Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

[d1ngle]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

This is one fairy story I will look forward to seeing. Have you also checked to see if said Bailiff is suitably Certificated?

It's Phoenix who are a large national collector so I'm sure they would be, but I'll check.

I'll feedback soon, apparently letter arriving today/tomorrow.

[ploddertom]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

It's Phoenix who are a large national collector so I'm sure they would be, but I'll check.

A word of advice - do not believe anything a Bailiff or his company tell you unless it is in black & white, email or text where you then have a trail.

[Guest]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

PT

With regards liability, I was of the understanding that if a persons name was not on the CT bill, then the council cannot seek a liability order against said person-If said person was not listed on the LO then the levy would automatically become invalid.

£24.50 1st visit fee maximum for Phoenix methinks. A letter of apology from the council to dingle wouldn't go amiss here either.

Doesn't matter what the fees are listed as-If they've levied upon goods that do not belong to the debtor & have only visited once then its £24.50-Nothing more, nothing less.

[ploddertom]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

PT

With regards liability, I was of the understanding that if a persons name was not on the CT bill, then the council cannot seek a liability order against said person-If said person was not listed on the LO then the levy would automatically become invalid.

It's called joint & several liability whether both are named or not. But in this case the OP pays CT under their own right elsewhere.

£24.50 1st visit fee maximum for Phoenix methinks. A letter of apology from the council to dingle wouldn't go amiss here either.

Until a proper breakdown is received it is difficult to comment.

Doesn't matter what the fees are listed as-If they've levied upon goods that do not belong to the debtor & have only visited once then its £24.50-Nothing more, nothing less.

The Bailiff may only seize the goods of the debtor so it will be intersting to see where they have magiced all these fees from & until then we can only use guesswork. Although it appears the OP has been overcharged then the good thing is the Bailiff is out of the picture and all evidence can be collected without the fear of the knock on the door.

[Guest]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

Joint & Several liability requires separate summonses for each individual debtor. You cannot enforce a debt on husband A if only Wife B has had a summons and LO issued against them.

Councils always try to bill the maximum amount of adults in a property, that way they can then go after them for LO's BUT they must be billed in the first place otherwise the council cannot go after them.

I would normally agree that until a proper breakdown is received, it would be difficult to comment. However, in this instance, the bailiffs have levied upon goods that do not belong to the debtor and at the very least, an apology should be issued for the inconvenience caused.

[d1ngle]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

Hi all, thanks for the responses. Letter of break down arrived today.

Breakdown is:

1) Original Debt: £807.86 (by the time the bailiff came it was £200 approx, which was actually up to date)
Total Fees: £469.50
Paid: £1277.26
Balance: £00.00

2) Fees:

09/01/2014 Attendance/Van: £210.
09/01/2014 Levy fee: £49.00

Payment by DC 0.50

12/02/2014 Attendance/Van: £210.

Total £469.50.


3) Payments
10/12/2013: Giro to client direct £201.
12/02/2014: DCard £1076 paid, £606 to client through Bureau, 469.50 fees.

I asked my wife and she does not recall a bailiff attending in Jan or any letters being left. In fact she was in Brazil until the 16th Jan.

I hope this is all clear.

The advice is appreciated.

Thanks

D

[ploddertom]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

So they are claiming a levy fee on 9 January - was a Notice of Seizure left - it is a legal requirement?

The fact your wife may have been away is of little consequnce.

[d1ngle]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

So they are claiming a levy fee on 9 January - was a Notice of Seizure left - it is a legal requirement?

The fact your wife may have been away is of little consequnce.

Notice of seizure?

What does it look like. "A bailiff called your house today, please call XYZ etc..."?

They left one on the day they clamped my car. It was through the general door for the block of flats not to her door.

She says she doesn't have anything and wasn't aware of anything left. Definitely not a written letter posted. Its a flat so may have been left through the general door and then thrown away by a neighbour. The last letter they left was through the door in 2013 when this was going on in early 2013 last year I believe (this has been an on going issue where she pays the council and they don't think she have, they send bailiffs and then they realise she's paid. It's happened two years in a row now).

Thanks

D

[ploddertom]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

Sorry, it's been a busy morning. You will still have to play letter tennis with them and ask as no Notice of Seizure was left on 9 January what were they alleging was seized and where was the NoS left? Alternatively for a quicker answer the Council should be able to tell you what was seized. Seems to me as if they have things a**e about t*t in how this was done.

[d1ngle]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

No problem I appreciate the responses.

So notice of seizure and the £210 charged means they actually took something or just turned up and no one was in?

They definitely didn't take anything and nothing was paid to them in Jan. At most they turned up, knocked and then left (and we don't even know this happened).

If I go to the Council and they say nothing was seized what should I write to the Bailiff?

Thank you

[d1ngle]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

Also it just says "attendance/van" it doesn't say anything was seized.

[Guest]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

Also it just says "attendance/van" it doesn't say anything was seized.

The size of the levy fee indicates that they were collecting for £800ish, not £200.

The bailiffs may only charge for 1 attendance/van fee and they will be fully aware of this. It is elementary in council tax enforcement.

£210 is way excessive in any case. The LGO consider a figure of around £130 to be reasonable.

There is so much wrong with this-You need to write a formal complaint to the council immediately.

[d1ngle]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

The size of the levy fee indicates that they were collecting for £800ish, not £200.

The bailiffs may only charge for 1 attendance/van fee and they will be fully aware of this. It is elementary in council tax enforcement.

£210 is way excessive in any case. The LGO consider a figure of around £130 to be reasonable.

There is so much wrong with this-You need to write a formal complaint to the council immediately.

Is this the formal complaint from the "useful letter" page?

[d1ngle]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

Thank you all.

I now have a reply from the council. They are saying I am only owed £402 as refund. I think they are making this up?!?!

They say that she made a mistake as she should have paid everything to the bailiff. She has letters and calls with the council saying to pay the council e.g. individual payment slips! They say the bailiff sent them an over payment of just 402 after the fees.

This is a joke.

Sorry for the frustrated tone. I cannot believe this is legal action from a council who is meant to serve you!!

Thanks again for all the help

[Guest]

Re: Bailiff gained entry, clamped wrong car and collected more than owed

From what I can gather, you are claiming that you have paid the council directly and then paid the bailiffs again?

You should ask the council for a breakdown of all fees received from yourself & all fees received from their recovery agents regarding this matter. That way, you will be able to trace payments.

Possibly, the bailiff fees have not been refunded which is why you need to make a formal complaint (to the CEO)

The grounds for your complaint are those that I have mentioned previously regarding bailiff fees, including the fact that no levy was carried out on the debtors goods & that they are charging 2 Head C fees.

You/your wife will still have to pay visit fees but if a further £400 odd in bailiff fees were removed, would this make more sense?