Car clamped by bailif

ziggy25_2

A friend of mine called me up on Thursday morning telling me that the baillifs came round to their house and clamped her car.

At the time she had no idea what the debt was for or anything about any other debt. The baillif clamped the car and left a message saying that they will be back the next day.

Her brother then phoned the baillif later during the day and he was told that the debt is for 3 parking tickets and 1 speeding ticket.

When she spoke to me i adviced her that whatever happens she should not open the door for him. He came this morning and knocked the door several times with threats to enforce entry, calling the police etc. Eventually he left because the door was not opened.

According to the letter, the baillif company is called phillipscollectionservices .org .uk

Speaking to her again today she is telling me that she has no idea about any of the fines and that she has not recieved any letters from any council authority about the fines or DVLA about the speeding ticket.

I straight away knew that something is not right as it is practically impossible to get 3 parking ticket and a speeding fine without knowing anything about it.

Now the problem is that she is saying that it is possible that her brother might be responsible for them while she was not aware for it. She thinks that maybe he has been hiding these letters but is it possible to hide all of them?

What i dont understand is why is the baillif company dealing with both parking fines and speeding fines. Shouldnt the speeding fines be handled by DVLA first?

I think what she needs to do is try and find out which council or DVLA issued the fines and to try and look for proof as to whether it was her car in the first place. The reason being even though she is suspecting her brother she is not 100% sure.

How would you advice that she goes ahead with this? The baillif are threatening to force entry and are not listening to anything being told to them. Is it not possible to stop them while the matter is being investigated? We cant just pay them the £2000 just because they are saying we owe them. Surely they must provide the proof.

Thanks

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

ok - you need to find out who the debt belongs to get car un clamped (normally i'd say send a "prove it letter" but im guessing your friend needs her car sharpish?)
get friend to ring DVLA and query the speeding ticket. Parking ticket - who issued it? If she knows they arent hers she needs to declare her brother as the driver - the debts with then be in his name. Just a thought - has friend moved house? Is her car details updated with DVLA? She may not have given the right address

Then she needs to get the clamp removed from her car as they wont be her debts (with me so far?)

Baliff can not enter property unless they have a court order and to get a court order they need to PROVE that it is her debt.

Kimitatsu

Firstly

Yes they must provide a letter (the bailiffs should have written to her themselves already) or documents from the court to restrain goods. She should have had notification of all of these as well as original letters from the council dealing with the parking fines and the police for the speeding fine.

The bailiff cannot enter without permission for a civil matter unless they have a court order, if the matter is criminal then it will be dealt with by the police and they have powers of entry.

Phillips are notorious for shouting and threatening a lot but will back down when told that you have checked your rights and responsibilities, and are seeking legal advice on Monday morning. They will refer you to head office for proof of documentation as the bailiff will claim to have nothing - its not true, they do! Bailiffs are not allowed to work on a Sunday so you should have some peace tomorrow, but she needs to find out if it is her brother what he has been up to, for the speeding fine if it has been through the court system she will have to go back to the court and swear an afidavit to explain that she has not recieved any of the original paperwork. The original charge will then revert back to the initial stages but the police will still probably pursue it so she needs to ensure she knows who the driver was on that date, because the paperwork requires it.

Monday morning, get down to the CAB and get an adviser to call on her behalf and sort it out with the bailiff. They are reasonable to advisers!!

Where is the car? On private property or on a public road?

ziggy25_2

According to the bailif the parking tickets are for Westminster Council. I have already asked her ring DVLA first thing Monday morning to query the ticket.

She is 100% sure that neither the parking tickets or the speeding fine (if they are true) are not hers as she would have paid them before the 14 day deadline. She has no problem declaring her brother if it is him but the problem is there is no proof that it was him. She suspects her brother as it is impossible for her to not notice any of the notification letters from the Council or the baillifs for that number of tickets unless someone has been waiting at the door every morning and hiding them or no letters were sent at all. The problem is there is no proof to prove that it is her brother or any letters have actually been sent.

The car is still clamped outside on a public road.

How can she contact the court regarding the matter? There is not much information on the letter from the bailif other than a request for payment. There is no reference number for the parking fines or the speeding tickets.

I have asked her to phone DVLA on monday morning and hopefully she might be able to get some information if she provides her car registration number. With regards to the parking tickets it might be a bit difficult to contact Westminster council without any reference number.

When the baillif comes back again on Monday, are there any specific questions she needs to ask him? And also would you advice me calling the baillif and talking to him?

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

there's a template letter on here for them to "prove it" - She should hand that to the baliff and send one recorded to their Office address. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR TO THEM AT ALL. Talk through the letter box if she has to. Hopefully someone will post the link for you (im useless at links on here!) x

And baliff company wont talk to you without her permission which means she would have to talk to them which is something i wouldnt advise

ziggy25_2

Ok i found this template on this site

 [RIGHT][RIGHT][B][COLOR=blue][FONT=Arial]HOME ADDRESS

DATE[/FONT][/COLOR][/B][/RIGHT]
[/RIGHT]
  
  
  
  [B][COLOR=blue][FONT=Arial]COMPANY ADDRESS[/FONT][/COLOR][/B][FONT=Arial]


Dear Sir/Madam[/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial]Account No: [B][COLOR=blue]XXXXXXXXXXX[/COLOR][/B][/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial]You have contacted me/us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself/ourselves.[/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial]I/we would point out that I/we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to ([B][COLOR=blue]COMPANY NAME[/COLOR][/B]).  [/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial]I am/we are familiar with the Office of Fair Trading Debt collection Guidance which states that it unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.[/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial]I/we would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable.  In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.[/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial]Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment. [/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial]I/we would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my/our liability for the debt in question. [/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial]I/we await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed.[/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial]I/we look forward to your reply.[/FONT]
  
  [FONT=Arial]Yours faithfully[/FONT]
  
  
  [B][COLOR=blue][FONT=Arial]SIGNATURE[/FONT][/COLOR][/B]

Would you recommend that i ask her to update it and hand it to the bailif (through the letter box) when he comes back. What can i add on their with regards to the clamping of the car?

gfplux

Now the car is clamped has she confronted her brother. From what has been said (waiting at the door for any letter) he must live with her. He should be the one doing the phoning and supporting his sister.

missminx

if they have prosecuted her for speeding, she will have had points put on her licence. This will affect her current insurance as they will obviously be undeclared, and can lead to the dvla revoking her licence as obviously she hasn't sent her licence in to them.
Phone the dvla asap, they can be quite helpful on occasion.

ziggy25_2

missminx wrote: »

if they have prosecuted her for speeding, she will have had points put on her licence. This will affect her current insurance as they will obviously be undeclared, and can lead to the dvla revoking her licence as obviously she hasn't sent her licence in to them.
Phone the dvla asap, they can be quite helpful on occasion.

Actually she got a replacement license just last month and they didnt mention anything about any points when she applied for the license. Maybe the baillif was lying?

ziggy25_2

gfplux wrote: »

Now the car is clamped has she confronted her brother. From what has been said (waiting at the door for any letter) he must live with her. He should be the one doing the phoning and supporting his sister.

Yes they live together. He is supporting his sister and all that but is denying any knowledge of the fines.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

ziggy25 wrote: »

Actually she got a replacement license just last month and they didnt mention anything about any points when she applied for the license. Maybe the baillif was lying?

hmmm this sounds very fishy. Firstly, DVLA wouldnt mention the points to her, they would just add it to her licence. Does her paper counterpart have anything on there?

I wonder if they are lookng for "Miss Jane Smith" and have the wrong one?

I would be tempted to ring the court, get everything confirmed and see what the next step is and i'd sting the brother up by his erm . . . goolies :rotfl:

IF they have clammped the wrong car - I'd demand some form of apology (in writing) AND charge them for bus fares/taxi fares etc that she's had to use whilst her car is out of use lol