Help bailiff has been

[Deleted User]

I had a simualr problem I started a thread on enough website that had forums that were more percific to this type of problem Please use this link to read my thread. you might find it help full. You might also find it help full to start a thread on this website you might get more advice.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bailiffs-sheriff-officers/217558-council-tax-bailiffs-have.html

As far as your husbands car goes if the debt is in your name they can only take possesions that belong to you. So they would not be able to take car.Having said that I assume the council tax is for you both living at your house. So they might be able to take car.

I would be a little careful about hiding the car as hiding a some thing that is levied can be seen as fraud.

The main thing is to keep comunicating with both the bailiff and the council.

I hope this helps a little.

mcjordi

Cant advise.. but if he needs the car for work it cant be taken i suggest hiding the car very well along with leaving the keys with a family member or friend..
dont let them in at any cost.
from what i can gather they have to gain peaceable entry before being allowed to force entry.. so leave all windows shut and doors locked.. and if they wont leave or are harrasing you or threatening you call the police

mrs_boop

hi, just to give you an update got intouch with my local councillor lovely man he phoned the council tax people up told me to phone them
phone c.t up and they said they would take my debt back but that i had to pay off baliffs fees.

phoned national debt line asked them to help me work their charges out
advised me to write to the council and complain over some illegal things that the bailiffs had done but to be honest just wanted it over and done with.

phoned the bailiff asked what their charges were said because i'd made a payment that covered their 1st and 2nd visit and that i owed 42.00 for levy on car and 130 for enforcement fee asked what that was and she said it was for a van coming out to collect goods even though they had not collected any.

phoned debt line back said this was another illegal charge how can they charge for a van to collect goods when they never collected any goods plus it was for the same day they had already charge me a fee for the second visit

phoned councillor said phone council ask them to help

phoned councillor said they could do nothing

phoned councillor who said he is going to take it up with the chief executive on monday morning

phoned bailiff said i was prepared to pay levy but was contesting the payment for enforcement.
said she wouldn't accept my payment
isaid i am going to pay it online
she said all payments go threw her and she would bounce it back to me
and continue to call and charge me everytime she called


so i paid 42quid online
made sure my car was hidden and shall now relax for the weekend

RAS

Hi

If they try to charge you the enforcement fee, get hold of Herbie21 as this is illegal.

Write to your local councillor, confirming what has been agreed and tell him that his council are using a bailiff company that charges illegal fees. Copy the letter to the Revenue Protection Officer (or the equivalent person).

System

Hi, from what i know they can not take your husbands car, its not yours, the debt is yours not his. I personally would move the car to a garage somewhere.

you cant ignore baliffs, they will get to you every way that they can. write the letter and please dont worry. I am currently been taken to court by Natwest but im not losing sleep over it at the moment because ive been with the CCCS for 2 years so that all they are getting from me.

Move the car. x

mcjordi

the fee's are fixed for court bailiff's (CTax)
£130 is waaaayyyyy to much
iirc its only 2 fees of about £30 each can be charged then returned back to the court/council

although im not 100% sure

vanman7

if the council tax is in just YOUR name and the car is registerd in YOUR HUSBANDS name then the CANNOT levy against it.

No bailiff can seize goods belonging to anyone other than the person named on the distress warrant.
make this clear to them and inform them that if they do attempt to remove it you will call 999, and ask for the nice policemen (or women) who will arrest them for theft. simple as that.
once they are clear the car does not belong to you they will have to remove it from there list of goods seized and also wipe any levy charges clear.
then inform your council who should hopfully take the account back.

i am in a similar possision but i own my car and require it to travel to work.
i will post a copy of the letter i sent and hope it may help you and give you some ideas.
good luck.

vanman7

Birstow & sutor
Bartleet road
Washford
Redditch
Worcestershire
B980FL

Dear Sir/Madam

Re Account No/Reference No:- xxxxxx

On the 7th sept 2009 one of your bailiffs, C.Hicks, visited the above address.

Upon his visit a number of regulations were breached.

Mr Hicks addressed himself as one of your bailiffs from your company but failed to produce identification as he did so, nor did he leave any documents to outline what charges he may charge which is a breach of codes of practice of bailiffs law.
He was rightfully and legally denied access to the property and returned to his vehicle. but moments later posted paperwork through the letter box listing my car as ‘seized’ as it was parked on the drive at the time even though it was pointed out to him that I am self employed and my car is required to commute to my place of work some 13 miles away. Public transport is not an option as at times I need to travel at 6am when no public transport is running. I am sure I do not need to remind you that a bailiff cannot seize "such tools, books, vehicles and other items of equipment as are necessary for use personally in employment, business or vocation".

In seizing the vehicle the bailiff made very unnecessary levy charges.

A ‘memorandum of amounts due’ shows charges for first visit of £24.50 & £20.50. Also levy fees of £46.00, £55.00 & £24.50 making a total of £115.50. on closer inspection it has irregularities with prescribed bailiff regulations and commits an offence under Section 2 and Section 4 the Fraud Act 2006.
　
After seeking legal advice I understand it is a criminal offence to defraud people in this way, or make a gain, or to obtain a money transfer for himself or his firm by making a false representation or by misuse of their position. I also understand its an offence for a firms director to benefit from the proceeds of crime by receiving money obtained from a fraud. I therefore ask the criminal element of this matter is fully investigated under Sections 1 to 5 of the Fraud Act 2006 and that you remove my vehicle from your ‘inventory of goods seized’ and all charges relating to the matter.

Should you fail to do so I will report the matter to the courts by completing form 4 ‘complaint against a certified bailiff.’ I am happy to stand as a witness or provide a statement in a criminal proceeding against your company in a court of law.

I have informed my local council of the matter, who have agreed to hold the account for two weeks to await for an outcome of this letter; of which I have also forwarded and hand delivered a copy to them.
I look forward to your reply in writing within the next 7 days of the date of this letter.
　
　
Yours faithfully

Wol2

Oooh just went to post this and saw Vanman has been on with his letter :beer:
Well here's my contribution for what it's worth:

I am not knowledgeable in these areas - however I have read up a few previous thread/web sites which I include below: and here is my understanding of your current position:

Firstly Have you ever let them into your house?
Have you ever signed anything? (This is called a walking possession)

If the answer to these two questions is no, then do NOT let them into your house and lock all doors and windows. Only speak to them over the phone or through the letterbox and keep the car hidden far away for the moment untill you can sort out the situation.

Provided you haven't signed anytning or let them into the house then:

As far as fees are concerned: The first visit to "levy" should be charged at £24.50.......this is for "attending to levy WHERE NO LEVY WAS MADE".

A second visit is charged at £18.00 for the same,

The bottom line is if you haven;t signed anything then no levy has been made on your possessions.

Your council should be able to tell you the amount of your liability.....i,e. the amount of arrears as specifid on the Liability Order. The bailiffs have to by law supply you with details of all charges.

Do you have either of these amounts - if so please post them.

(Here is the page at bailiffadviceonline that refers to the process regarding council tax bailiffs and the fees they can charge
http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/removalnotice-ct.htm)


Despite the fact you may not have signed anything, it is common for bailiffs to try to levy on cars and that seems to me what Equita have done. however they can't levy on the car if the arrears/Liability order are in your name and your husband can prove the car is his (registration document). see below (however I;m not sure if the Council tax arrears is also considerd to be your husband's debt)


Bailiffs and Vehicles.

• As with any other goods, bailiffs can only take a vehicle for your debt if the vehicle belongs to you. This typically excludes vehicles on a hire purchase scheme or similar.
• If a bailiff makes a visit to your property and no one is in, they can and often will make an assumption that a vehicle on the drive or possibly even in the street outside the house is yours and will levy upon it. That doesn't mean that they can take it if it belongs to someone else, but it does mean that the someone else who owns it will need to prove that they own it.
• A vehicle used in the course of your employment cannot be seized.
  This DOES NOT include "My car, because without it the commute is a pain and the kids will actually have to walk to school without it, too."
  It DOES include "My car, because I'm a self-employed taxi driver, or courier, or whatever and that is the vehicle I use."

Strictly speaking I think Equita should have returned this debt to the council after the second visit....it is vital you inform both Equita and the council that the car is not yours, make an offer to pay at a sum you can afford....and hopefully this will sort it.

However as i said, I'm not an expert and if you haven;t heard from Herbie soon I strongly urge you to ring bailiffadviceonline tomorrow (the call will be charged at 60p a minute) on 0906 802 0273. They will advise and also check if your bailiff is properly certified (:rotfl::rotfl:)

My concern is that the bailiff will start to charge for attending to remove the car which isn;t yours....which just makes things more complicated.....

So from the website:
Only agree to repay at an amount that you know that you can afford. The bailiff will try to insist that you pay at a far higher figure to ensure that the debt is settled quickly. Be firm, and do not fall for this. It is vitally important that you tell the bailiff that you will pay at the end of each month and that you are writing a letter to his office to confirm this agreement.

I have put links on to other similar threads where both Herbie and Roberto have posted which you might like to read through as there is some very valuable information about levy and enforcement fees
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1923855&highlight=
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1513439
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1880539&highlight=


I have also PM'd Roberto about your thread.

Good luck
Wol2
xxx

Wol2

and a bit more form bailiffadviceonline:
"Levying" on a vehicle that you do not own:
This is now also becoming commonplace with "less reputable" bailiffs, in particular when collecting for unpaid council tax. How it works is this:
The bailiff will make a visit to your premises with "a view to levying distress" (this is the legal term). He can charge just £24.50 if this is the 1st visit and you are not at home and no levy is made. In order to generate more income for him and his company,the bailiff will instead post a form through the door to say that he has attended and "levied" upon a vehicle either on your driveway or on the road outside. The bailiff will then charge both an additional "walking possession" fee and a "levy fee". The bailiff knows that there is case law that provides that he can "assume" that the car is yours and that it is up to you....not him..... to prove otherwise ( details of this case can be found in the Legal section of our Downloads area). Many times these vehicles are owned by sons/daughters/friends/even tradesmen etc. If this does occur, and the bailiff company refuse to accept that the vehicle is not owned by you and refuse as well to remove all charges associated with this supposed "levy" then a Statutory Declaration will need to be sworn by the owner of the vehicle. and a request made that all fees and charges associated with this "levy" are removed. Again, you may wish to contact our office for assistance in completing this Statutory Declaration.