Legal Bailiff Fee?

[cards down]

I've just been reading the "Rosendales bailiffs out of order" titled thread and I picked up on something that I've not seen before.

Quote from thread: Excellent - they're playing beautifully into your hands. The second visit fee should have been just £18, and they're not allowed to levy by looking through a window, so the levy is invalid. Even if it were valid, they can't charge a levy fee and a visit fee on the same day

Its the bit that says "they can't charge a levy fee and a visit fee on the same day"

I have a WPA with both a second visit fee and a levy fee all on the same day, I also have a letter from the bailiff company that states a second fee was charged in the morning visit and the levy fee was charged in the afternoon visit, could this be yet another slip up by the bailiffs?

Thanks for your time

[labman]

Re: Legal Bailiff Fee?

What type of debt was this for?

[cards down]

Re: Legal Bailiff Fee?

Its a council tax debt

[labman]

Re: Legal Bailiff Fee?

Did you sign a Walking Possession Order?

In the case cited above, they could not have, so no fee was due. Had a WPO been signed, the bailiff would have been able to charge an extra £12.00.

It depends entirely on whether or not you signed any Walking Possession.

[cards down]

Re: Legal Bailiff Fee?

The WPO was signed.

[ploddertom]

Re: Legal Bailiff Fee?

You have to be given an opportunity to pay any sums required so there must be a gap between when the Bailiff levies your goods and when he can return to enforce payment.

The object of a visit from the Bailiff for Council Tax is the intention of him coming to seize goods. If at the time of the visit he can not meet with the Debtor(s) or is otherwise denied entry then he may charge a 1st Visit Fee of £24-50. If he then visits again with the same result then he may claim a 2nd Visit Fee of £18-00. Then no matter how many visits he makes he can claim no more. However there is nothing stopping him visiting on a morning and then returning again later the same day.

From what you say they allege to have made a Visit in the morning for which they have charged & returned to make a levy later that day for which you signed a WPA. My questions would be:
1 - have you put them to proof of the prior visit, obviously you cannot deny the later one as you signed the forms.
2 - on his later visit did you allow him entry to your home
3 - what goods has he seized exactly as described on the Notice of Seizure
4 - if for CT how many Liability Orders are there against you and how much do you owe on each as confirmed by the Council
5 - what charges has the Bailiff made on your account(s)

[cards down]

Re: Legal Bailiff Fee?

I have already got five accounts of where the bailiff has acted unlawfully/illegally and was looking to see if this was another slip up that I could point out. Thank you for the information supplied.

[ploddertom]

Re: Legal Bailiff Fee?

A Bailiff collecting for Council Tax may only charge those fees set out in the appropriate Regulations, http://www.bexley.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3028&p=0 . Essentially if the charge is not listed then they may not charge it, the only exception possibly being for making payment by Credit/Debit Card whereby they must tell you the charge incurred and also give you other options for paying that may not incur a fee.
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------

I have already got five accounts of where the bailiff has acted unlawfully/illegally and was looking to see if this was another slip up that I could point out. Thank you for the information supplied.

Do you have a breakdown of the fees for each account? I usually enter these into a spreadsheet as it then lets you see at a glance if there are any unlawful fees applied or other charges that need to be challenged. This has to be done in conjunction with the relevant info gained from the Council. If you haven't already done so you need to speak to someone at the Council and ask the following questions:
1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you
2 - the dates they were obtained
3 - the addresses they were for
4 - the period of time each covers
5 - how much each one was for
6 - how much is still outstanding
7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement

[cards down]

Re: Legal Bailiff Fee?

I have the answers to the above questions in paperwork from the council already.

[pepsie]

Re: Legal Bailiff Fee?

I have the answers to the above questions in paperwork from the council already.

If you would care to post the fees along with the info from the Council we can look to see what are and what are not legit???

[cards down]

Re: Legal Bailiff Fee?

1) Two notice of attendance 1st visit fee posted on the same day, 2 liability orders, two fees but only one visit (Bailiff paperwork and bailiff letter as proof)
2) Two notice of attendance 2nd visit fee posted on the next day, again for the two liability orders but only one visit (bailiff paperwork as proof).
3) I have council letter & Bailiff letter stating the amount of one liability order being X amount yet the bailiff entered the amount being some £250 more and this is not the bailiff charges they are added later.
4) Two WPA's made out on the same day, one item (TV) was listed on both (WPA as proof).
5) One item on one of the WPA's was a sofa, and if taken would have left one member of our family of 3 to sit on the floor. (no other seating in our home)
6) The total amount levied on one of the WPA's was no where near the amount required to clear the debt.

Grounds for complaint, The bailiff is untrustworthy (3). The bailiff defrauded me (1, 2 & 6). The bailiff levied incorrectly (4 & 5).

I'm not sure if my grounds for complaint are correct so if anyone can help it would be appreciated.

Thank you

[ploddertom]

Re: Legal Bailiff Fee?

1) Two notice of attendance 1st visit fee posted on the same day, 2 liability orders, two fees but only one visit (Bailiff paperwork and bailiff letter as proof) If collecting on 2 LO's at the same time only one set of fees may be applied
2) Two notice of attendance 2nd visit fee posted on the next day, again for the two liability orders but only one visit (bailiff paperwork as proof). as above
3) I have council letter & Bailiff letter stating the amount of one liability order being X amount yet the bailiff entered the amount being some £250 more and this is not the bailiff charges they are added later. May be down to some admin error or payments made that have passed in the post, wouldn't worry too much over that.
4) Two WPA's made out on the same day, one item (TV) was listed on both (WPA as proof). Have you pointed this out to them?
5) One item on one of the WPA's was a sofa, and if taken would have left one member of our family of 3 to sit on the floor. (no other seating in our home) Again have you pointed this out to them as this item must be removed from the levy
6) The total amount levied on one of the WPA's was no where near the amount required to clear the debt. see below

Grounds for complaint, The bailiff is untrustworthy (3). The bailiff defrauded me (1, 2 & 6). The bailiff levied incorrectly (4 & 5).

I'm not sure if my grounds for complaint are correct so if anyone can help it would be appreciated.

Thank you

Seizure of goods and if removal were made must adhere to the following:
1 - covers all the Bailiffs fees
2 - covers all the costs of removal & storage
3 - covers the costs of the auction
4 - covers the Auctioneers fees & costs
5 - must pay a proportion of the debt owing

If your debt is £1000 then given that auction prices are approx 10% of value he should be seizing goods worth £10k. If not then it should be returned to the Council as nulla bono as you could allege you are aggrieved by the levy (or lack of it) and issue a Regulation 46 Complaint against the Council. You can also allege the Bailiff has made a levy against your goods with the sole intention of gaining a financial advantage for himself and his Company.

[cards down]

Re: Legal Bailiff Fee?

Thanks for the info, that will all come in handy. Just one thing, item 3 on my list, from the liability order being passed to the bailiffs no money had been paid on the account.

thanks once again.