Re: Bailiff £75 Compliance fee, do I have to pay it?

I think the best way to address this is to look at the “arguments” raised which purport to indicate that the fee can be avoided.

“The compliance fee is not part of the enforcement under the act and therefore not due to the bailiff if he does not collect the sum due under the order/warrant”.

The requirement to send a letter before the bailiff calls is given in the TCE 2007 Schedule 12 section 7 Which reads:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/15/schedule/12
7
(1)An enforcement agent may not take control of goods unless the debtor has been given notice.
.(2)Regulations must state—
.(a)the minimum period of notice;
.(b)the form of the notice;
.(c)what it must contain;
.(d)how it must be given;
.(e)who must give it.
.(3)The enforcement agent must keep a record of the time when the notice is given.
.(4)If regulations authorise it, the court may order in prescribed circumstances that the notice given may be less than the minimum period.
.(5)The order may be subject to conditions

This authorises the creation of regulations (2) which stipulate the particulars of the form content and service of these notices , the regulations were implemented on the 6th of April 2014 and are here:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2...lation/17/made

Going Back to the original argument (“The compliance fee is not part of the enforcement under the act and therefore not due to the bailiff if he does not collect the sum due under the order/warrant”.)
This is addressed in Section 6, 7 and 8 of these regulations; the relevant section here is subsection (2) of section 8 where it reads;
(2) Notice must be given by the enforcement agent or the enforcement agent’s office.
So for clarity, the notice is the responsibility of the EA not the authority.
For the particulars regarding the fees we must look at regulations made under section 62 0f the TCE
Costs
62(1)Regulations may make provision for the recovery by any person from the debtor of amounts in respect of costs of enforcement-related services.
These regulations also were implemented this year and are here;
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1/contents/made

The provisions regarding the various enforcement stages and the description is contained in part 5 and 6, we will look at part 5 as it applies to council tax, but part six is similar in this respect and applies to high court enforcement, he section reads.
Stages of enforcement for which fees may be recovered – enforcement other than under High Court writs
5. (1) The relevant stages of enforcement under an enforcement power which is not conferred by a High Court writ are as follows—
(a)the compliance stage, which comprises all activities relating to enforcement from the receipt by the enforcement agent of instructions to use that procedure in relation to a sum to be recovered up to but not including the commencement of the enforcement stage
Agian for clarity we see that the compliance stage is in fact part of the enforcement process as defined by the regulations.

The next argument is that the fee does not form part of the “proceeds” as defined by the act and therefore is not due once the sum under the order/ warrant is paid.
The relevant section reads:

Recovery of fees for enforcement-related services from the debtor
4. (1) — The enforcement agent may recover from the debtor the fees indicated in the Schedule in accordance with this regulation and regulations 11, 12, 13, 16 and 17, by reference to the stage, or stages, of enforcement for which enforcement-related services have been supplied.
(2) The fees referred to in paragraph (1) may be recovered out of proceeds

The term “procceds” is defined within section 2 the same regulations and reads: “proceeds” has the meaning given by paragraph 50(2) of Schedule 12
Section 50 reads:
50(1) Proceeds from the exercise of an enforcement power must be used to pay the amount outstanding.
.(2)Proceeds are any of these—
.(a)proceeds of sale or disposal of controlled goods;
.(b)money taken in exercise of the power, if paragraph 37(1) does not apply to it.
.(3)The amount outstanding is the sum of these—
.(a)the amount of the debt which remains unpaid (or an amount that the creditor agrees to accept in full satisfaction of the debt);
.(b)any amounts recoverable out of proceeds in accordance with regulations under paragraph 62 (costs).
.(4)If the proceeds are less than the amount outstanding, which amounts in sub-paragraph (3)(a) and (b) must be paid, and how much of any amount, is to be determined in accordance with regulations.
.(5)If the proceeds are more than the amount outstanding, the surplus must be paid to the debtor.
6)If there is a co-owner of any of the goods, the enforcement agent must—
.(a)first pay the co-owner a share of the proceeds of those goods proportionate to his interest;
.(b)then deal with the rest of the proceeds under sub-paragraphs (1) to (5).
.(7)Regulations may make provision for resolving disputes about what share is due under sub-paragraph (6)(a).

.The important parts of tis are contained in subsection 2(b) money taken in exercise of the power, if paragraph
The definition of enforcement power is given in section 1(2) schedule 12 of the TCE 2007 as:
(2)In this Schedule a power to use the procedure to recover a particular sum is called an “enforcement power”. (the enforcement stages has been defined earlier).

In addition section 50(1) above states: 50(1) Proceeds from the exercise of an enforcement power must be used to pay the amount outstanding
The amount outstanding is defined in the same paragraph as:

(3)The amount outstanding is the sum of these—
.(a)the amount of the debt which remains unpaid (or an amount that the creditor agrees to accept in full satisfaction of the debt);
.(b)any amounts recoverable out of proceeds in accordance with regulations under paragraph 62 (costs).

Section 62 reads:
62(1)Regulations may make provision for the recovery by any person from the debtor of amounts in respect of costs of enforcement-related services.
.(2)The regulations may provide for recovery to be out of proceeds or otherwise.
.(3)The amount recoverable under the regulations in any case is to be determined by or under the regulations.
.(4)The regulations may in particular provide for the amount, if disputed, to be assessed in accordance with rules of court.
.(5)“Enforcement-related services” means anything done under or in connection with an enforcement power, or in connection with obtaining an enforcement power, or any services used for the purposes of a provision of this Schedule or regulations under it.
We see here that the amount outstanding includes anything “in connection with” the use of the power. Since as also said the “amount outstanding” is paid out of the “proceeds”, if the sum paid by the debtor is short the fee for the use of that particular power (stage of enforcement) then that sum will still be owed.