Council wants £397 for hitting a bollard

Tucker

Just incase, this may help, but you need to hold out for 3 more months for it to apply (assuming you've never contacted them at any stage). If they do what they have threatened before August or whenever they first notified you of the debt, it looks like they've caught up with you in the nick of time. If you contact them now or at any point before the 6 years is up, the clock starts again. It could be a good time to move again.........................!!


The Limitations Act 1980 outlines the time limit within which a creditor can chase a debtor for outstanding debts. The Limitations Act 1980 only applies when no contact has been made between the creditor and debtor within the given time limit and only applies to residents of England and Wales.
Creditors are given a fixed period of time to chase their debtors, which is outlined in the Limitations Act 1980. The time scale mainly depends on the type of debt and can be extended at the courts discretion. The time limit begins when you last admitted owing the money or made a payment.
Should the creditor fail to maintain contact with the debtor, for a period of 6 years or more, it is possible to claim that the outstanding debt is "Statute Barred" under the conditions of the Limitations Act 1980.

The Limitations Act 1980 also has additional effects, depending on the type of debt in question:

For unsecured debt -

You may have assumed that your creditor has "written-off" a debt if you have not heard from them for a long period. In many cases, it could be down to your failure to inform them of a change of address, but the debt will still exist and creditors are entitled to chase the debt indefinitely (even after the debt has become Statute Barred), however they can only use the legal system to recover the monies for up to 6 years after the last payment was made to the account.

Remember, creditors are still able to pursue an unsecured debt if:
They have previously obtained a judgement against you (a CCJ);
You have made a payment to the account within the last 6 years (this includes anyone else named on the credit agreement)
You have established any contact with the creditor (this can be a phone call or letter to request a balance or change your details), except to deny that the debt exists.

If a creditor continues to contact you after accepting that a debt is Statute Barred and you have stated that you no longer intend to pay the debt, you may be able to claim harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970.

For a County Court Judgement -

If the creditor has previously taken you to court and you have received a County Court Judgement, you will be unable to use the Limitations Act 1980 to dispute the debt. If the judgement is over 6 years old the creditor may need the permission of the Court to enforce the debt.

jammin_2

You'd do well to ignore the letter and make no contact in any way whatsoever. Past August this year, whatever they claim you owe them is legally unenforceable, and at that time (but not before!), you can, if you wish, write to them quoting the Limitations Act and forget all about it.

tomstickland

jimmyjim_uk wrote: »

I thought about just that sending them the £69. Don't think it will make them go away.

Here's the breakdown:

Emergency Call Out £108

Reinstate Furniture Illuminated Keep Left Bollard £69

Site Visit/Technical Fees £125

Claims Administration Charge £95

Total £397

Looks reasonable to me. £69 pays for the bollard alone and it can't magically install itself.

cyclonebri1

Were the full details originally given to your insurers? Wouldn't they still be liable if that was the case?

It must still be on record who you were insured with at the time.

Given what others have said, it does look like a fairly reasonable charge but I too would be inclined to do nothing untill the statute runs out if that is possible.

Do they know that you have received the letter? ie was it sent recorded etc?

flang

previously working for a council we were charged the following for a bollard.

£267 to reconnect and disconnect live electricity.
approx £150 for new illuminated bollard base
approx £120 for flexible bollard shell.

however it appears that you did not damage the base or shell so all they had to do was replace the shear pins which are pennys + call out charge!!!
I know we used to add 10% admin charge but yours seems excessive!!

zeon999

Yeah think yourself lucky I was charged £140 roughly just for a sign post to an industrial estate near my house. I just paid it at the end of the day I damaged their sign and owe them the money to fix it.

The really expencive ones are if you hit a lamp post they charge the earth for one of them for some reason.

flang

zeon999 wrote: »

Yeah think yourself lucky I was charged £140 roughly just for a sign post to an industrial estate near my house. I just paid it at the end of the day I damaged their sign and owe them the money to fix it.

The really expencive ones are if you hit a lamp post they charge the earth for one of them for some reason.

Yeah lamp posts are always expensive because the electricity supply comes straight off the national grid and cannot be isolated, contractors work on live electricity at a price!

jimmyjim_uk

Thanks for your replies guys.

I have already contacted them as I didn't know why they were sending me a letter. I never knew I took out the bollard when I crashed. They have a police report as evidence.

I haven't a clue who my insurer was at the time, I must of had 6 different insurers in the last 6 years as I always shop around.

As I said previously, I don't mind paying for the bollard. I will also pay the labour charges. They don't detail any labour charges in the breakdown.

I was wondering if anyone knew of an appeal process to challange the amount. £95 admin charge to send out a letter, come on, that takes the michael.

Keith

It doesn't really, they had to spend time tracking you down and then writing to you. Easily billed in a legal department

Iamthesmartestmanalive

Keith wrote: »

It doesn't really, they had to spend time tracking you down and then writing to you. Easily billed in a legal department

Agreed

You should have had it settled by your insurance co at the time, they have instead spent a lot of time chasing this debt

The price doesnt seem unreasonable for the damage done and just because you dont have your paperwork isnt their fault