Bailiff advice

loopylou305

Hi
I have had a bailiff attendance letter posted through my door to recover outstanding council tax of £293.00 - luckily we were away at the time so the bailiff was unable to gain access to the property and no levy has been issued.
I have since spoken to the bailiff and the company he is employed by and the account now sits at £407.68.
He is trying to charge me as he attended with a vehicle with intention to remove goods - how can he do this if no levy is in place?
how can I go about appealing this? they are expecting me to pay in full by Friday lunchtime at 12 noon.
Thanks

HappyMJ

You should not have called.... Let them return the debt to the council. It takes 3 visits that you ignore. Once the debt has been returned to the council then you can negotiate with the council to pay the debt. Any fees and charges charged by the bailiff will be unrecoverable and written off.

Appealing to a bailiff never works. They want access to your house to get a walking possesion over your goods and threaten you with taking them if you don't pay. If they don't get a walking possesion they are unlikely to agree to a fair and reasonable payment plan.

loopylou305

well I have til friday at 12noon to repay the debt, otherwise he will be attending again.

no levy has been made nor any access granted, will there be any point making a letter of complaint to the collection agency? he is definitely a certificated bailiff.

the charges that they have applied are not within legistlation guidelines

hallowitch

. Any fees and charges charged by the bailiff will be unrecoverable and written off.

not now Happy MJ

the national standard's for enforcement agents January 2012
http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/courts/enforcement-officers/national-standards-enforcement-agents.pdf
it does say making direct payment arngements but i get the feeling that local authoritys will pay the fees if a detor pays them direct without a payment agrement
page 3

Creditors agreeing the suspension of a warrant or making direct payment arrangements with debtors must give appropriate notification to and should pay appropriate fees due to the enforcement agent.

loopylou305

hallowitch wrote: »

. Any fees and charges charged by the bailiff will be unrecoverable and written off.

not now Happy MJ

the national standard's for enforcement agents January 2012

it does say making direct payment arngements but i get the feeling that local authoritys will pay the fees if a detor pays them direct without a payment agrement
page 3

Creditors agreeing the suspension of a warrant or making direct payment arrangements with debtors must give appropriate notification to and should pay appropriate fees due to the enforcement agent.

so does this mean if i pay the outstanding debt directly to the council the bailiff fees disappear and the bailiff will leave me alone as technically the creditor has their debt paid back??

hallowitch

loopylou305 wrote: »

well I have til friday at 12noon to repay the debt, otherwise he will be attending again.

no levy has been made nor any access granted, will there be any point making a letter of complaint to the collection agency? he is definitely a certificated bailiff.

the charges that they have applied are not within legislation guidelines

he can call every day for a month if he wants but he cant charge you any more than £42.50

I wonder what he intends to threated do on Friday if the debts not paid :rotfl:because without a levy on goods there is nothing he can do

If you have a car keep it well away from the house as of NOW he will be in the area working and could note down the reg make and model of your car then drop a notice of distress at a later date or not bother leaving notice of distress and argue black is white that he did (been known to happen)

you make a FORMAL COMPLAINT to the council revenue department informing them that the bailiff has charged fees that don't comply with legislation namely a van/attendance fee when there is no levy on your goods
legislation
Regulation 45 schedule 5 charges connected with distress of the council tax administration and enforcement regulations 1992 amended 2006
send a copy of your complaint to the bailiff firm also by e-mail and or registered post

loopylou305

we have a car but its all in my husbands name so i dont think that they can touch that??

so do i take it that i ignore him for as long as possible? and if not do i now pay the council via their website?

hallowitch

loopylou305 wrote: »

we have a car but its all in my husbands name so i don't think that they can touch that??

so do i take it that i ignore him for as long as possible? and if not do i now pay the council via their website?

the bailiff can levy his car if you incurred the debt while you lived together council tax is joint and several liability which means they can pursue one or both of you

If its a debt from before you lived together then they cant touch his car if the car is on finance hp they cant levy it either

pay on line using the councils on line payment facility
pay what you can when when you can try making payments the same regularly IE £10/20 on the same day every week month

this wont stop the bailiff calling but he will son get the message and return the debt back to the council

PS he cant get locksmith police put your kids in care arrest you recommend committal proceeding etc
actually he cant do anything if you don't invite him in (don't open the door to him ) and video his visit on your mobile phone

RAS

If he returns on Friday, he can add another £18 to the bill.

But he has to take off the illegal fees.

Liability order £293
First and second visit fees £42.50 - if he visits on Friday

Any other fee is illegal.

Make sure the car is off the road and off your property. keep the windows and doors locked and do not let him in.

pay what you can direct to the Council

And complain about the fees he has added to which he is not entitled.

loopylou305

i will be writing to the council and i am more than happy to pay what i owe directly back to the council i dont want to deal with the bailiff any more.

if i pay directly to the council will i still be liable for the fees?

the car isnt in my name and is on finance again in husbands name. the debt is solely mine as we werent living together at the time.

RAS

OK

Debt in your name only - cannot take hubbie's car so you need a statutory declaration to cover it (£5-10 at the lawyers) if the finance is not HP. If it is HP, it is not even hubbies.

You do have to pay the basic fees - max £42.50.