Bailiff With no ID

[Mundane-o]

Hi everyone,

 

This morning, at about 6am, a bailiff turned up at my house demanding payment in relation to an unpaid parking fine. I asked him to show me some paperwork in relation to the fine and he refused, so I got in my car, drove it off the driveway, and sat in it so he couldn't take it away - I'm not sure how he proposed to do this, as he only had a small van, but I was half asleep!

 

At this point the man got really angry and threatened to take another car on the drive, belonging to my housemate, and at that point I remembered all my "training" from a previous brush with some rogue clampers and asked why he wasn't displaying any form of ID. He said he didn't need to show me any, and took a clamp out of the back of his van and attached it to the car. At this point I called the police. Once I told him they were on their way, he rushed back and took the clamp back off!

 

The Police turned up, and after a bit of chasing around on the phone, were able to verify he was a licensed bailiff. I don't remember any such parking ticket, but I agreed to pay it if I called the council and it turned out to be legitimate. I asked him for his ID number but he refused to give me anything, saying there wasn't one on his license, but that his name was on the letter he would give me and that that would be enough.

 

Now.. I KNOW that they are supposed to outwardly display their licenses at all times if they are clamping a vehicle, and I assume that their license needs to be displayed at ALL TIMES when dealing with "clients" or "perps" or whatever they call us. So I want to make a complaint about that. I'm not sure how I go about doing that, so I'm hoping someone on here can help!

 

To summarise: I'm not questioning the validity of the ticket at this point, it will probably turn out that it's legit and I have no time to appeal, so I will be paying it in full. What I do want to do, though, is complain about the bailiff point blank refusing to show me any form of ID or any previous letters detailing the case, only stating that he was there to either take money or my car.

[Mundane-o]

I should probably add (still half asleep!) that I have no recollection of the parking ticket, nor had I received any letters relating to one over the past few weeks / months, hence my concern at the time! I didn't want to be blind-sided at 6.30 on a Monday morning and fleeced for £370!

[Jamberson]

I understand you being unhappy, but why is it such a big deal about the ID? I don't think they need to wear any, but if they do, and you successfully lodge a complaint about it, what then? Aren't you more interested in whether you can avoid paying the fees by contesting the warrant?

[Mundane-o]

He got so cross about me calling the Police that he said I have to pay today or he will have it towed, so I have absolutely no time to do anything! It's sitting on my drive with a clamp on it, as it's the only way the Police and I could get him to leave and allow me to try and sort it out.

 

It's a big deal because I'm annoyed that this guy has turned up at my door with no prior warning and refused to show me any identification or details of the fine I was supposed to pay. If it turns out that I do have a parking ticket to pay, then I suppose it's at least some retribution that the a-hole who slapped an extra £288 on top gets what he deserves for not doing his job properly.

[Jamberson]

For starters, he can't tow someone else's vehicle to settle your debt. If he can't find your car (hide it) and you don't let him get into the house, he can't do anything for the moment.

 

If you have a PCN and did not get prior notification, you might have a way to get the bailiff warrant, and his fees revoked.

 

First, we need to know why you did not get any documents through the post. Did the council post them to the correct name and address? If you can find out and let us know, someone will tel you what you can do.

[Mundane-o]

Should I call the council to find that out? I'm going through our junk mail box (we recycle periodically) to see if one of my housemates may have put one in there by mistake, but nothing so far! What do I do if I don't find one and they claim to have sent them? Won't it just be my word against theirs?

[Mundane-o]

I didn't find any letters in the junk mail, but we did our recycling recently so there's no way of knowing. The bailiff said the PCN dates back to May 2013, so that's plenty of time for us to have thrown anything out!

 

I'll call the council, but seeing as there is a clamp on my car already (and as such I am missing work) I really doubt there will be anything I can do. I have a bad feeling that as soon as the bailiff finds out I may be trying to appeal, he will immediately have the vehicle towed! I have until 5pm to pay, or he will take the car anyway.

[sailor sam]

You don't just get one letter before the bailiff comes a-knocking. You get about 3 different notices (AFAIK) so it would be odd if you hadn't had any of them unless your address dosn't match the RK's as stated on your V5.

 

But in any event, this isn't going to go away and you would be wasting your time trying to get the council involved at this stage. You need to contact the TEC; http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/northampton-bulk-centre/traffic-enforcement-centre

 

to get the charge certificate (or warrant) suspended. This should 're-wind' the process back to the PCN stage.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[Mundane-o]

Thanks for the help. I tried calling TEC and had an automated message that told me I need forms TE7 and TE9, then hung up. I phoned the council and it seems the PCN is at least real; they claimed that since they have not had any of their letters to me returned, they deem them delivered and there's nothing I can do - it's between me and the bailiffs.

 

Is there anything I can do? I don't think "My housemates probably threw the letters out" is going to be an acceptable excuse! If I call the bailiff to inform them that I want to appeal, they're just going to come and tow the car away, and I don't want that to happen! I had said I'd be happy to pay it, provided it turned out to be real, but the reality of that is starting to sting as I would have paid the fine if I had known anything about it.

[Jamberson]

What you need to do first is phone the council right now. Find out from them the exact name and address they sent all the notices to. For a PCN you should have been sent:

 

1. Notice to Owner

2. Charge Certificate

3. Order for Recovery

 

It is unlikely that these would all disappear if they were addressed correctly, so if you can find out the address they were sent to (it's printed on them, so there can be no doubt), that will be a big step towards establishing if you can get this resolved without paying all the fees.

 

Let us know what they say.

[Mundane-o]

I did phone the council a little earlier, and the address they sent them to does match mine. I live in shared accommodation, so there's a chance that a housemate could have thrown them away in error. It has actually happened before, but I found the PCN letter in the junk box after receiving a bailiff note through the door; I figured it was a fair cop, so I paid it in full. This time, however, there is nothing!

 

The lady I spoke to said it's out of their hands now. My car is on the drive, clamped, and I have 5 hours to pay before they tow it.

[Jamberson]

I'm sorry to hear that, because it does mean your chances of avoiding payment are small. If they sent all the notices to the correct name and address they are unlikely to call off the bailiffs.

 

There is a specialist bailiff part of this site. You could try posting on there and see if anyone can help:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?168-Bailiffs-and-High-Court-Enforcement-Officers

[Mundane-o]

I think I'll just pay up, to be honest! If it were the case that I had moved house or something like that, I would try, but this seems to be pretty clear cut.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Do you think it's worth me complaining about his actions - clamping my housemate's car and refusing to show me ID?

[BankFodder]

I think I'll just pay up, to be honest! If it were the case that I had moved house or something like that, I would try, but this seems to be pretty clear cut.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Do you think it's worth me complaining about his actions - clamping my housemate's car and refusing to show me ID?

Yes

[Mundane-o]

Do I contact the SIA, or someone else? They have a complaints form on their website (Equita Bailiffs) but I doubt it will be taken seriously by them!

[ploddertom]

A Bailiff holds a Certificate granted by a County Court Judge which then means he may work anywhere within England or Wales. All you need to check is his name and/or the company he works for. In the meantime I will move this to the Bailiff Forum for more responses.