Bailiff Letter

fatbelly

Insomniac666 wrote: »

there is a box my wife signed headed "this is a HP Agreement regulated..blah blah".....

So they've 'levied' against something neither of you own.

That's as much use as listing next-door's flower pots

Insomniac666

fatbelly wrote: »

So they've 'levied' against something neither of you own.

That's as much use as listing next-door's flower pots

I hope so....

Got to say thanks to all who are helping me here..:money:

never-in-doubt

Roberto - you're on top form again I see mate :rotfl:

Your sig says it all!

I am opinionated and rather blunt.

This site doesn't check my status as opinionated and blunt, so you need to take my word for it (or use the search function). Any advice or thoughts I give on matters involving debt and recovery processes should be considered as nothing more than the opinion of someone who used to be a bailiff a long time ago.

impetus

Quality Roberto, really made may day reading this thread! Thanks! :T

impetus

Oh and good luck insomniac666 - looks like you came to the right place for advice! :T

Insomniac666

Well new day, I got one day to contact the B*****'s (insert here what you will) hopefully I'll hear off Herbie21, cos at the moment I'm stuck on what next step to take?

I've even brought the WPO to work with me!

RobertoMoir

Insomniac666 wrote: »

Well new day, I got one day to contact the B*****'s (insert here what you will) hopefully I'll hear off Herbie21, cos at the moment I'm stuck on what next step to take?

I've even brought the WPO to work with me!

Phone the council, tell them you want to speak to the head of council tax recovery.

Tell them the problem with the actions of the bailiffs whose actions he is responsible for, and suggest that it would be prudent of him to put any further bailiff action on hold while their incompetence is resolved, in order to minimise the seriousness of the official complaint you *will* be making about their behaviour, and of course to minimise the costs of any claims you will be forced to make against the council for the actions of their agents should they take goods that don't belong to them (theft) in pursuit of an invalid levy (trespass, rendering any further action the bailiffs could possibly take invalid).

Make it clear that you're not asking him if their behaviour was wrong, rather that you know that it is and that you're simply informing him of his options.

If that doesn't help, phone your local councillor and make the same points - in a nicer way, as the councillor is someone you want on your side in this.

gilligansyle

Just wanted to say good luck. It sounds like you have a very good case of bailiffs not following procedures.

When I complained to my Council about a bailiff claiming for 2 visits when both letters were put through my door on the same day, they took the case back and were far easier to deal with than bailiffs, and if fact wrote some of it off as it was for a previous address.

Insomniac666

RobertoMoir wrote: »

Phone the council, tell them you want to speak to the head of council tax recovery.

Tell them the problem with the actions of the bailiffs whose actions he is responsible for, and suggest that it would be prudent of him to put any further bailiff action on hold while their incompetence is resolved, in order to minimise the seriousness of the official complaint you *will* be making about their behaviour, and of course to minimise the costs of any claims you will be forced to make against the council for the actions of their agents should they take goods that don't belong to them (theft) in pursuit of an invalid levy (trespass, rendering any further action the bailiffs could possibly take invalid).

Make it clear that you're not asking him if their behaviour was wrong, rather that you know that it is and that you're simply informing him of his options.

If that doesn't help, phone your local councillor and make the same points - in a nicer way, as the councillor is someone you want on your side in this.

So basically, as they put a levy against a hp vehicle and didn't have it signed it's not worth the paper it's written on? does this mean they can forget about the £150+ charge they put on? I'm not disputing they didn't visit the first twice though they left no proof of calling.. hopefully I'll be able to get them to take it back.. am I correct so far before I blunder on the phone?

RobertoMoir

Insomniac666 wrote: »

So basically, as they put a levy against a hp vehicle and didn't have it signed it's not worth the paper it's written on? does this mean they can forget about the £150+ charge they put on? I'm not disputing they didn't visit the first twice though they left no proof of calling.. hopefully I'll be able to get them to take it back.. am I correct so far before I blunder on the phone?

Ok, sorry, its a long thread and we should be clear.

Problems that render their levy invalid:
Illegal fees

1. WP fee for an unsigned WP
2. "Securing Debt" fee. Can the head of revenues show you/us where that is allowed at this (or in fact any) stage of the recovery process?
3. Charges for 1st and 2nd visit fees. 1st and 2nd visit letters not received.
4. It appears they've levied and charged a van fee for the same visit. Big no-no.
5. (didn't you say the WP fee was over £100? Way too much)

Procedural defects

1. Fraudulently charged you for a WP on the debt despite you not signing a WP.
2. Levied against goods you do not own (controlling interest in your car still held by finance company). They can't remove goods you do not own for your debt, and I do not believe they are permitted to "re-levy" for a debt.
3. Claimed to have visited you before but have not (1st & 2nd visits).
4. Levy and removal on same visit (van fee for levy visit). Not only is this an illegal fee, but its probably bad practice as most councils will want to recover debt via more efficient mechanisms than removal of goods.

At this point, their levy is about as much use to the bailiff company or the council as a roof rack on a helicopter. Any further enforcement action taken off the back of a clearly invalid levy would be at minimum a trespass against you and therefore there is nothing the bailiffs can legally do right now except hope that you're not taking advice from a forum full of people who know how to help people make official complaints about county court certified bailiffs;).

The bailiffs are agents of the council. The council are responsible for the actions of their agents. The head of revenues / recovery / finance / whatever your local council is calling it today is responsible to their superiors for action taken by his department.

In your position I would expect / demand that the council recall the debt and allow you to pay by arrangement. I would expect as a matter of course that all the fees added by the bailiffs will be struck off, as they've clearly been adding illegal fees so they can no longer be trusted that any of their actions have been taken as they claim and therefore that any of their fees were ever legally added.

You will have to repay the fees the council themselves have incurred, which will be the cost of going to court to obtain a liability order against you. I suggest you accept that gracefully as there's naff all you can do about it in the short term, though I do recall there being a question about whether or not you were liable council tax in the first place as the house was empty?

It would be quite amusing if you turned out never to owe the money in the first place in the end! If that might be the case, I'd mention that to the council too - a legitimate dispute over the debt only strengthens the need for them to take it off the bailiffs.

Ask the council for the name of the certificated bailiff concerned, too, and tell them you are considering a complaint to the certifying court due to their behaviour.