Hi to all

[wahoo_thomas]

Hi all,

I joined this forum this morning and have already found some extremely useful information.Currently I am (unfortunately) having to deal with a Bailiff from the infamous ROSSENDALES . I was contacted by them 6 months ago concerning an unpaid Council Tax bill from a previous address .After sending the dreaded means test form to them ( which surprise surprise they did not receive ) I was contacted by their Bailiff. I found him to be a very unpleasant little man to deal with although not as intimidating as he wanted to be . (He is 5ft 10 I am 6ft 4 0).I contacted the council direct . Although at first unwilling to help after various communications they forced ROSSENDALES to agree to a repayment schedule . All was going well I managed to reduce the debt to just 144 pounds . I was late making 1 payment by 3 days and was told that it was in the hands of the van Bailiff. Yesterday I recieved the dreaded note through the door telling me 24 hours to pay etc or lose my hat. The note had no date or time on it and no amount owed .I called said Bailiff after confirming he was certified to tell him I will pay the 144 pounds today and was informed it had risen to 285 pounds when I questioned the fees he threatened to come sit outside my house every day charging me 60 pounds a time if I didnt just pay.I asked for a breakdown of the fees and all he said was van fees . I do not have any walk in possesion order with them in fact no paperwork except letters even after asking for details of court order etc . I am going to pay the full amount as my partner was not very happy with the Bailiff coming to the house . I would like advice on :-
A) If making the payment is admitting the debt .
B) The best course of action to recover my money
C) How to complain to the court that has certified the bailiff .From what I have read claiming a van to remove goods can only happen if they have a walk in possesion so it is tantamount to fraud .Any Advice would be a great help

Thanks in advance
jim

(sorry for any spelling mistakes I am an designer not a scholar )

[Amy]

Re: Hi to all

So hold on a minute, you know this amount of money is fiction, but you are still willing to pay?

If there is no valid and signed walking possession order in place he can sit outside your house and charge you blood diamonds if he wants to. It makes not a blind bit of difference to what he is permitted to charge.

Van fees with no valid walking possession = no payment.
Council tax debts - waiting time, which is not a prescribed fee = no payment.

Do not pay, what he has made up. It is much simpler than paying and then claiming back.

[wahoo_thomas]

Re: Hi to all

I realise what you are saying amy but I do not need the agro from my partner ...all she says is we have the money might as well pay .Would this be a better idea ...I pay the 144 pounds that I do owe and then agree to the first visit payment which again he is allowed to charge by law and tell him to go do one or get nothing as I can happily wait for him to pass the remainder of the debt back to the council.My house is like fort knox anyway.I have already spoken to the council involved and have to send any complaints to their recovery section.You are the legal Beagle what would you recommend I do not need the aggro at home and I believe i have a strong case to have the monies returned (if not in months down the line ) also I can then petition for some form of fraud charges to be bought on the bailiff as he has taken money knowingly defrauded from me.Your views on this would help please Amy

[Amy]

Re: Hi to all

By all means pay what you owe, which is the £144 I believe.

I understand completely how anxious and upset she must be feeling, but have you or she thought about what other charges might magically appear once you pay these made up charges. Bullies never let go and you have to realise that there is nothing a bailiff can do as long as you do not let them in.

Do you know what you have paid and for what, so far?

[wahoo_thomas]

Re: Hi to all

Hi amy

The original debt was 1218 pounds which was the council tax and the cost of the summons etc .I have only paid this and no other fees except the balance of 144 pounds .

I have to also mention I work away from home three days a week , so that will add to my partners concern whilst I may be big enough and ugly enough to deal with low life good for nothing bullies she is not in that position .

I am perfectly happy to pay my debt and also the 1st visit cost so should i make that payment and tell him that I have taken legal advice and am aware what a fraudulent little git he is and it will not wash with me .

Or pay, this way I have him by the short and curlies and if there is any justice I will get my 100 odd pounds back and he will be repremanded for his actions .

To do the later I will need a lot of help on the legal side .

I want to see both ROSSENDALES ...WEALDON COUNCIL and MR BASHIR all bought to account for their actions towards me .I feel I have done more than enough to clear this debt in a reasonable time frame .I would also like to think any action I can bring against all parties may go some way to stop this happening to somebody who maybe does not have the means to pay and would be scared to their wits end by this behaviour.From all I have read I trust your views so any input would help me make my decision .

Thanks again for your time

Jim

[Amy]

Re: Hi to all

Hi amy

The original debt was 1218 pounds which was the council tax and the cost of the summons etc .I have only paid this and no other fees except the balance of 144 pounds .

Excellent.

I have to also mention I work away from home three days a week , so that will add to my partners concern whilst I may be big enough and ugly enough to deal with low life good for nothing bullies she is not in that position.

I understand that, I really do and it's obviously your decision. However, a bailiff is not allowed to terrify someone in their own home. They simply are not allowed to do this especially to a woman on her own.

If she wants me to speak with her on the telephone, I will.

I am perfectly happy to pay my debt and also the 1st visit cost so should i make that payment and tell him that I have taken legal advice and am aware what a fraudulent little git he is and it will not wash with me.

This is what I would do, but as above, it is your decision.

Or pay, this way I have him by the short and curlies and if there is any justice I will get my 100 odd pounds back and he will be repremanded for his actions .

To do the later I will need a lot of help on the legal side.

I want to see both ROSSENDALES ...WEALDON COUNCIL and MR BASHIR all bought to account for their actions towards me .I feel I have done more than enough to clear this debt in a reasonable time frame .I would also like to think any action I can bring against all parties may go some way to stop this happening to somebody who maybe does not have the means to pay and would be scared to their wits end by this behaviour.From all I have read I trust your views so any input would help me make my decision.

You can make Rossendales pay, they are one of the worst bailiff companies out there - the council must be shown the error of their ways also because they just believe they have washed their hands when an account is handed to a bailiff. We will help you whatever way you choose to go about it.

[wahoo_thomas]

Re: Hi to all

thanks for your help amy,

I am going to pay the bailiff 144 pounds only plus 1st visit fees .

I will then contact both his office and the council to inform them I believe that the bailiff is attempting to commit fraud and they are cullpable for his actions jointly .

I will also inform the court where he is certified as to my beliefs.

As for my partner (thankyou for your kind offer if things progress in this way I will be taking you up on this ) having spoken with her in detail last night and explaining how I feel as regards her protection ( IE me tarzan you jane I must look after you etc ) she has told me she is more than capable of holding her own with a snotty little bailiff and is willing too support me on my decision.

Although this is a concern of mine as I do not want her to feel unsafe in our home.

Is there a standard complaints procedure i must follow and what would you reccomend as my next course of action .

As i said i will speak with the bailiff and make an immediate payment of 144 + the 1st visit fees this will buy me some time to prepare my next move . I will not discuss with the bailiff any thing I am planning and will only say I can afford this and detail what I am paying .

I have no problem with paying the full amount he is asking for and spending both time and money fighting this ( even if it costs more than the 80 pounds he is charging )THIS TO ME IS NOT ABOUT THE MONEY . I feel strongly that this should not happen again so even once my issue is resolved I will be campaigning and helping others any way I can to avoid this menace to our society.


Thanks for any help and I am more than prepared to spend the rest of my days fighting this cause as I have mentioned previously I would not wish these people to get their claws into somebody whome is not quite in the same position as me both financially and physical health wise .


Thankyou again for your help

[wahoo_thomas]

Re: Hi to all

Just a quick update I paid the bailiff 144 pounds plus a first visit fee and informed him this was all i would pay.

He then got a little shirty till I informed him I had posted the SAR to rossendales and also as his last letter was not dated and timed there was no proof of a visit .So again had lodged a complaint about this.

At which point said little man got even more narked .It was then that I played what was my trump card and informed him that he did not turn up in a van but in a grey ford fiesta and included the Reg.(my neighbour has a cctv fitted watching the parking spaces parralell to his house after his car was vandalised several times RESULT )

He again got shirty until i pointed out to him that a friend of mine works for a wheel clamping firm and legally or not had got his address details from DVLA and I would be more than happy to pay him and his family a visit as he did to me .Knowing he worked away monday to thursday as he had helpfully informed me.( Although I had none of this thought would fight fire with fire )

The upshot of this was a police officer attending my house at 9:30 pm that evening .The bailiff had informed them and I was being interviewed for racism and threats to kill.All of which I asked what proof etc completely denied these allegations explained ongoing problems and gave a brief statement .There was no evidence and all was hearsay so end of that .

Thinking then that a confrontation was now inevitable I informed my employers about the issues I was having as I would not be able to work ( they gave me their complete backing and even offered the services of our legal department) .THEN shock horror I get a letter from ROSSENDALES saying there was an error in the paperwork and that all charges had been paid .Still no response to the SAR which I have again written to them using a template from this site .Although this is now resolved I am far from happy .NO APOLOGY ETC.

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP ON THIS AND HAVE STILL GOT A COMPLAINT LODGED WITH THE COUNCIL WILL KEEP YOU ALL UPDATED ON THIS AS I AM STILL PUSHING THAT ROSSENDALES AND THEIR BULLY BOYS SHOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED NEAR THE GENERAL PUBLIC

[Amy]

Re: Hi to all

Nice work, well done. Keep going xx

[wahoo_thomas]

Re: Hi to all

Just a quick note to update as far have heard nothing from either parties also my sar seems to have been ignored could you please advise on the following

1) How long do Rossendales have to reply to my SAR
2) How can I lodge a complaint against the individual BAILIFF and also can I use the camera evidence ( NO VAN JUST HIM IN HIS CAR ) as proof of his attempted fraud.
3) I am getting no joy from the council so who can I go to above them

Although the matter is no longer an issue concerning bailiffs as per my previous post I want justice for the way this has been dealt with as from what I have readon this forum mine was not an isolated case

Thanks in advance for any help

[Amy]

Re: Hi to all

1) How long do Rossendales have to reply to my SAR - 40 days + 2 days to cover posting time

2) How can I lodge a complaint against the individual BAILIFF and also can I use the camera evidence ( NO VAN JUST HIM IN HIS CAR ) as proof of his attempted fraud.- if you know the bailiff's name, then write to Julie Green-Jones Julie Green-Jones - Rossendales and tell her you have this footage and ask what she proposes to do about the situation

3) I am getting no joy from the council so who can I go to above them - I am afraid this is par for the course with local councils. You could try writing to the Chief Executive Officer of your council and your local MP

[wahoo_thomas]

Re: Hi to all

thanks again Amy

I sent an email to the councillor from the area in question.I again was surprised by a speedy response 1 hour saying it is not her field of expertise but would be looking into it for me as it concerns the people in her area .This I see as a result .

Onwards and upwards with my fight for justice

Jim