Unspecified Bailiff fees

a_pedant

I returned from work today to find a "Notification of Bailiff visit" regarding my council tax from a previous property (I missed acting on the liability order by a few hours, I called to arrange a payment plan at 6pm and they said had sent it to Bristow and Sutor bailiffs at midday).

The debt is for £225.39 (£122.39 unpaid and £103 costs)
The notice asks me to call and arrange for a walking possession order and says
"The amount due and payable if this action takes place will be £317.39 which includes a fee of £24.50 for my visit today"

Now I only got an A at GCSE maths, but I make £225.39 + £24.50 = £249.89, not £317 39, a £25 fee has turned into £102, without explanation.

1) Are bailiffs required to lay out their fees, rather than just adding them (I am aware there is a clause for "reasonable costs of visit", but shouldn't this be included in the fee for today's visit?)

2) Would I be justified in using the B&S online payments to pay £249.89 (which I can just about afford to do within my overdraft) and then threaten to or actually seek a detailed assesment of the remaining fees if they are not waived?

Tixy

Hi

Worth having a look at this website for this http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/

They are allowed to charge just £24.50 for a first visit (where they did not obtain entry to your house). Its very ambigiously worded and may well not be legal but I think what they are inferring is that if you arrange a walking posession order they will be allowed to charge the extra fees that will make up that amount to the £317.

You obviously don't want to do this, you don't want to let them in your house and don't want them to get a walking possession order under any circumstances.

They certainly should provide a breakdown of fees if requested. At the moment I would believe that you owe £225.39. Its not clear if that include the £24.50, so its feasible you may also owe that extra. But not anymore than that.

a_pedant

The £225.39 tallies with the liability order, so I think any court would say they are entitled to the one fee of £24.50. I think I will try the payment of the debt and one visit fee, accompanied by a request for a breakdown of fees (based on the note on another thread about Bristow and Sutor).

On a related note, does anyone know if the council (let's name and shame it's Bristol City Council) can be required to justify their costs on individual cases as a civil plaintiff would be (even though it's a Magistrates Court action) or are they allowed to just charge everyone £103?

FTW

CAG has a separate, and excellent, bailiffs advice board, and so does Legal Beagles. It'll be worth the OP posting his original posts on those two sites as well.

But even at a casual glance, yes, the bailiff is trying it on. On CAG, there's an excellent letter (I forget the direct link to it) which puts strict onus on the bailiff to break down those fees.

king100

Its very simple.

Logon to your council and make a payment online for the full LO plus the £24.50 1st visit fee.

The bailiff cannot use the LO to get his fees and would have to take you to court, hence he will have to prove that his fees are correct.

You know and I know that they arnt and regulations say that they arnt.

So do you think he will take you court?