Help needed pls: My mum is trapped in spiralling bailiff costs (Bristow & Sutor)

dazmb

Any help really appreciated by the good peeps on this forum with knowledge/experience of this.

Setting the scene. My mum who is retired and has been very unwell recently got a parking ticket from Rutland District Council (RDC) - apparently she did buy a ticket but it was missed or not in view of parking warden but I'll come back to that.

RDC passed on the case to Bristow & Sutor (B&S) who do a lot of the councils fines so I'm led to believe. Now I know that my mothers illness etc is not anything that hardened bailiffs care about, and to by fair to the bailiffs my mum in her old age is not the best at opening bills and dealing with these things promptly. But I want to see what other people think.

She owes £171.55 having already paid B&S a sum of £92.88.

Here is the response I have received today from B&S with the timelines and reasons for the extra costs incurred:

"
Dear Madam
We write in response to your recent e-mail.
We initially wrote to you on 9th March 2010 giving details of the outstanding charge and advising the sum of £92.88 should be paid immediately. The letter also stated that failure to pay would result in a bailiff visit which would incur costs.
As you failed to make payment our bailiff attend your property on 25/03/10 leaving paperwork detailing the balance of £125.78 which included additional cost of £32.90.
A cheque in the sum of £92.88 was received 27/03/10 and a letter was sent advising costs of £32.90 were still outstanding, followed by a further letter on 06/04/10. Payment was not received and resulted in a further bailiff visit 27/04/10 incurring costs of £138.65.
Cost are calculated in accordance with schedule 1 of the Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts (Certificated Bailiffs) regulations 1993 and (amended) Regulations 1998. The amount of £171.55 is still outstanding and as advised on our previous e-mail this should be paid in full by debit/credit card before 6pm today in order to prevent further bailiff action which will incur additional costs for which you will be liable. . Please note all card payments are subject to a surcharge.
We trust this clarifies the situation
Yours faithfully"


Is this fair folks? Feel free to be honest. As mentioned previously I couldn't make a judgement call if my mum had these notifications through the post and ignored them thinking that she would only need to pay the original £92.88.

With regards the fact that she did buy a ticket (however it came about that it was not seen by the parking warden), can she go back to RD council with the ticket which she tells me she still has and get the council to call off B&S? I know that B&S will only act if their clients RDC tell them too.

My mother is still unwell and frail and really stressing about this. Obviously as her son I want to help her and avoid mounting bailiff costs. But if it's a fair cop then so be it - she will just have to bite the bullet and put it down as a lesson learned. But it's hard for elderly people who don't understand the way these things work and can't navigate the very deliberately difficult IMO multiple choice answerphone setup that B&S has, and she doesn't have the internet to email them. It feels a bit like a honeytrap that more vulnerable members of our society are doomed to fall into, and extracting yourself from it is outrageously expensive IMO.

Again any help welcomed and appreciated.

Cheers,

BargainGalore

You get much better advice on this board Op

Parking Fines, Tickets & Parking

4743hudsonj

The Debt free wannabe may be more suitable now the baliffs are involved.

As for telling the council about the ticket, i have a feeling that it MAY call the baliffs off, but as she did not act sooner, she may still be liable for the costs so far (excluding the initial fine)

dazmb

My post has now on advice been re-posted in Debt free wannabee section - this can now be deleted.

Thanks.

Hintza

Am I simplifying it too much. Bailiff visit = £32.90. Therefore two bailiff visits should only be twice that? £65.80.