Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

[wyllden]

Hi,

Newbie here. I wonder if anyone can advise me of my rights here.

Basically I had a parking ticket from a while back, couldn't afford to pay it as was on mat. leave at the time - wish i'd have scraped together the cash now though as i put it off and then recently had a baliff from Equita attend my property early in the morning. He didn't knock, just hand delivered a notice of seizure and inventory of goods totalling £319.04 - with no breakdown , they put a sticker on my car window saying my car had been immobilised.

Was a bit worried as i had to get to work, anyway, drove it and it was fine. Called the balliff that morning to say unable to pay at moment and just returned to work, didn't get 1st pay until end of July, could I enter a payment arrangement to pay it off in installments. He said no, very unreasonable and said I had to pay in full that day. Tried to call equita but they wouldn't speak to me as my case was with the balliff.

Eventually spoke to someone at equita over the next week or so who told me the balliff had put case on hold until 21st this month (JULY 2011) - not sure he was meant to tell me that as when i spoke to the balliff again he still insisted he'd be back to take my car if the full amount wasn't received by the end of that day.

Anyway, i have since realised balliff companies seem to be notorious for not putting breakdowns and overcharging, scaring people into paying.

I have not paid anything yet but getting worried incase he comes back in the next few days. I want to know my rights.

I just sent an enquiry on equita site requesting a breakdown of charges - using template from a forum I got.

I also read somewhere that local councils are not allowed to profit from enforcing parking tickets and neither are the balliffs they contract out to.

Can someone please give me some advice of what to do next - do i offer to pay £150 which should cover the ticket, letter and visit? Will they still enforce the rest or are they just trying it hoping i will just pay up without querying it?

Any help much appreciated.

[Turboman]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

I'm not an expert but heres the link re Parking Fines by Amy

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ad.php?t=28052

and here's the link to Bailiff sub forum

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...splay.php?f=76

[Caspar]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

Hi Wyllden,

Was it a PCN or an FPN? The bailiffs will have different powers depending on which it was. PCN = County Court so biliffs have no right to break into your house as long as you don't let them in. Also any notes they leave (and they must leave one with every visit they make) must contain certain pieces of information. If this is absent, then the charge is probably not lawful.

A FPN is more serious as these are issued by the police so you're talking a criminal not civil offence, and thus they are dealt with by a magistrates court. In exceptional circumstances these can lead to imprisonment.

Neither should be ignored. I would phone the council and ask how much is outstanding on the fine. If you can manage to pay this, then when the bailiffs next come you can show them a zero balance. This in turn means the bailiffs have to get a LO of their own to collect their fees. You would need to write a letter (based around the bailiff SAR, but it doesn't have to be a SAR, so does not need a £10 fee) to ask them for a written breakdown of fees, the date and time of any visit, the fee incurred and the reason why it was incurred, the name of the bailiff who attended and the court in which he was certificated.

[wyllden]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

Thanks for your reply.

It was a pcn......

[WendyB]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

How much was the original fine, and how much have the bailiffs added on in fees. You need to send the SAR from the bailiff guide (adapt to suit) to obtain a breakdown of exactly what fees the bailiffs have added. Equita are notoriously difficult to deal with but they can be sorted, however you must be firm, stand your ground and be prepared for a fight with them. For PCNs there is no LO issued, it would be a Warrant of Execution issued by the Court. AS you did have prior knowledge of the fine then a Stat Dec would probably not be in order.

[wyllden]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

I think the original fine was £70.....
I was hoping to stand my ground and was aware the baliff may return today but didn't think he would be so sneaky or so early ...

..was up at 5.30am and was downstairs when i heard something at the letterbox...... it was the baliff hand delivering another form 7 - notice of seizure and inventory of goods - another £40 added to the £319.04 for this visit. Totalling £359.80
When i looked out the window he was driving off in his van and I had a big sticker on the car window and yellow clamp on the back wheel.

I obviously panicked as needed the car to get to work and my car was also blocking in my husbands so he wouldnt have been able to get out either.

So had no choice but to call him back and pay cash to get him to remove the clamp. He came back and said he needed full payment to remove it, when i asked him to give me a breakdown of what i was paying for he said i'd have to write to the office and request it - unfair i think - why should we have to pay before knowing what its for exactly first.

I'm gutted as i had to use money meant for my mortgage to pay him - really felt like i had no other choice.

What chances do i have of getting it back now? i will still write to the office and also to the northampton county council but where do i go from there? Is there anything else i can do?

[WendyB]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

Do as I said in my last post, send SAR to the bailiffs, get a breakdown of fees. Also write a letter of complaint to the council detailing exactly what the bailiffs have done wrong/illegally etc. Write a letter of complaint to the bailiffs too, and you an also email it to them. I have an email address somewhere but I can never remember what it is, it's on a couple of the Equita threads if you search them. I'm sure the woman you need to send it to is Karen Fowler.

There are certain procedures that the bailiff has to follow, and it is up to Equita, as his employers, and the council, as Equita's employers, to ensure that procedures are followed correctly and put it right when they aren't. The council is vicariously liable for the actions of their bailiffs and they need to be reminded of this.

Now that you have actually paid the money over, it will be harder to get it back, but it can be done, with perseverance.

[wyllden]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

Hi,

I had a letter in response to the online enquiry i sent to equita asking for a breakdown of fees.

It lists:
Debt: £80
Initial Letter £11.20 (25.5.11)
visit/levy fee

[wyllden]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

I had a letter in response to the online enquiry i sent to equita asking for a breakdown of fees.
It lists:
Debt: £80
Initial Letter £11.20 (25.5.11)
visit/levy fee £28 (21.6.11)
visit fees £34 (21.7.11)
Attendance charges £150 (21.6.11)
VAT £44.64
Total: £347.84

They also confirmed their enforcement officer gained his certificate at Northampton county court.

Another thing that the letter states which is interesting is that according to their records no times of visits have been logged, although they have a record of when they were supposed to make visits.
They also say that on each occasion no contact was made but i was left a letter. (which is true but they did not attempt to make any contact)

I have yet to write to the council and get their breakdown of fees, but in the meantime I was just wondering if I could get some advice what to base the complaint to equita on....
Was thinking fees obviously- but wonder if you can advise me which bits of the fees are illegal.

Also, do i have any grounds to complain that the balliff did not even attempt to collect the money from me but sneakily put the note through my door with a notice that my car had been seized, on the 2nd visit he just clamped the car and did not attempt to collect first - my main issue with this is that he could have tried to seize other goods more inline with the value of the debt - instead he chose my car which he knew i'd be stuck without - so he knew i would then have to pay up in cash.

Any advice from here would be much appreciated.... thanks

[CleverClogs]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

I had a letter in response to the online enquiry i sent to equita asking for a breakdown of fees.
It lists:
Debt: £80
Initial Letter £11.20 (25.5.11)
visit/levy fee £28 (21.6.11)
visit fees £34 (21.7.11)
Attendance charges £150 (21.6.11)
VAT £44.64
Total: £347.84

It is still not the £359.80 the Oaf from Equita demanded. How - if at all - can they explain the £11.96 discrepancy?

They also confirmed their enforcement officer gained his certificate at Northampton county court.

Rather than finding one at the local council land-fill tip or getting one from the back of a cornflakes packet?

As Northampton County Court also serves as the rubber-stamping centre for Money Claim Online, I am not exactly filled with confidence.

I have yet to write to the council and get their breakdown of fees, but in the meantime I was just wondering if I could get some advice what to base the complaint to equita on....
Was thinking fees obviously- but wonder if you can advise me which bits of the fees are illegal.

I am neither a lawyer nor an expert on what those momzers may lawfully charge but, at first glance, it does seem odd that you should have been charged both an "attendance fee" and a "visit/levy fee" for his antics on 21 June.

Also, do i have any grounds to complain that the balliff did not even attempt to collect the money from me but sneakily put the note through my door with a notice that my car had been seized, on the 2nd visit he just clamped the car and did not attempt to collect first - my main issue with this is that he could have tried to seize other goods more inline with the value of the debt - instead he chose my car which he knew i'd be stuck without - so he knew i would then have to pay up in cash.

That, alas, is what bailiffs do.

Whether or not the bailiff in question ever knew his father might make a difference.

[Caspar]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

This is the schedule of legitimate fees:

Road Traffic (parking penalties)

Fees

For preparing and sending a letter advising the client that a warrant is with bailiff and requesting the sum due -----------------------------------------£11.20

For levying distress where the sum due is not more than £100----- £28.00
For levying distress where the sum due is more than £100 ---------28% on the first £200 and 5.5% on any sum over £200.

For attending to levy distress but where no levy is made------------ Reasonable costs, but not more than the fees that could be charged if a levy were made.

The fee for sending a letter to the debtor can be charged only if the letter is sent before a first visit is made.

Bailiffs are allowed to charge the fees for a maximum of three visits only.

Charges

Walking possession -------------------------------55p each day for the first 14 days and 5p a day after that.
Valuation ---------------------------------------- Reasonable fees, charges and expenses of the broker.
Removing goods or attending to remove goods where no goods are removed -Reasonable costs and charges.
Sale of goods ----------------15% of the proceeds of sale if the sale is held on auctioneer's premises to cover the auctioneers commission and out-of-pocket expenses, plus the reasonable cost of advertising, removal and storage.

Sorry about colour change - makes things clearer.

Debt £80 - OK

Letter £11.20 - OK

Levy fee £28 - OK

Visit Fee on same day £34 - I think unlawful as I don't think they can charge a visit fee and levy fee for the same visit and on the same day.

Attendance charges £150 - I don't think should have been charged. They can charge an Attendance Charge to levy distress, but this must not be more than the fee that could have been charged had they levied distress. Given the current amount outstanding this should be £33.38 assuming the £34 is unlawful (£42.90 if £34 visit fee is legitimate)

If £34 unlawful charges = £152.58 + VAT = £183.10

If £34 lawful = £186.58 + VAT = £223.90

Could someone double check my maths please as I'm in a rush!

VERY hard to see how they came up with their fees.

[wyllden]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

ok, sent my letter to Equita the other day, Basically saying I want a refund of the amount overcharged within 7 days (approx £135). Received a letter this morning saying they are investigating and will be in touch within 14 days. Is this their normal procedure? (probably is as i wasnt expecting them to just refund so easily)

I also sent a letter to local authority - not heard back from them yet.

Just wondered how these things normally pan out?

Wendy, you mentioned lots of perserverance - what are the likely next steps?

Thanks in advance.

[Caspar]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

Did youmention in your letter to the council that their appointed agents are laying them open to litigation due to unlawful charges?

I would think that would need compensating for in some way.

[wyllden]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

yeh i mentioned something along those lines, got the template letter via google. It was quite longwinded but basically said that the bailiffs were acting as their agents and had unlawfully charged me. Stated reasons why they should not have charged me then it went on to quote sections 1-5 of the Fraud act 2006.

Then said they should refund within 7 days, if they want to investigate then it would not stop me taking the matter further if my refund not received within 7 days.

So from your experience are they likely to pay out on this or am i likely to have to follow through and write to the LGO (who are they?lol, just what it said in the template letter)

[Caspar]

Re: Hi Every1 - parking ticket balliff advice needed please

Only recently dealt with bailiffs and Council Tax recently so wouldn't like to say. The council will have to be careful if they want to avoid action being taken. If you don't get the result you want, send it to the CEO - might be worth posting it up here first for us to have a look at if it comes to that!