'll keep you all posted!

Lisa

[dx100uk]

little fleecer!!

 

dx

[ploddertom]

Oh dear another Council that have conveniently forgotten they are ultimately responsible for the actions & charges of their contractors. Time to introduce your local Councillor(s) to the failings of their employees.

[brassnecked]

Remind the council of Eric Pickles's guidance that the council remain in control of an account at all times, and due to this bailiffs behaviour you cannot trust Jacobs to deal fairly with yo, there fore you will be submitting a Stage One Formal Complaint in writing, and will be paying £xx regulsrly direct to the council, to discharge the debt. remind them it is unlawful for the council to refuse any such payment.

[tomtubby]

This is yet another local authority that seem to have forgotten (or maybe ignored) the Good Guidance Guidelines from Eric Pickles on 17th June 2013.

 

Make sure that this is brought to their attention in your email.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210478/Guidance_on_enforcement_of_CT_arrears.pdf

 

 

You also need to ask the council why they are permitting their bailiff provider to charge an "attending to remove" fee at the same time as a visit to levy upon goods and BEFORE the bailiff has ascertained whether the goods levied upon belong to you are even exempt from seizure.

[Lisasickofbailiffs]

Hi guys,

I've already sent the e-mail to the council and Jacobs on the generic e-mail addresses supplied on their websites.

Once I get an e-mail back from a person at the Council I will get onto the issues you've just raised for me.

 

I also got another text from the bailiff which read....

Hi, because you are unwilling to speak or deal with me to set an arrangement up on your account I have returned the case back to head office and told them to set you up for £200.00 monthly. If this is no good please contact head office. Regarding the fees applied the office can assist you on this also they have all details of the inventory the neighbour confirmed to be your vehicle. Best regards.

 

So lets wait and see what excuses I get from Jacobs in a letter within the next week!!

Lisa x

[Lisasickofbailiffs]

Morning guys....had a response from the Council yesterday after cc'ing them into the Jacobs request for information e-mail, this is the response they sent......

 

 

Dear Madam

 

Thank you for your e-mail, the contents of which have been noted.

 

I have forwarded your e-mail to the necessary department for your enquiry to be dealt with as a matter of urgency.

 

I trust this is in order.

 

Yours faithfully

XXXXXXXXXX

 

Senior Customer Services Officer

On behalf of the Council Tax Service

 

No information about the fees from Jacobs but this letter arrived this morning.........

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Further to your recent communication we write to inform you that we are prepared to accept your offer of 6 payments of £200 every 31 days with a final payment of £157.55. The first payment is due on 9th Oct 2013.

 

No further action will be taken as long as the payments are received within the period intervals.

 

If you have not already met with our bailiff he/she will be calling to your property in the near future in order to levy and secure the debt for your local authority and further bailiff costs will be incurred.

 

Please note our terms for arrangements:

I understand that it is my responsibility to:-

 

1. ensure that all payments are received by Jacobs on the due date.

2. ensure I have my chosen payment method available e.g. payment card, debit card, postal order etc. and that in the event of not doing so, I find an alternative method of payment and advise Jacobs if my payment card is late.

3. ensure that I pay the agreed amount each time I make my payment and that if I wish to change this, that I must get consent from Jacobs first.

4. ensure that I do not change the agreed frequency of my payments without monthly consent from Jacobs.

 

I also understand that:-

5. if I break my arrangement for any of the above reasons or any other reason that my arrangement WILL NOT be re-set and that payment in full will be due.

6. if enforcement action is taken it will be unlikely to cost less than £110.

7. Jacobs have the right to review the arrangement at any time and will contact me by phone or in writing should they wish to do so.

8. by Jacobs accepting this arrangement they are not abandoning the distress and as such I should advise them if any other bailiffs attend for other debts.

 

Yours faithfully

Jacobs

 

I now need an idea of a letter to send them as by sending this it looks to me like they are going to ignore my request for information.....I haven't agreed any repayment terms with them, or any amounts and I'm certainly not going to make payment of the £191.50 fees for a Levy the bailiff has made up against a car he apparently checked with our neighbour that was ours but won't give me any info about! Neither am I going to make any payment to Jacobs! All payments will be made to the council!!

 

Ideas of what to put in a straightforward way so they get the point would be great guys!!

 

Thanks

Lisa x

[hallowitch]

RE your letter dated

 

dear Sir,

 

Please be advised I have no faith in your company or your enforcement's agent dealing with this matter

1) I did not at any time agree the payment schedule stated

2) Bailiff fees of £191.50 have already been added to this account this would indicate a levy has already been done I therefore don't understand why she would be calling again to levy goods

3) you have not provided with a breakdown of fees

 

Due to the above and the fact that a formal complaint has been made to the local authority I will be dealing directly with your employer

 

 

 

PLEASE HIDE YOUR CAR and keep your door locked (bailiffs drive by houses to see if they can get a reg no )

[tomtubby]

HW...you responded before I was able to with an excellent post. All that I would add is that Lisa should send the local authority a copy of the letter from Jacobs together with her reply.

 

I would suggest that if possible payment of £200 per month is made to the council as that way, it would indicate to them that Lisa is not refusing to pay her debt.

[lookinforinfo]

Do not enter into that agreement. It is so worded that you are almost bound to have to pay them additional fees of over £100. For example if your payment arrives a day early then in their eyes you have

changed the monthly frequency. And if you are late because of a bank Holiday or weekend intervenes, that will also involve you in those extra fees. The 9th November is a Saturday...................

 

Do as Tomtubby says and pay the Council direct and that will eradicate the chance of Jacobs adding vastly inflated fees.

[brassnecked]

Do not enter into that agreement. It is so worded that you are almost bound to have to pay them additional fees of over £100. For example if your payment arrives a day early then in their eyes you have

changed the monthly frequency. And if you are late because of a bank Holiday or weekend intervenes, that will also involve you in those extra fees. The 9th November is a Saturday...................

 

Do as Tomtubby says and pay the Council direct and that will eradicate the chance of Jacobs adding vastly inflated fees.

 

Absolutely!

[Clunks]

Any update on this one?