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I'm new to the forums but during the last two days the information I found here proved to be invaluable to me and for that I thank the community here very much!
First of all I'd like to give a little background to what has gone on with dealing with these bailiffs and then I have a couple of questions regarding what I can do in my position. Sorry it's a little long, but I wanted to give a detailed account.
At the end of February I had a Liability Order notice filed sent through my door by Medway Council, I immediately gave them a call and set up a payment plan which was then accepted.
Fast forward two week's and I get a Notice of Removal letter from the Bailiff's (Chandler's) while I was out saying they had visited the property and had the intention of coming back later that day to remove items from my home.
I called the council to find out what was going on, as far as I knew I had set up a payment plan so this shouldn't of been happening. As it turns out, the liability order was for a previous address and not the address I set the payment plan up for. This was never mentioned on the phone, there was no indication I owed money for a seperate address! If it was mentioned I would of set up payment for both, but unfortunately the council didn't want to listen as they had already moved it on to the Bailiff's.
So, I called the Bailiffs. The number I got was a mobile number and the 'gentleman' I spoke to was the rudest, most unprofessional person I've ever had the misfortune of encountering. I explained to him the situation with the council, and how I thought a payment had been set up, he didn't want to listen and repeated he wasn't there to negotiate (regardless of the letter I got asking me to call him to avoid this 'distressful' situation) and he was only there to remove items, I attempted to offer him a payment plan but it was no use. I noted to him I would not grant him access to my property at this time, which set him off on a rampage of abuse. He threatened me with police action before he told me 'You wait and see, I'll show you how I get into your house'. I then said I would try to get the money together for the following day, he told me I had till 9am and I asked him instead to move it to the afternoon, this ended with him telling me 'I don't have to give you any time at all really mate' and hanging up.
I gave the Council call back later that evening and the chap on the phone was very helpful and said it looked like a failure on his colleagues part for not mentioning the second address in arrears and he would put a case together in the notes to take the debt back to the Council and I should call the Head Office of the Bailiff's in an attempt to postpone Bailiff action until it had been dealt with.
Now onto the following day,
I called the Head Office for the Bailiff's, but unfortunately they were just as unhelpful as the chap I spoke to before and just kept me going in circles claiming I could only speak to the actual Bailiff with my account, again refusing a payment plan.
I did ring the Bailiff back again, which was a waste of time. He was just as rude as the previous attempt and it was to no avail.
Now I want you to bear in mind the full amount the Bailiff's were asking for was £715.15, this didn't sound right to me. There was no breakdown of costs/charges given to me, just this figure. I called the Council and asked exactly how much the debt was, it turned out to be £510. They even managed to log on the the Bailiff's account via the web and informed me of the following charges.
First Visit Fee - £24.50
Levy Fee - £18.00
(These people have only visited my house once to deliver the letter, I have never seen them nor have the entered my property)
So the total sum on the Bailiff's system was actually around £553. The Bailiff himself had decided to add on an extra £160 of phantom bills to which I confronted him with, at which point he told me he didn't have to speak to me and hung up.
At this point, I decided I wasn't going to pay them a penny as technically he was making fraudulent claims in order to extort money from me that I didn't owe. So I gathered the entire sum of the outstanding debt I owed to the Council, went down to the Council myself and paid them in full.
I left the Bailiff a voicemail, letting him know I had paid the debt back to the Council and quoted the authorization number of the transaction. He called me back to let me know his 'Legal Team' would be in touch.
He hasn't returned.
So that's what has gone on so far, I have a few questions regarding what I can and can't do.
1) As the Bailiff was making fraudulent claims in regards to the debt, can I contest paying them anything at all?
2) What power's do the Bailiff's have as of right now, with the debt paid in full to the council?
3) As the debt has been paid is the Liability Order no longer in effect?
Thanks for reading!
First of all I'd like to give a little background to what has gone on with dealing with these bailiffs and then I have a couple of questions regarding what I can do in my position. Sorry it's a little long, but I wanted to give a detailed account.
At the end of February I had a Liability Order notice filed sent through my door by Medway Council, I immediately gave them a call and set up a payment plan which was then accepted.
Fast forward two week's and I get a Notice of Removal letter from the Bailiff's (Chandler's) while I was out saying they had visited the property and had the intention of coming back later that day to remove items from my home.
I called the council to find out what was going on, as far as I knew I had set up a payment plan so this shouldn't of been happening. As it turns out, the liability order was for a previous address and not the address I set the payment plan up for. This was never mentioned on the phone, there was no indication I owed money for a seperate address! If it was mentioned I would of set up payment for both, but unfortunately the council didn't want to listen as they had already moved it on to the Bailiff's.
So, I called the Bailiffs. The number I got was a mobile number and the 'gentleman' I spoke to was the rudest, most unprofessional person I've ever had the misfortune of encountering. I explained to him the situation with the council, and how I thought a payment had been set up, he didn't want to listen and repeated he wasn't there to negotiate (regardless of the letter I got asking me to call him to avoid this 'distressful' situation) and he was only there to remove items, I attempted to offer him a payment plan but it was no use. I noted to him I would not grant him access to my property at this time, which set him off on a rampage of abuse. He threatened me with police action before he told me 'You wait and see, I'll show you how I get into your house'. I then said I would try to get the money together for the following day, he told me I had till 9am and I asked him instead to move it to the afternoon, this ended with him telling me 'I don't have to give you any time at all really mate' and hanging up.
I gave the Council call back later that evening and the chap on the phone was very helpful and said it looked like a failure on his colleagues part for not mentioning the second address in arrears and he would put a case together in the notes to take the debt back to the Council and I should call the Head Office of the Bailiff's in an attempt to postpone Bailiff action until it had been dealt with.
Now onto the following day,
I called the Head Office for the Bailiff's, but unfortunately they were just as unhelpful as the chap I spoke to before and just kept me going in circles claiming I could only speak to the actual Bailiff with my account, again refusing a payment plan.
I did ring the Bailiff back again, which was a waste of time. He was just as rude as the previous attempt and it was to no avail.
Now I want you to bear in mind the full amount the Bailiff's were asking for was £715.15, this didn't sound right to me. There was no breakdown of costs/charges given to me, just this figure. I called the Council and asked exactly how much the debt was, it turned out to be £510. They even managed to log on the the Bailiff's account via the web and informed me of the following charges.
First Visit Fee - £24.50
Levy Fee - £18.00
(These people have only visited my house once to deliver the letter, I have never seen them nor have the entered my property)
So the total sum on the Bailiff's system was actually around £553. The Bailiff himself had decided to add on an extra £160 of phantom bills to which I confronted him with, at which point he told me he didn't have to speak to me and hung up.
At this point, I decided I wasn't going to pay them a penny as technically he was making fraudulent claims in order to extort money from me that I didn't owe. So I gathered the entire sum of the outstanding debt I owed to the Council, went down to the Council myself and paid them in full.
I left the Bailiff a voicemail, letting him know I had paid the debt back to the Council and quoted the authorization number of the transaction. He called me back to let me know his 'Legal Team' would be in touch.
He hasn't returned.
So that's what has gone on so far, I have a few questions regarding what I can and can't do.
1) As the Bailiff was making fraudulent claims in regards to the debt, can I contest paying them anything at all?
2) What power's do the Bailiff's have as of right now, with the debt paid in full to the council?
3) As the debt has been paid is the Liability Order no longer in effect?
Thanks for reading!
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