Handling bailiffs - do I have to pay everything?

nottRobin

Hi everyone.

This bailiff arrived at my parents' house looking for me and scared my mum a bit. Now I'm wondering how best to deal with him. Could I have some advice? Here's the story:

I'm a bit scared by this bailiff I have chasing me. A few months ago I was issued a fine for £45 for cycling on the pavement from a policeman (can you believe it). I put it aside and forgot about it, partly as I'm not that organised with money anyway.

Then I got a letter from a bailiff company - Marston Group - saying that I owed them £95 or something. It didn't say why or what for, and I didn't particularly recognise the figure. I twice tried going online and looking up the case with the reference number on the letter but it told me their reference retrieval system was down and I had to try later. At this point I thought it was probably a scam - what kind of debt crown court collector doesn't even give you a hint of what you owe them money for?

Anyway so this guy went round to my Mum's house and posted a personal letter through their door, and charged £170 for the privilege.

So now I owe £45 + £50 late fee + £170 bailiff transport charge = £265. Or thereabouts.

I haven't actually spoken to the bailiff yet. I was wondering what my rights are in this? Do I have to pay this arbitrary £170 that they've decided I owe them? Can they just keep adding extra charges as and when they like until the matter is resolved? Can I appeal any of it?

Thanks very much.
Robin.

RAS

Hi

The fees may depend whether this is a certified bailiff or a Court Enforcement. if it is the latter, the fees are higher and they can add more.

Can you pm Herbie21 and check out her web-site for advice.

nottRobin

I found a good guide on insolvencyhelpline.co.uk - in case anyone else needs similar advice.

They said, about my issue:
"The fees that bailiffs can charge for recovering money vary. There are fixed fees for bailiffs collecting council tax; for example, from 1 April 1998 fees for the first visit by a bailiff are £20 and £15 for a second visit, where no levy or seizure is made.
All bailiff fees (with the exception of magistrates' court bailiffs) can be looked at by the county court to see if they are reasonable or excessive. This is known as 'detailed assessment'. If you think that the bailiff's fees are excessive you should get further advice about this."

I'll wait until my local Citizens Advice Bureau opens and then call them for advice.

nottRobin

Ah hi RAS thanks for replying.

Their site says: "High Court Enforcement Officers and Certificated Bailiffs". I guess that means it's the latter. So does that mean a fee of £170 for a visit is legal? Just seems so much!

RAS

If they are operating as High Court Enforcement Officers, they can add much higher fees and Herbie21's advice to previous posters is to pay as much as possible as quickly as possible to clear the debt before they add more fees.

Certified bailiffs can only charge £42.50 for two visits and no more unless they get a levy.

pepe2008

RAS wrote: »

If they are operating as High Court Enforcement Officers, they can add much higher fees and Herbie21's advice to previous posters is to pay as much as possible as quickly as possible to clear the debt before they add more fees.

Certified bailiffs can only charge £42.50 for two visits and no more unless they get a levy.

So it depends in which capacity they are calling? Learning here...:D

RAS

Herbie's web-site is here:

www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk

Johnny_Chaos

RAS wrote: »

If they are operating as High Court Enforcement Officers, they can add much higher fees and Herbie21's advice to previous posters is to pay as much as possible as quickly as possible to clear the debt before they add more fees.

Certified bailiffs can only charge £42.50 for two visits and no more unless they get a levy.

Pass the letters on to your local Citizens' Advice. If the bailiffs contact you in the meantime, say your presently seeking legal advice (no need to say CAB) and that they will hear from your in due course.

Also: NEVER allow bailiffs into your property. Doesn't matter what they say, or how much money you owe, NEVER allow them into your property. You can ask them politely, through the letterbox if you don't want to open your door, to leave your property. If they refuse then call the police and say there is a threatening person on your property who is refusing to leave.

RobertoMoir

For God's sake don't send people with bailiff problems to the CAB. The help they'll get there is totally random, running the whole range from utterly useless to actually dangerous.

immoral_angeluk

RobertoMoir wrote: »

For God's sake don't send people with bailiff problems to the CAB. The help they'll get there is totally random, running the whole range from utterly useless to actually dangerous.

With all due respect there is no need for that. I'm guessing you've had a bad experience with someone from the CAB but the valuable work we do doesn't deserve such blatant insults as that.

never-in-doubt

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

With all due respect there is no need for that. I'm guessing you've had a bad experience with someone from the CAB but the valuable work we do doesn't deserve such blatant insults as that.

he's an ex bailiff and lets be fair, we are speaking about a lot of unqualified people giving mis-advice, not all do it but a lot do. Some of the stories on here are enough to confirm that...

I appreciate you do great work for them but unfortunately, we can't have a 'you' in every bureau and the majority ruin the name of the good few people that do have some knowledge in the field they try and assist in.

I have never dealt with CAB directly, but have picked up the pieces of their 'advice' on numerous occasion.