Confero - Council Tax fees

[duggyfresh]

Hi, everyone.

 

I had a Confero bailiff call on 19/08/2013 to enforce a Council Tax bill. The Notice of distress said:

 

Council Tax: £1331.01

Bailiff Cost: £-

Levy Fee: £38.00

Attendance to Remove: £200.00

Walking Passession: £12.00

Total: £1581.01

 

Thanks to kind family, I managed a payment of £600.00 at the doorstep and was given a hand-written agreement to pay £100.00 per month, starting in September. The total amount outastanding now being £981.01.

 

I was unable to pay the September instalment before the end of the month and he returned on 08/10/2013. I managed to borrow £400.00 in cash to give him, which he eventually accepted but the note he gave me shows £781.00 outstanding now.

 

Can they charge me £200.00 every time they come to the door?

 

Regards and thanks in advance for any advice.

Duggy.

[dx100uk]

no!!!

 

 

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"

.

[lookinforinfo]

Hi, everyone.

Council Tax: £1331.01

Bailiff Cost: £-

Levy Fee: £38.00

Attendance to Remove: £200.00

Walking Passession: £12.00

Total: £1581.01 Duggy.

 

Hi Duggy-welcome to the Forum.

 

Dx100 is right that you need to find out that information so we know how much the bailiff has overcharged you and how to reclaim it.

 

Has the bailiff ever been into your house and how many times has he called to see you.

 

 

In addition do you know what he has levied on to justify some massive lorry to remove your gear-and did you see any van/lorry.

 

 

It would seem that he has been in your property as he has charged a walking Possession fee.

 

 

Did you sign it and

 

 

can you list everything that was listed since they often list goods that are exempt.

[Ian olney]

Can people please stop advising debtors to pay the council directly when a levy is in place?

 

OP-Can you please advise as to how many times you believe that a bailiff has visited your property?

 

if it is just the once, there is a decent chance we can get the £200 removed.

 

What did you sign for? The bailiff has clearly levied on your goods, do you have an inventory?

[zydeco]

Can people please stop advising debtors to pay the council directly when a levy is in place?

 

Levy or not, when a bailiff adds £450 in fees to the bill the best advice anywhere is "DON'T PAY THE B*****D"

[dx100uk]

no we will not.

 

 

levy or not if the balance is false

the council need to know

 

 

the big mistake for CTAX is people paying the bailiffs at all.

 

 

if this stopped

they'd give up trying.

 

 

dx

[outlawla]

....the big mistake for CTAX is people paying the bailiffs at all.

 

 

if this stopped

they'd give up trying.

 

 

dx

 

Exactly!

 

They are opportunists abetted by the local authority.

[Ian olney]

dx

 

If a valid levy is in place (which appears to be so in this particular case), the debtor will incur much greater charges if he/she breaks the agreement.

 

I'm not saying don't fight the fees-Exactly the opposite in fact but once a debtor has entered into an agreement with a bailiff, the balance of power swings heavily towards the bailiff. Paying the council directly in these circumstances is not a sensible option.

 

As I said in my post to the OP, provided that there has only been 1 visit, there is a decent chance we can get the ATR fee removed but even this could involve a battle with the council and/or the bailiff company.

[ploddertom]

We need to see some dates that go with the charges & as others have said what is on the "alleged" levy exactly as described on the Notice of Seizure you were left with.

[duggyfresh]

Thank you all for your input. I have written to the council and the bailiff for more information.

 

I will post here when I have more complete information...

 

Thanks again.

 

Regards,

Duggy.

[duggyfresh]

Hi, all. Sorry I have not been more forthcoming with a further post on this issue before now.

 

To fill in some of the blanks and offer new information...

 

 

• Original CT bill was for 2013-2014 year sent on 20/03/2013 (£1231.01).
  
• Reminder sent 03/05/2013.
  
• Summons dated 24/05/2013 for Magistrates' Court on 17/06/2013 (£1231.01 + £80 summons cost = £1311.01).
  
• Liability Order granted (paperwork mislaid) (extra £20 charged = £1331.01).
  
• Mr Meakin of Confero Collections called on 19/08/2013 leaving a Notice Of Distress for £1581.01 (including £200 attendance fee. full breakdown in earlier post above). The notice inventory only mentions my vehicle: no other goods listed at all.
  
• Also on 19/08/2013 he also took £600 cash and left a receipt noting an outstanding balance of £981.01.
  
• He called again on 08/10/2013, left no paperwork other than another receipt for £400 cash noting an outstanding balance of £781 (up another £200) and a hand-written note on the back about paying £100 per month from the end of November onwards.
  
• On 29/11/2013 I paid £100 + £5 card fee via the Confero website.
  
• On 10/12/2013, as a result of my post here, I sent the council and Confero the relevant requests for information. The council replied immediately that this was the only case passed to the Bailiff and confirmed the amounts owed to them. Confero did not reply.
  
• On 31/12/2013, I paid £100 + £5 card fee via the Confero website.
  
• On 12/01/2014 I sent a copy of the December letter to Confero with another request to supply the information. No reply received.
  
• On 14/03/2014 I received a Removal Notice through the door for £581.01 stating they would levy & remove on 22/03/2014.
  
• On 22/03/2014, my whole family waited in all day and no call was made.
  
• Today (24/04/2014) an Enforcement Agent called. I did not answer the door. He left a piece of paper headed "48 Hours Warning" stating they will attend again from 6am on 26/04/2014 (this Saturday). It also noted an increase of £235 Enforcement Stage fee to £816.01. The paper was not signed but had "Enforcement Agent: Mr Chambers" and a mobile number printed at the bottom.
  

 

I have only just realised looking at the receipts for cash at the door again that he made me sign the receipt as the recipient rather than signing them himself.

 

A Mr Chambers does not appear to be certificated to Confero. I only found a Matthew Christopher Chambers in the register but he has no employer listed.

 

I thought they had to give seven clear days notice of a visit under the new rules.

 

I apologise again for the length of time I have left this reply and am grateful for any and all advice forthcoming. I am struggling to see any light at the end of the tunnel at the moment...

 

Regards,

Duggy.

 

P.S. I should add that at no time has any bailiff or agent entered my home. All face to face dealings have been done outside the property with the door closed behind me. Also, I have never seen a van or lorry. It has always been a car he has arrived in.

Edited April 24, 2014 by duggyfresh
Additional info as a P.S.

[tomtubby]

It would seem that Confero have made some dreadful mistakes in the charges applied BEFORE the new regulations took effect on 6th April but; equally as serious is that this company are attempting to charge an 'enforcement stage fee' of £235 which they are NOT permitted to charge to you as enforcement commenced BEFORE 6th April 2014. Accordingly, this company cannot and must not charge a fee of £235 and instead, may ONLY charge the fees that were applicable at the time of the initial levy. In your case Confero can charge you NOTHING AT ALL !!!!

 

The problem that we have is that from my reading of your above post today it would seem that Confero Ltd have already charged you two 'attending to remove fees' of £200 each as follows:

 

The first such fee was on 19th August 2013 for £200 and was dressed up as an 'attendance fee'.

 

The second such fee was on 8th October for £200.

 

The statutory regulations however are very clear in that a 2nd 'attending to remove' fee may ONLY be made in cases where the goods had actually been removed (which was not the case with your account). Accordingly, you have already been OVERCHARGED £200.

 

The £235 fee cannot be applied as this fee is only applicable to cases where a levy had NOT been made upon goods before 6th April 2014. In your case, a 'levy' had been made upon your car in 19th August 2013.

 

My personal opinion is that this account urgently needs to be made the subject of a Stage One Formal Complaint to the relevant local authority (as they are wholly responsible for the levy and fees charged by their agents).

[duggyfresh]

Thank you for your prompt reply.

 

I have put the points raised above in writing to Confero at their office and will leave a copy attached to my door on Saturday when they (presumably) call.

 

I will report back on any further progress...

[lookinforinfo]

Instead of dealing with Confero, you should write to the CEO of the Council as Tomtubby suggested- not forgetting to mark the Subject of your letter as Stage One Formal Complaint.

That way it bypasses Confero so that the real Councillors know what is going on.

[duggyfresh]

Thanks to you, too, lookinforinfo.

 

I will do that as well. I have outstanding CT arrears from a previous year that are secured by a charge on my property. If I kick up a fuss with the council, I am worried they may try to force the sale of my house...

[brassnecked]

Copy the complaint to your council's elected leader, your local councillor and MP. This case shows that the Enforcement companies will be liberal in their interpretation of the new rules to the detriment of the debtor, Were the MOJ not aware that this would be the case?