Bailiff charges

[thegladeye]

Hi. I had a visit from Rossendales today. I know I have a liability order for council tax for £101, and a bailiff visited last month with some paperwork. The amount due then was now approx £150 as he said it was his second visit. I told him I would want to offer installments and he said I need to send my proposal to the office. I sent in a proposal to pay £50 per month. I heard nothing else until today when a different Rossendales bailiff knocked on my door demanding £325 or he will seize goods, this now including his fee for today with a van, plus a levy on my car. I told him the car was on HP, he said he didn't care he would still take it.
Scared witless with my kids at home, via a kind relative I duly paid. He then informed me he had another liability order for £403 on him, now increased to £615 for his van visit & car levy giving me 2 weeks to pay.. I know I owed this original amount but didn't know an order had been granted.

He has never entered my property, never compiled an inventory, and is refusing to accept instalments. He has applied his van visit and car levy to each order on the one visit. What can I do??

[WendyB]

Re: Bailiff charges

As usual, Rossendales have acted illegally. Read this bailiff guide which will give you a better understanding of what they can and can't do. Bailiff Guide - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

Did you let the bailiff into the house when he attended before? If you did not, then they should not have turned up with a van, as they had no levy or walking possession on your goods, so they had no rights to attempt to remove them. Plus, they cannot use the same levy or WPO for two liability orders, so even if he had a lawful levy, he cannot then use that for the second LO. Furthermore, if you had had no prior correspondence from them regarding the second LO that makes his actions, not to mention his conduct, unlawful..

If the bailiff has not previously gained peaceful entry then they cannot force their way in. Has he now levied on your car? What paperwork did he leave you with?

You should contact your council to ascertain exactly how much is owed against both liability orders and try to arrange a payment plan direct with them.Also complain, in writing, to the council, regarding Rossendales completely ignoring your payment proposal and their complete disregard for the procedures they are supposed to follow. The ounil will probably tell you you must deal with Rossendales, but this is because most council workers do not know what the correct procedures are and can't be bothered to find out. If you are planning on paying any money, pay it to the council, they cannot refuse your payment.

Send a SAR to Rossendales to obtain a complete list of all charges they have added to your account.

I know that seems a lot to do, but you must persevere with it and don't let Rossendales sare you into paying them any money.

[thegladeye]

Re: Bailiff charges

Hi. Thanks for the reply. No they have never entered my property. I was outside when I met the bailiif for the first time tidying my garage, but he never entered. He handed over some paperwork showing my liability and I said it would need to be instalments and he said to send my propsal to the office. He was actually ok about things. He never gave me a walking possession letter as only spoke to me for about 2 mins.
The guy with the van who came yesterday, W Grahame, left me with no paperwork other than a receipt for my payment and a piece of paper with big letters saying Bailiff Attendance where he has written £615 on the space to show amount to be paid.
I confirmed with him on the phone what these charges were for: 24.50 + 18.00, 130.00 attendance fee, 39.00 car levy.
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In addition I spoke to recoveries at the council who said they can charge the attenface fee on both liabilites on one visit. If you say they can't how do I back this up? I need as much legal argument as possible otherwise I'm going to go around in circles!
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Hi. Thanks for the reply. No they have never entered my property. I was outside when I met the bailiif for the first time tidying my garage, but he never entered. He handed over some paperwork showing my liability and I said it would need to be instalments and he said to send my propsal to the office. He was actually ok about things. He never gave me a walking possession letter as only spoke to me for about 2 mins. In fact, W Grahame showed me a visit log which said that there had been no-one in on that visit so there is no way a WP could have been done!
The guy with the van who came yesterday, W Grahame, left me with no paperwork other than a receipt for my payment and a piece of paper with big letters saying Bailiff Attendance where he has written £615 on the space to show amount to be paid.
I confirmed with him on the phone what these charges were for: 24.50 + 18.00, 130.00 attendance fee, 39.00 car levy.

[thegladeye]

Re: Bailiff charges

Hi again. I've checked all the paperwork received. I have a sort of grey form with Notice of distress and Walking Possession agreement but this is blank.

[David-G1ZQC]

Re: Bailiff charges

Hi.
Take a look at:
Proof of incompetence (Rosendales) - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum
Rosendales appear to employ short sighted morons.

[Caspar]

Re: Bailiff charges

If you say they can't how do I back this up? I need as much legal argument as possible otherwise I'm going to go around in circles!

Refer the to The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations

[CleverClogs]

Re: Bailiff charges

If you say they can't how do I back this up? I need as much legal argument as possible otherwise I'm going to go around in circles!

Refer the to The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations

Refer the what to the regulations?

You appear to have omitted a "u", a "t", an "r" and a "d" (not necessarily in that order) as well as a PDF link to the regulations.,

[Caspar]

Re: Bailiff charges

Refer the what to the regulations?

You appear to have omitted a "u", a "t", an "r" and a "d" (not necessarily in that order) as well as a PDF link to the regulations.,

Pedant!

[CleverClogs]

Re: Bailiff charges

Pedant!

I was only trying to help...

Someone else might have supposed you'd omitted a "t", an "n", a "c" and a "u" - and that would not be very nice, would it?