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Hi all
After searching through the many forums which can help consumers with baliff debt advice i chose this one
Now recently i had a unpaid parking ticket which led to baliffs getting involved and a levy placed on my vehicle. I was in money trouble which led me to ring national debt helpline and it was only then that i was made aware of what companies can legally charge me.
This resulted in my debt amount claiming to be owed to Equita went from £450 odd to around £120 all because i finally knew what i was talking about. I paid the £120 and that was finally settled.
I then remembered a situation i got into with another company which was JBW Group. I paid £570 for an original congestion charge fine of £180. I paid up after their scare tactics and ended it there. At the time of their appearance to my door it was December 2nd 2011 which meant the worst Christmas for my newly started family when it should have been an amazing memorable time.
I have requested a breakdown of costs from them and luckily for me they still had it on file. It is as follows
Debt - £187 - 4th July 2011
Letter Fee - £11.20 + VAT - 5th July
Attendance to Levy 1 - £57 + VAT - 1st November 2011
Attendance to Levy 1 - £60 + VAT - 2nd December 2011
Attendance to remove - £175 + VAT - 2nd December 2011
Using a credit card for payment - £16.52 + VAT - 2nd December 2011
I am not majorly bothered about the letter fee or either of the attendance fees as this isnt the bulk of the debt. Attendance to remove is £210 and that is what i would like to get back. Now after contact with JBW they have told me that they attempted to visit my property on 1st November 2011 but could not make contact and when i put it to them that they are making it up they sent a image to me which shows the baliffs route for the day tracked via GPS. Now to me all this proves is that he/she drove past my house. I had a newborn child so my partner was in and also my brother who lives with me had every Tuesday off from university which is the day they supposedly claim. IF they made a genuine attempt to reach me then they would of encountered either one of these 2 who would of relayed the message to me.
Then on the 2nd December they turned up at around 7.30am in the morning and after brief discussions about creating a payment plan i ended up paying th debt in full because they were using scare tactics by sticking stickers all over my car and telling me that a tow truck was on its way and more costs would be incurred.
Now after speaking with national debt helpline they have told me that JBW have no right to charge a attendance to remove because no levy was placed on the vehicle. Is this a correct statement?
Am i right in thinking that they can charge me a attendance to levy charge for December 2nd but seeing as i paid up straight away then that is the matter sorted. If they had placed a levy on my car and i was given the official document then they would have been within there powers to take my car but seeing as no levy was placed then the law states they cant take any goods?
There are so many grey areas that im not really sure where i stand. Also i would love to know if there is a standard minimum timeframe in which a baliff can levy on a car and then take it away. When i got the levy on my car recently i had plenty of time to dispute it with the baliffs and get the attendance to remove fee removed from that.
Even though i believe there first visit is made up i am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and i will only go after the attendance to remove fee. Do you think i would be able to take them to small claims court? If so how much does it cost to do this as It seems like this is the only way i will be able to claim some of my money back. Can i claim for extra compensation if they are found guilty of breaking the law because the timing of the payout as a mentioned earlier resulted in the worst Christmas ever which cannot be taken back.
Sorry if i have repeated myself at all, its late and i wanted to get this done before i went to bed.
Thank you in advance everyone
After searching through the many forums which can help consumers with baliff debt advice i chose this one
Now recently i had a unpaid parking ticket which led to baliffs getting involved and a levy placed on my vehicle. I was in money trouble which led me to ring national debt helpline and it was only then that i was made aware of what companies can legally charge me.
This resulted in my debt amount claiming to be owed to Equita went from £450 odd to around £120 all because i finally knew what i was talking about. I paid the £120 and that was finally settled.
I then remembered a situation i got into with another company which was JBW Group. I paid £570 for an original congestion charge fine of £180. I paid up after their scare tactics and ended it there. At the time of their appearance to my door it was December 2nd 2011 which meant the worst Christmas for my newly started family when it should have been an amazing memorable time.
I have requested a breakdown of costs from them and luckily for me they still had it on file. It is as follows
Debt - £187 - 4th July 2011
Letter Fee - £11.20 + VAT - 5th July
Attendance to Levy 1 - £57 + VAT - 1st November 2011
Attendance to Levy 1 - £60 + VAT - 2nd December 2011
Attendance to remove - £175 + VAT - 2nd December 2011
Using a credit card for payment - £16.52 + VAT - 2nd December 2011
I am not majorly bothered about the letter fee or either of the attendance fees as this isnt the bulk of the debt. Attendance to remove is £210 and that is what i would like to get back. Now after contact with JBW they have told me that they attempted to visit my property on 1st November 2011 but could not make contact and when i put it to them that they are making it up they sent a image to me which shows the baliffs route for the day tracked via GPS. Now to me all this proves is that he/she drove past my house. I had a newborn child so my partner was in and also my brother who lives with me had every Tuesday off from university which is the day they supposedly claim. IF they made a genuine attempt to reach me then they would of encountered either one of these 2 who would of relayed the message to me.
Then on the 2nd December they turned up at around 7.30am in the morning and after brief discussions about creating a payment plan i ended up paying th debt in full because they were using scare tactics by sticking stickers all over my car and telling me that a tow truck was on its way and more costs would be incurred.
Now after speaking with national debt helpline they have told me that JBW have no right to charge a attendance to remove because no levy was placed on the vehicle. Is this a correct statement?
Am i right in thinking that they can charge me a attendance to levy charge for December 2nd but seeing as i paid up straight away then that is the matter sorted. If they had placed a levy on my car and i was given the official document then they would have been within there powers to take my car but seeing as no levy was placed then the law states they cant take any goods?
There are so many grey areas that im not really sure where i stand. Also i would love to know if there is a standard minimum timeframe in which a baliff can levy on a car and then take it away. When i got the levy on my car recently i had plenty of time to dispute it with the baliffs and get the attendance to remove fee removed from that.
Even though i believe there first visit is made up i am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and i will only go after the attendance to remove fee. Do you think i would be able to take them to small claims court? If so how much does it cost to do this as It seems like this is the only way i will be able to claim some of my money back. Can i claim for extra compensation if they are found guilty of breaking the law because the timing of the payout as a mentioned earlier resulted in the worst Christmas ever which cannot be taken back.
Sorry if i have repeated myself at all, its late and i wanted to get this done before i went to bed.
Thank you in advance everyone
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