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Hi all can you tell me if i have to pay rossendales baliff Alan hitchen £130.In a nutshell i owed for last years council tax A baliff called in feb this year and charged me £65 first visit and £12 levy (yes i let him in). He asked if i could pay in full i replied no he then informed me to phone this number and make an offer of weekly payments and to make sure to pay every week. I did this and paid them £25. After two weeks rossendales wrote and said they wanted £130 per week i rang them and said no way could we pay that ammount and was asked to send them details of incomings and outgoings, this i did....two weeks later another letter arrives saying they wanted £56 a week up to date i have paid £500 and never missed a payment. On tuesday morning a small escort type van pulled up and a portly little guy in a suit rolled out of the drivers seat and knocked on the door .Im a baliff he said come to remove goods as you have defaulted in your agreed payments i explained i had never missed a payment and i could not agree to payments that we just did not have . I then asked him was i being charged for this visit yes he said £130 i asked was he to take anything was he expecting to carry it himself and did he think it would fit in his small van???? No he said i would have to ring my contracters to come ?? Anyway i told him that i would be paying the debt in full next week and he gave me his phone number as i have to pay him not rossendales ???? sounds fishy to me... Do i have to pay his fee's as he was most definatly not here to pick anything up and was hoping no one was in so he could post it through the door.should mention ammount was £1,345.10 i asked the council and this was the figure from them rossendales want £1,527.10 and distress warrant little fat man left is for £1,303.10 ???. Luckily i have kept all my payment receipts so know exactly what i have paid.
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Re: Rossendales
Your thread is very typical on how Bailiffs work and hopefully will be a lesson that others after you will read and take note.
Have you read Bailiff Guide - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum
and
The Collection Enforcement Recovery of Council Tax - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum
Both very much applicable to youIf you do what you always do, you will always get what you always get! -
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Re: Rossendales
April, what specifically did he levy and did you sign the walking possession?
The fees are completely wrong, which is no surprise, but it would be even better if the walking possession is invalid because it includes goods that he should not have listed.Comment
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Re: Rossendales
Read the bailiff's guide in the link posted earlier. You will be able to work out what fees you should have been charged by the bailiffs. If you have never defaulted on your payment arrangement then they should not be sending vans etc and should not be taking your possessions. It therefore follows that they should not be charging you for either of the above or any van fees etc.
Send the SAR from the bailiffs guide, also contact your council to see how much the original Liability Order was for, and how much of the money you have paid has actually been passed to the council, as Rossendales will have taken their fees first and then only turned the excess over to the council.
If there are (and no doubt there will be) illegal fees, then you will be able to get them redited back and put against your debt to the council. However be aware that Rossendales won't give in without a fight and will give you hassle every step of the way, so you must be prepared to be resolute.
The main thing to be aware of is that bailiffs lie. All the time. Without fail. You will no when they are lying - their lips will be moving.Is no longer hereComment
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Re: Rossendales
flippen heck i think it is minus the facial hairComment
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Re: Rossendales
yes i did sign walking possession and list is as follows tv, tumble dryer, dvd player.microwave, 3piece leather brown, (it is a one and two seater suite) laptop and kitchen table with four chairs.Also have just received breakdown of cost in post this am and it seems i am charged 50 pence every time i make a payment with barcode at postoffice .Originally posted by Amy View Post
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Good god i think it is minus the facial hair!Originally posted by outlawlgo View PostComment
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Re: Rossendales
They cannot leave you without seating, so the 3 piece, kitchen table and chairs makes the walking possession invalid.
The 50p charge is a not a prescribed fee, so that is illegal. What are the other fees?Comment
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Re: Rossendales
Thanks amy, phoned council and they said i owed £1,345.10 Rossendales said ammount is £1,475.00 with £65.00 first visit and £12.00 levy fee and then this week alan hitchen baliff called with a small van and said i was being charged £130.00 for his visit can they enforce this charge as i have paid what i could afford £25 every week even though this was not the ammount they demanded. thanks xComment
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Re: Rossendales
You need to complain to your council in writing about this. As per the bailiff guide, the visit fees are wrong, the walking possession is wrong and the van fee is wrong, but you must do this with the council and not the bailiffs.
The cost of the van should be divided between all those visited that day. £130 is not a "reasonable" fee for visiting one debtor when you can hire one locally for around £40.
It is the council who need to agree to payments, not the bailiffs and you must keep them in the loop at all times otherwise the bailiffs try it on, which is what they are doing here.Comment
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Re: Rossendales
Oh bless you amy i only wish i had known about this site when this all started it would have saved a lot of sleepless nights. Im sorry to be such a pest but can you give me some sort of idea what to say to council in a letter that won't make me sound an idiot please. thank you so much xxComment
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Re: Rossendales
You need to incorporate all the points above regarding the invalid walking possession.
Regulation 45 of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 lists the following items as being exempt from seizure:-
"Such tools, books, vehicles and other items of equipment as are necessary for use personally in employment, business or vocation"
"Such clothing, bedding, furniture, household equipment and provisions as are necessary for satisfying basic domestic needs of the person and family".
Schedule 5 also only provides for "reasonable costs" and as above, this is not reasonable.
Post up your draft and we'll take a look for you, but there is lots of information in this forum, so you can cherry pick what you need.Comment
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Re: Rossendales
It makes you wonder all the people who are unaware of sites like this and their rights where does all the money they make up...sorry charge goes? Their back pocket me wonders?Comment
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Re: Rossendales
You are probably correct - it has not been unknown for a bailiff to have collected money from a debtor but then failed to give any of it to the creditor!
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