Being forced to pay Customs charges. Will I get a CCJ?

Mistral001

If you are unsure about the original terms and conditions under which you bought this item, then their website might have a general terms and conditions  page which could give you some guidance.    

Thrugelmir

sourcrates said:

Batesy1976 said:

sourcrates said:

This is quite a common problem, happens a lot with eBay stuff bought from abroad, where a small amount of import duty is payable.

The thing is, import duty should be paid on goods before delivery takes place, not after the fact.

Although the letter is worded quite aggressively, you will find that after maybe one or two letters, it will all go quiet, and will be forgotten about, this is because as the goods have already been delivered, UPS don`t have a leg to stand on legally.

There will be no CCJ, and it will not affect your credit file as its not a credit related debt.

Of course should your conscience not allow you to sleep over this matter, you are perfectly free to pay them what they are asking, but be aware also there a quite a number of scams doing the rounds.

You're completely wrong, and it wouldn't be the first time.

Import duty/VAT should be paid at source, but often isn't.  That doesn't absolve the recipient of their obligation to pay it.

It also doesn't need to be paid before delivery, although it would be prudent for any courier to insist on payment before delivery to avoid people refusing to pay like the OP.

The OP is legally obliged to pay the UPS bill.  The law specifically states this.  They might not take it to court, but the OP will lose if it gets that far.

Well that may well be, but on reading the initial post again, the OP is talking about payment for shipment, they didn`t mention import duty or VAT.


"Fast forward to today (8th July 2021). I have received a letter from company acting as the agent of the courier stating that I must pay a sum of £112.40 for the shipment of this item from Europe to the UK as the company have a failed to pay the shipment cost so I become legally liable for the funds to be paid. They state that this must be paid within 7 days otherwise further charges will be incurred". 


I would expect the OP paid for shipping when the item was ordered, so asking them to pay twice is a tad unfair in my eyes.

I would write a letter of complaint disputing any liability for this, telling them you have paid once, and you don`t intend paying twice.

Is this company based in the UK, if its not there just trying there luck.

Read the letter sent to the OP. The charge was levied by the HMRC.  Nothing to do with shipment charges. 

Mistral001

Yes it looks like they are only charging for the duty and not the shipping.   However, for that amount of duty, the monitor must have been an expensive one.  

sourcrates

Thrugelmir said:

sourcrates said:

Batesy1976 said:

sourcrates said:

This is quite a common problem, happens a lot with eBay stuff bought from abroad, where a small amount of import duty is payable.

The thing is, import duty should be paid on goods before delivery takes place, not after the fact.

Although the letter is worded quite aggressively, you will find that after maybe one or two letters, it will all go quiet, and will be forgotten about, this is because as the goods have already been delivered, UPS don`t have a leg to stand on legally.

There will be no CCJ, and it will not affect your credit file as its not a credit related debt.

Of course should your conscience not allow you to sleep over this matter, you are perfectly free to pay them what they are asking, but be aware also there a quite a number of scams doing the rounds.

You're completely wrong, and it wouldn't be the first time.

Import duty/VAT should be paid at source, but often isn't.  That doesn't absolve the recipient of their obligation to pay it.

It also doesn't need to be paid before delivery, although it would be prudent for any courier to insist on payment before delivery to avoid people refusing to pay like the OP.

The OP is legally obliged to pay the UPS bill.  The law specifically states this.  They might not take it to court, but the OP will lose if it gets that far.

Well that may well be, but on reading the initial post again, the OP is talking about payment for shipment, they didn`t mention import duty or VAT.


"Fast forward to today (8th July 2021). I have received a letter from company acting as the agent of the courier stating that I must pay a sum of £112.40 for the shipment of this item from Europe to the UK as the company have a failed to pay the shipment cost so I become legally liable for the funds to be paid. They state that this must be paid within 7 days otherwise further charges will be incurred". 


I would expect the OP paid for shipping when the item was ordered, so asking them to pay twice is a tad unfair in my eyes.

I would write a letter of complaint disputing any liability for this, telling them you have paid once, and you don`t intend paying twice.

Is this company based in the UK, if its not there just trying there luck.

Read the letter sent to the OP. The charge was levied by the HMRC.  Nothing to do with shipment charges. 

The letter sent was a generic template that is sent to everyone.

Controlaccount PLC are just a debt collection company used by Fedex/UPS etc to collect outstanding invoices. 

It doesn't make clear what the charge is for exactly.

Thrugelmir

sourcrates said:

Thrugelmir said:

sourcrates said:

Batesy1976 said:

sourcrates said:

This is quite a common problem, happens a lot with eBay stuff bought from abroad, where a small amount of import duty is payable.

The thing is, import duty should be paid on goods before delivery takes place, not after the fact.

Although the letter is worded quite aggressively, you will find that after maybe one or two letters, it will all go quiet, and will be forgotten about, this is because as the goods have already been delivered, UPS don`t have a leg to stand on legally.

There will be no CCJ, and it will not affect your credit file as its not a credit related debt.

Of course should your conscience not allow you to sleep over this matter, you are perfectly free to pay them what they are asking, but be aware also there a quite a number of scams doing the rounds.

You're completely wrong, and it wouldn't be the first time.

Import duty/VAT should be paid at source, but often isn't.  That doesn't absolve the recipient of their obligation to pay it.

It also doesn't need to be paid before delivery, although it would be prudent for any courier to insist on payment before delivery to avoid people refusing to pay like the OP.

The OP is legally obliged to pay the UPS bill.  The law specifically states this.  They might not take it to court, but the OP will lose if it gets that far.

Well that may well be, but on reading the initial post again, the OP is talking about payment for shipment, they didn`t mention import duty or VAT.


"Fast forward to today (8th July 2021). I have received a letter from company acting as the agent of the courier stating that I must pay a sum of £112.40 for the shipment of this item from Europe to the UK as the company have a failed to pay the shipment cost so I become legally liable for the funds to be paid. They state that this must be paid within 7 days otherwise further charges will be incurred". 


I would expect the OP paid for shipping when the item was ordered, so asking them to pay twice is a tad unfair in my eyes.

I would write a letter of complaint disputing any liability for this, telling them you have paid once, and you don`t intend paying twice.

Is this company based in the UK, if its not there just trying there luck.

Read the letter sent to the OP. The charge was levied by the HMRC.  Nothing to do with shipment charges. 

The letter sent was a generic template that is sent to everyone.

Controlaccount PLC are just a debt collection company used by Fedex/UPS etc to collect outstanding invoices. 

It doesn't make clear what the charge is for exactly.

If you had any experience of importing goods from overseas makes perfect sense. The OP has obviously ignored previous correspondence from the carrier. 

[Deleted User]

£112 shipping cost would be something big/heavy and / or a premium service. A monitor would be unlikely to be that expensive to ship - but the import VAT / plus shipper fees (using their deferment account for example normally includes a charge) is realistic. Say a £500 monitor, £100 VAT plus £12.40 admin fee

Batesy1976

sourcrates said:

Batesy1976 said:

sourcrates said:

This is quite a common problem, happens a lot with eBay stuff bought from abroad, where a small amount of import duty is payable.

The thing is, import duty should be paid on goods before delivery takes place, not after the fact.

Although the letter is worded quite aggressively, you will find that after maybe one or two letters, it will all go quiet, and will be forgotten about, this is because as the goods have already been delivered, UPS don`t have a leg to stand on legally.

There will be no CCJ, and it will not affect your credit file as its not a credit related debt.

Of course should your conscience not allow you to sleep over this matter, you are perfectly free to pay them what they are asking, but be aware also there a quite a number of scams doing the rounds.

You're completely wrong, and it wouldn't be the first time.

Import duty/VAT should be paid at source, but often isn't.  That doesn't absolve the recipient of their obligation to pay it.

It also doesn't need to be paid before delivery, although it would be prudent for any courier to insist on payment before delivery to avoid people refusing to pay like the OP.

The OP is legally obliged to pay the UPS bill.  The law specifically states this.  They might not take it to court, but the OP will lose if it gets that far.

Well that may well be, but on reading the initial post again, the OP is talking about payment for shipment, they didn`t mention import duty or VAT.


"Fast forward to today (8th July 2021). I have received a letter from company acting as the agent of the courier stating that I must pay a sum of £112.40 for the shipment of this item from Europe to the UK as the company have a failed to pay the shipment cost so I become legally liable for the funds to be paid. They state that this must be paid within 7 days otherwise further charges will be incurred". 


I would expect the OP paid for shipping when the item was ordered, so asking them to pay twice is a tad unfair in my eyes.

I would write a letter of complaint disputing any liability for this, telling them you have paid once, and you don`t intend paying twice.

Is this company based in the UK, if its not there just trying there luck.

I'm not sure why you're using the OP's words as the ultimate authority to what they're being charged for when the letter makes it clear HMRC are the ones levying the charge.

Either way it's HMRC levying the charge so the OP is gambling that they won't take it further.  If they do the OP will lose in court.  They have no defence.

sourcrates

Advice here on how to deal with debt collectors, and controlaccount in particular -

How to Deal with Controlaccount Debt Recovery - 2021 Guide (moneynerd.co.uk)

Batesy1976

sourcrates said:

Advice here on how to deal with debt collectors, and controlaccount in particular -

How to Deal with Controlaccount Debt Recovery - 2021 Guide (moneynerd.co.uk)

Surely the way to "deal" with this is to pay the debt.