Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

[Alia z]

Help.
I received a letter last week from Merton Council for an unpaid parking fine. This is something i Had contested last year but it was never resolved...... And now I was being told that I had a week to pay before it was passed onto the bailiffs.

i contacted the council and the bailiffs and informed them that the ticket was contested last year but merton council said it was too late, and there was nothing they could do and to deal directly with the bailiffs. I informed the bailiffs that I was in a debt management program and could not afford the fine and had been advised by Step Change - my debt management agency, to offer a payment proposal..... Which I did.

when I did not hear back from them I used their automated system and made an initial payment of £50 to keep them at bay and buy a little time until someone got back to me.

this was two days ago.

I have come home today to a letter from the bailiffs posted i my letterbox informing me that they visited my property to remove my possessions.

the letter also stated that I was being charged £286.73 for that visit and that I now owed them £499.93.

the letter also gave me a number to call immediately but I was cut off all three times I called so I sent a text message.

firstly..... Why have they charged me £286.73 for a letter posted in my letter box?
why have they not responded to my offer of instalments due to my financial circumstances or accounted for the money I already paid on Tuesday...
what can I do now?

As I explained, I have never had dealings with bailiffs, I am in a debt management program as I was lumbered with marital debts after leaving my husband and am usually very good with paying bills and settling accounts.

any help or advice would be much appreciated.

[bluebottle]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

In their dreams! Which bailiff company is involved and do you have a breakdown of their fees?

[Alia z]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

In their dreams! Which bailiff company is involved and do you have a breakdown of their fees?

It is Merton Council's in house bailiff team.

They haven't provided a breakdown of any fees..... Just informed me via a pre-printed letter, with the particulars of my case, and the charge for the visit written by hand.

They haven't even adjusted for the £50 I have already paid.

[ploddertom]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

What reason did you appeal on?

[Alia z]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

What reason did you appeal on?

The alleged traffic contravention took place in May 2012. I never received any notification of this, no ticket nothing. I only learned of the ticket when I received a letter in July demanding full payment for the outstanding ticket.

i wrote to the council asking for photographic evidence to show the incident (stopped in a box junction. Whilst turning right) but I never heard back. To be honest, after that I really did forget about it until I got the letter last Friday threatening bailiff action. When I contacted the council they claimed they had never received my letter but refused to believe that I had not received any communication apart from the two letters I've mentioned (clearly one rule for them another for me!)

I can contest the driving fine til the cows come home, Merton Council will not engage in any discussion on it........ But my bigger worry is these bxxxxy bailiffs and how to deal with them

[bluebottle]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

Whether bailiffs are in-house or contracted, levying fees in advance or for work not carried out is illegal. Period.

Ask Merton Council for a written breakdown of the fees and the names and certificate details for the bailiffs involved.

[ploddertom]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

You could try applying for an Out of Time through the Traffic Enforcement Centre. I assume you had not moved since the contravention occurred and the vehicle was registered at the correct address?

[CleverClogs]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

I received a letter last week from Merton Council for an unpaid parking fine.

The alleged traffic contravention took place in May 2012. ... i wrote to the council asking for photographic evidence to show the incident (stopped in a box junction. Whilst turning right)

You hadn't parked in a box junction, had you?

That looks like two contraventions and the latter seems to be a moving traffic offence rather than a parking fine.

Then there are the sums of money involved, which look a bit odd:

I used their automated system and made an initial payment of £50 ...
I was being charged £286.73 for that visit and that I now owed them £499.93.

How much was the original fine or penalty?

[bluebottle]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

Merton Council need to provide a breakdown of the fees and the certificate details of the bailiffs involved. Do as Plodddertom recommends and then serve the council with a Breakdown of Fees Request. They are obliged to provide a breakdown of all and any fees being sought and the certificate details of the bailiffs involved.

Unless they have a valid and lawful levy or a court order, they cannot remove goods from your home and, by the sound of it, they have not given you an opportunity to pay or set up a payment plan. It sounds very much to me that they are doing everything possible to prevent you paying, which could expose the bailiffs and any council officer involved liable to action for Misconduct or Misfeasance in Public Office.

[Alia z]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

Thanks for your message.

i don't know what the original fine was as I never received the original fine letter. The first I was aware that I had apparently stopped in a box junction (when turning right) was two months later when I received a letter for unpaid fines. At this point I wrote to the council, but they claim they never received any letters from me.

I never heard anything more until the letter I received last Friday telling me I had 7 days (infact 1working day after receiving the letter) to pay the full fine or it would be passed onto the bailiffs. At this point the total amount was £213.20

i wrote to both the council and the bailiffs but neither were willing to discuss the matter with me, each telling me to refer to the other.

i then contacted the bailiffs again and told them the fine was in contention, but even so, I was unable to pay the total amount in one go, and put forward a payment proposal. This was sent via email and I have both the delivered and read receipts for it.

when I did not hear back from them, I paid £50 towards the fine (all I could afford.... Even that was a struggle) via their online automated service.

two days later I came home to a letter posted through my letterbox from the bailiffs informing me that thy had come to remove my possessions and that the charge for that visit (to post a letter!!!!) was £286.73 and that the total amount I now owed was £499.93. I tried to call the bailiff on the number he left but he cut my call all three times and has not responded to my text message either.

What should I do now?

[Alia z]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

Thanks bluebottle,

it does seem very much that they are unwilling to even discuss a payment plan, and are adding charges without identifying what the charges are for.

is there anything specific I need to quote/say when I write to them again?

[bluebottle]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

There is a template letter on the Bailiff Forum for Breakdown of Fees Requests. Click on the "Bailiffs" tab and then click on the "Useful Letters" thread. Send that to the council. If they do not comply, exposing Merton Council in the press and broadcast media might be an option.

[Alia z]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

On another note...... Can I make a statutory declaration that I did not receive the original fine letter, that I wrote a letter of contention when I received a letter two months post contravention and then nothing until the threat of bailiff action last week?

I DID NOT or have not received anything bar two letters since the alleged contravention, and Merton Council have informed me it is too late to do anything about it, and even the initial letter written two months after the alleged contravention was too late...... and they can not help me any further.

I am in this predicament because I have not had any communication from Merton council to the extent they claim they have provided.

thank you in advance for any advice given

[CleverClogs]

Re: Never had dealing with bailiffs and I don't know what to do..... Please help!

£213.20 still seems a damn queer sum for a fine.