Advice on Britsow and Sutor fees

[tiaph]

I was hoping that someobne would be able to give me some advice as to whether the fees that I'm being charged as excessive.
A Bristow and Sutor officer came to my house at 8.30pm but as I refused them entry they posted a Notice of Removel Expenses form and Notice of Intended Seizure of Good form through my letterbox.
In the notices they have stated that I now owe them £318.48 (for a £70 PCN) which includes a charge of £155.99 for the visit. This is the only time they have attended my property and have never been let inside. The notice states that the bailiff was outside my house for a total of 5 minutes and that the charge is for the attendance of him with a vehicle.
I'm in the process of writing to them asking for a breakdown of costs as I feel that £155.99 for a 5 minute visit is unreasonable.
Also, am I obliged to pay the bailiff fees or could I pay the outstanding amount directly to the local council instead? I'm aware that I'm at fault for leaving the PCN unpaid so am not trying to get out of paying, I just need to understand my position with the bailiffs.

Thanks

[Amy]

Re: Advice on Britsow and Sutor fees

I agree, £155.99 seems unreasonable.

What was the PCN for?

[tiaph]

Re: Advice on Britsow and Sutor fees

The PCN was for parking for longer than 2 hours in a restricted zone. It was outside my flat but since I've moved in the council have restricted all parking and won't consider any residents parking permits until summer 2010!! I get tickets on a REGULAR basis and on this occassion I decided to take a stand by not paying and contacting the council instead. Unsurprisingly, they weren't interested in my appeal and the PCN was passed onto Bristow and Sutor.
I know that there isn't anything I can do about the parking situation but really feel that paying B&S the additional £155.99 is too much.
Is there any way that I could pay the PCN without paying these charges?

Thanks

[Amy]

Re: Advice on Britsow and Sutor fees

Yes there is. Assuming you have already sent the Subject Access Request as you posted in your first post, have they replied? If so, what have they said?

They are not allowed to request sums of money from you arbitrarily, they must show you how they have arrived at this sum.

The House of Commons Transport Committee on Parking Policy and enforcement wrote a report dated 14th June 2006 and within this report is contained the following:

"Local authorities need an effective means for collecting unpaid penalty charges from drivers. Bailiffs may be appropriate in a small number of cases. The use of bailiffs must be carefully regulated by the local authority. Their use in collecting unpaid fines can easily undermine further public confidence in decriminalised parking enforcement. Local authorities must take the greatest care to ensure they use only reputable bailiffs.

Bailiff’s charges and operational practices must be transparent and subject to prior approval and close monitoring as part of any contractual agreement. These charges must be as widely publicised as possible and available to the public."

If I were you I'd consider complaining to the council also.

[tiaph]

Re: Advice on Britsow and Sutor fees

I'm still waiting for them to get back to me regarding the subject access request so as soon as I hear from them I'll post the info up here.
Thanks for all your help with this.