bailiff pulling the wool over your eyes

[carol01]

hi all
i thought i would just post this incase it helps anyone else in the same situation
my partner owed £160.00 council tax which was being paid upto when i was made redundant in december, a liability order was granted in feb 2013.
As a result of this marston group sent a letter 'final notice execution of liability order' and sent a bailiff to the door requesting £374.86. When i questioned the amount he just stated it was fees,and that was the amount to be paid today, if not then they would be sending their 'bully boys' around tomorrow to seize goods
Since being on this site i have pick up a lot of knowledge and had read about the different types of bailiff and fees they can charge, and know that they can only charge 42.50 on top of the debt as we have only had 2 visits.
so i challenged them at the door today for a break down in their fees so i could check to make sure what they were saying is correct it turns out that the fees they had down were all the fees after they have levied and taken goods. So i asked again what is the outstanding debt it was 160.00 liability council tax 30.00 for court summons and 48.00 which is for letters sent making a grand total of £238.00 which is in my eyes acceptable and will be paid.
the reason i have wrote this, as the bailiff stated that i knew a little more than the average person about fees and high court enforcement to which i replied yes if they had stated in their first letter the amount would be 238.00 but IF LEVIED it will be £374.86 then it would have been paid but for you to pull the wool over our eyes is not acceptable and now i will be complaining to marstons about the conduct of these officers
thanks to All-About-Debt and for people posting information and sharing their knowledge with us, today showed me just how knowledge is key
thanks carol01

[fluffystuff]

Re: bailiff pulling the wool over your eyes

Brilliant, well done you!

Knowledge is most definitely power!

[SA Gold]

Re: bailiff pulling the wool over your eyes

yeah well done Carol! Give yourself a pat on the back

[IF]

Re: bailiff pulling the wool over your eyes

Well done Carol and AAD too

[Spud]

Re: bailiff pulling the wool over your eyes

Its so nice to see that the useful information on this site can be used directly ( At the door as it were) to put these people in their place

Great work all

[Pixie]

Re: bailiff pulling the wool over your eyes

Well done Carol

I wonder how many people would have paid the amount requested because they didn't know the charges were wrong?

[MrsD]

Re: bailiff pulling the wool over your eyes

and most definitely complain, to the council and to marstons

well done, bet it felt good!

[CleverClogs (RIP)]

Re: bailiff pulling the wool over your eyes

my partner owed £160.00 council tax which was being paid upto when i was made redundant in december, a liability order was granted in feb 2013.
As a result of this marston group sent a letter 'final notice execution of liability order' and sent a bailiff to the door requesting £374.86. When i questioned the amount he just stated it was fees, and that was the amount to be paid today, if not then they would be sending their 'bully boys' around tomorrow to seize goods

Was that demand made in writing?

so i challenged them at the door today for a break down in their fees so i could check to make sure what they were saying is correct it turns out that the fees they had down were all the fees after they have levied and taken goods.

In other words, the bugger was trying the usual "upfront fees" fraud.

So i asked again what is the outstanding debt it was 160.00 liability council tax 30.00 for court summons and 48.00 which is for letters sent making a grand total of £238.00 which is in my eyes acceptable and will be paid.

Except that Marstons are not permitted to charge for sending letters. Please see the attached file for what they may lawfully charge.

the reason i have wrote this, as the bailiff stated that i knew a little more than the average person about fees and high court enforcement

This has nothing to do with High Court Enforcement and that bailiff either has delusions of grandeur or, as is usual for his type of anthropoid, pithecine low-life, delusions of adequacy.

to which i replied yes if they had stated in their first letter the amount would be 238.00 but IF LEVIED it will be £374.86

Which it would not be - the correct levy fee would only be £29.

At which stage of their calculations had they added in the date?

thanks to All-About-Debt and for people posting information and sharing their knowledge with us, today showed me just how knowledge is key

certe, scientia potestas est

[carol01]

Re: bailiff pulling the wool over your eyes

yes the demand was in writing although there were no break down of the fees just the total, the letters are a 24.00 and an 18.00 letter before levy i assume the rest was vat maybe?
the charges were for a van levy and auction, they were supposed to come back to day to seize goods, i even left a photocopy of my log book for my car outside on the letter box with his name on so he couldn't take the car but didn't turn up what would happen if i paid the council online the amount outstanding would they still be able to claim their charges or not ?

[CleverClogs (RIP)]

Re: bailiff pulling the wool over your eyes

yes the demand was in writing although there were no break down of the fees just the total, the letters are a 24.00 and an 18.00 letter before levy i assume the rest was vat maybe?

If you'd read the file I attached, you may have noticed that there was no provision for the bailiff or his/her/its blackguard employers charging money for sending letters. All that may lawfully be charged are the visit fees which, if the brute had visited on two or more occasions, would total £42.50. No VAT is payable on that but, for the resolution of any doubt, £42.50 + VAT is £51, not £48.

I rather doubt that he gave you a £3 discount because he liked your hair-do.

the charges were for a van levy and auction,

In other words, they were seeking payment for work they had not done.

This is usually referred to as fraud.

they were supposed to come back to day to seize goods, i even left a photocopy of my log book for my car outside on the letter box with his name on so he couldn't take the car

Unless you had soaked the photocopy in Sarin nerve agent, I do not understand how the V5 for your motor-car could prevent its seizure. Please explain.

what would happen if i paid the council online the amount outstanding would they still be able to claim their charges or not ?

You would still have to pay the cost of obtaining the Liability Order and you may also have to pay the visit fees. I make that £232.50

If you cannot pay it all at once, pay something - as much as you can - and ask the Head of Revenues at your local council if he/she approves of bailiffs charging "up-front fees."

[carol01]

Re: bailiff pulling the wool over your eyes

i photocopied my v5 as the car is mine and registered to me the debt is not mine and as they had my reg written down yesterday demanding proof i photocopied it and left it in an envelope on my letterbox.
yes i read your attachment.
i can pay 190.00 which is the council tax and the court summons but since the letters sent are incorrect and state the incorrect amount.