Rossendales

[cazindevon]

Hi, I am new here! I'm not sure where to start but here goes!!
Last year, my partner was using my car and came home and announced that he had been given a parking ticket by a traffic warden for parking where he shouldn't have been parked. He said that he would sort it but never did.
Last week, the bailiff from Rossendales turned up for the second time and demanded 428 pounds immediately. This is the second time he has come, the first time, my partner told him I was not at home.
We managed to buy ourselves till this thursday when we have to come up with the total amount.
I asked him if we could pay by installments of 10 pounds a week but he refused.
I told him that I lost my job at the beginning of this year and had not been able to pay as I wasn't earning any money. I have only just started getting jobseekers and my partner cannot afford it because the csa take a great chunk from his wages as well as the council for council tax arrears leaving us just 180pounds pw to live on. We have a 4 yr old son to provide for as well and we already are in arrears with our rent which is 550pcm. We are not entitled to any help with rent or council tax. I have applied already but no joy.
Can anyone give me any advice on how to sort this out before he comes and takes our belongings? He said that he would take my car, charge me for having it removed and then charge me for keeping it until I come up with all the cash.
Does he have the right to break in to my home?? I would rather take a baseball bat to my belongings before I let those bullies have any of it!!
Thanx in advance.

[WendyB]

Re: Rossendales

Have a read of this Parking Fine Guide - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

did you have any letters etc before the bailiff visited? I.e was the process followed correctly?

[cazindevon]

Re: Rossendales

I have the following letters..Notice to owner from cornwall council on 31/12/2010 requesting 70 pounds.
A TE3 form from cornwall council requesting 110 pounds giving me till 11-04-2011 to pay or file a statement.
A charge certificate from cornwall council requesting 105 pounds on 05-02-2011
Then...
20-05-2011 an outstanding warrant letter from Rossendales requesting payment in full of 123.44 to be paid to Rossendales and NOT the Traffic Enforcement center.
A final notice magistrates liability order/distress warrant for unpaid road traffic debt requesting balance to be paid in full of 368.17 in 24 hours on 22-06-2011
Finally, another Final notice for 428.17 which the bailiff handed to me when he came round on 11-08-2011 saying that we had to phone him this wed to make full payment otherwise he was coming back and taking my car and other stuff and charging me to have it taken away and stored until I paid up in full.
I told him I didnt have that sort of money and could offer a weekly amount but he refused.

[Caspar]

Re: Rossendales

We are assuming the parking ticket is a PCN. If this is the case, the bailiffs powers are pretty much the same as for Council Tax. This means no entry can be forced, so make sure you do not allow them into your property and make sure that the car is parked a few streets away so they cannot levy on it.

How much was the original fine for? How long ago was it exactly? You need to answer the question Wendy asked - have they followed the correct process? Has the bailiff visited just two times? Have any letters been sent, if so how many? All of these things are relevant to the charges and also to other things. It would be helpful if you could answer them please.

[WendyB]

Re: Rossendales

I actually meant, had the PCN process been followed, not the bailiff process. If the PCN notice process has been followed correctly, then you wouldn't be able to file a stat utory declaration or an out of time statutory declaration, and will have to come to an arrangement for payment.

From the info given above, it would seem that Cornwall council have followed all the steps, and have now passed it to the bailiffs as the next step in the enforcement process. Even so, the bailiffs should only add on prescribed charges.

If this is the case, then you need to come to an arrangement to pay.

For certain types of fines, including parking fines, bailiffs do have the power to break in and take your goods, even if they have not previously had peaceful entry.

[Amy]

Re: Rossendales

The fees added to this are correct up to and including the £123.44.

You should ask why the fees leap from this to £368.17 though.

[cazindevon]

Re: Rossendales

Assuming that the correct procedure was carried out by the council, before handing over to the bailiffs, what are my options? I have to phone him by tomorrow to arrange payment in full!! Or he said he is coming back to take stuff. If he takes my car, he is leaving me in a vulnerable position with a 4 yr old son out in the middle of nowhere with no public transport to the nearest town. I also have a medical condition for which I have to carry a card, as I am extremely anaemic and could possibly pass out!
I asked him if I could make weekly payments but he refused!!
His charges amount to 305 pounds on top of the 123 pounds to which I have no objection paying!
Can he break in to my home and take my belongings? He also said that if he took my car, he would charge me for having it removed and then stored until I pay up in full. I am not likely to have that sort of money in the foreseeable future as I have only recently been allowed jobseekers allowance and I am 550 pounds in arrears with my rent so any money I do get is going to have to pay that in order not to end up homeless!!
What can I do?

[Amy]

Re: Rossendales

Did you read the guide Wendy posted up for you?

You do not have to telephone him by tomorrow or any other day for that matter, he has no rights unless and until you allow him peaceful entry to your home.

Why are you perfectly prepared to pay more than the £123 you actually owe?

The bailiff cannot break into your home since it was a traffic warden who gave you the fine as opposed to a police officer. Therefore, this is a civil matter.

Your rent is a priority debt, a PCN is not.

[cazindevon]

Re: Rossendales

So who do I contact in order to try to come to some arrangement to pay the original fine from the parking ticket? The bailiffs or the council?
I have already emailed Rossendales telling them that I am not able to pay by Wed and that if they took my car they would be leaving me in a very vulnerable position and that if they did not call their bailiff off my case then I would be taking up complaints procedures.
In my last post, I quoted that the fine was now 305 pounds on top of the 123pounds. I meant that I have no objection to paying the 123 but no way can I pay the 305 bailiff charges for visiting twice, once when I wasn't even here!!
If I don't contact the bailiff in charge on Wed, is he likely to just turn up unannounced???

[cazindevon]

Rossendales

I have just been to the Citizen's Advice Center to see if they could help me get Rossendales off my back.
They phoned the bailiff in charge who said that he was not prepared to come to an arrangement for weekly payments and that he intended to come and break into my house as he had the right to, and that he would be taking my car. Citizen's Advice requested a further 28 days to see what could be done but he refused and said I had until this Friday when I have to call him to make payment in full.
After the CAB lady spoke to a debt adviser in CAB, she phoned me and said that the advisor seems to think that the bailiff cannot break in as the warrant was not issued from the magistrates court in fact it was issued from The Traffic Enforcement Center at Northampton County Court.
He also said that as far as he knew, Rossendales do not have a license to act on magistrates warrants anyway
For just 2 visits and a letter via post, the final amount they want is 468 pounds. This is from 18th May this year where authorisation was issued from the Traffic Enforcement Centre to the Enforcement officer when the debt was only 110 pounds.
How to I find out what the excessive charges are for? Can I contest them?
Any advice greatly appreciated!

[Amy]

Re: Rossendales

The bailiff may well turn up, but there is little he can do unless you allow him entry (all as per my bailiff guide).

If I were you, I would move the car and park it a few streets away until this is sorted out. Unless, that is, there is finance on the car or it is a motability vehicle.

[Celestine]

Re: Rossendales

I have just been to the Citizen's Advice Center to see if they could help me get Rossendales off my back.
They phoned the bailiff in charge who said that he was not prepared to come to an arrangement for weekly payments and that he intended to come and break into my house as he had the right to, and that he would be taking my car. Citizen's Advice requested a further 28 days to see what could be done but he refused and said I had until this Friday when I have to call him to make payment in full.
After the CAB lady spoke to a debt adviser in CAB, she phoned me and said that the advisor seems to think that the bailiff cannot break in as the warrant was not issued from the magistrates court in fact it was issued from The Traffic Enforcement Center at Northampton County Court.
He also said that as far as he knew, Rossendales do not have a license to act on magistrates warrants anyway
For just 2 visits and a letter via post, the final amount they want is 468 pounds. This is from 18th May this year where authorisation was issued from the Traffic Enforcement Centre to the Enforcement officer when the debt was only 110 pounds.
How to I find out what the excessive charges are for? Can I contest them?
Any advice greatly appreciated!

What did the CAB advisor make of a bailiff making unlawful claims as to his powers of breaking in?

You can send Rossendales a subject access request under the Data Protection Act to get them to send you a list of all data they hold about you including a break down of their fees.
If you've read the bailiff guide, you'll see there is a list of lawful fees they can charge but they frequently try to extort more.

You also need to complain to the council, your local elected member about this shocking behaviour. The council IS vicariously liable for bailiffs conduct, so fight hard to get them to take the debt back.

Definitely hide your car though. They CANNOT come in your house unless you let them or leave a door or window open.

p.s. I have merged your threads so you can keep all advice received in one place x

[cazindevon]

Re: Rossendales

As I live out in the sticks it is impossible for me to hide my car. However, I could lock it in the garage and lock the garage door with a padlock, then lock the front gates to my property and put my German Shepherd on an extended chain so that he would not be able to get past her!
Would he be able to break into my garage??? Otherwise I could register the car to somebody else.

[Celestine]

Re: Rossendales

Perfect! :tinysmile_grin_t:No he cannot break into the garage at all, it is protected by the same laws as your house.

Just make sure the dog doesn't get food poisoning when it bites him! :beagle:

Now you need to send the bailiff a DPA SAR to find out what on earth all those fees are supposedly for.

[cazindevon]

Re: Rossendales

Well, today has been a stressful day!!
This morning, I received a phonecall from the Rossendales bailiff, Mr Gilmour.
I informed him that I had contacted the Traffic Enforcement Center and that they had advised me to fill in a form TE9 which I have found and downloaded. He said it was too late for that and that he was coming to either collect payment in full or take either my partner's car or mine.
I told him that he could not take my partner's car as it was not mine and that he was not taking my car as he would leave me isolated with a 4 yr old son and a disability. He said he did not care! So I then said that he would firstly have to get through my padlocked gate which he said he would jump over, then I said he would have to get past my dog to which he said he would have the dog put down. I replied that the dog would be protecting her own territory and that if she bit him then it was his own fault for entering!
I then said that my car was locked up and that I was about to take all the wheels off and he said he would break into the garage and tow the car with a truck. I informed him that by doing this he would be liable for any damage caused to the car. He again said that he didn't care. I told him that I would call the police if he tried to break in and take my car. Also that the MOT and Tax were out at the end of this month making it a 50 quid banger and that if he took it then as far as I was concerned, that was the end of the debt! He argued with this and I told him that if he took it I would not be paying any money for removal and storage. He threatened that he was coming round today, he was on his way, and he would be charging me, he also said he would keep coming back until he caught me! I told him that no way was my 4 yr old son going to witness any sort of bullying and threatening behaviour from the bailiff. It was just NOT happening!!
I even offered him 100 pounds next tuesday from my jobseekers allowance and then 100pounds every fortnight till my debt was clear but he refused.
Well, I drove my car to a friend's house and left it there after our phone conversation so now there is no car here for him to take. However, I will have to have my car back so that I can get out of here when I need to. There is no public transport and it is a 2 mile walk to the main road!
It's now nearly 8 pm and no sign of Mr Gilmour!!!
I was going to sign my car over to my son as he lives elsewhere and has a different surname to mine. Even though the car would still be here, can the bailiff take it if I tell him it isn't mine anymore? I have also put warning signs on the gate about Guard dog, No Trespassing! If he jumps over the gate now, he has been warned so it's his silly fault if my dog goes for him!!!
What is a DPA SAR form and where do I get one from please??