Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

[Lakeside1]

Hi All,

Situation is this:

SIL gets a parking ticket that the silly bint thinks she can ignore. Order of pertinent events is this:

15/03/11 - Order for recovery of unpaid parking penalty made by Northampton TEC. £80 which includes court registration fee.

28/05/11 - Letter from Marstons Bailiffs saying they have been issued with a Warrant Of Execution. Charges as follows:
Fine - £80
Fees - £11.20
VAT - £2.24
Total - £93.44

17/06/11 - Bailiff goes to her property (she's not in). Leaves a Removal Notice saying "I attended your property today to arrange payment under the terms of a warrant issued... etc etc.... Please note that the amount now due is £337.04 inclusive of charges for today's attendance.

05/07/11 - Exactly as above - Bailiff comes back (she's not in). Identical Removal Notice but now states fees are £377.04.


What are your thoughts - are these fees 'reasonable' and in line with what they're allowed to charge? If not, what should she be doing / saying to them?

TIA

Lakeside1

[jen_br]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

Hi, is the ticket from the council or one of those firms?

[Lakeside1]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

Hi, is the ticket from the council or one of those firms?

Hi Jen BR,

It's a council-issued ticket.

Thanks

L

[Lakeside1]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

Apologies - I should clarify.... When I said "now states fees are £377.04" I meant total payable.

[LooLoo]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

Blimey all that for not paying what a 40 quid parking fine eek!

I'm in the middle of disputing one myself as i had a ticket but it lost its stickyness (was on the really hot day) and fell off the windscreen (( so they gave me a ticket so i have appealed it.

Not sure about the charges here but someone will be along later to help

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

You should always pay first and dispute later - otherwise if you lose, your bill will be 10 times as large as the OP has found out (well, his silly bint sister )

Im not great on parking but I think you ought to be checking this as a rough guide (neautral as well):---> How to appeal a parking ticket

[caspar]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

Hi Lakeside,

You've missed out one very pertinent bit - the ticket cannot go to Northampton for at least 70 days from the date the ticket was issued, so your SIL has been sitting on this for some time and let a £40 fine turn into this. However.....

The bailiffs are having a laugh at your expense. The Northampton Fees, not surprisingly, are spot on. However, the bailiff is allowed to charge just £28.00 to levy distress. If he visits and does not levy on anything (as in your case) he can charge "reasonable fees, but these must not be more than if he had carried out a levy."

Furthermore, he can only charge these fees for a maximum of three visits (£84.00 in total).

In your case the charges should currently stand at £93.44 + £56.00 = £149.44 (this is the maximum he should be charging).

Which council is it?

You need to write to them and ask for a full breakdown of their fees.

Assuming it was a PCN, which it sounds as though it was, the bailiff has only the same powers as if it were a council tax fine, though the way you pay it will be different. This means under no circumstances do you let them in, and not leave anything outside (including your car - park it a few streets away) for them to levy on.

Although about Council Tax this will give you an idea about how to handle the bailiffs: I'm behind with payments, and now the bailiffs are after me! - allaboutFORUMS

Was the original amount on the ticket payable to the council? If so, I would suggest you try to pay the £149.44 as soon as possible and then deal with the bailiffs excessive charges by way of a formal complaint. Let's see which council it is first.

[Lakeside1]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

Hi Lakeside,

You've missed out one very pertinent bit - the ticket cannot go to Northampton for at least 70 days from the date the ticket was issued, so your SIL has been sitting on this for some time and let a £40 fine turn into this. However.....

The bailiffs are having a laugh at your expense. The Northampton Fees, not surprisingly, are spot on. However, the bailiff is allowed to charge just £28.00 to levy distress. If he visits and does not levy on anything (as in your case) he can charge "reasonable fees, but these must not be more than if he had carried out a levy."

Furthermore, he can only charge these fees for a maximum of three visits (£84.00 in total).

In your case the charges should currently stand at £93.44 + £56.00 = £149.44 (this is the maximum he should be charging).

Which council is it?

You need to write to them and ask for a full breakdown of their fees.

Assuming it was a PCN, which it sounds as though it was, the bailiff has only the same powers as if it were a council tax fine, though the way you pay it will be different. This means under no circumstances do you let them in, and not leave anything outside (including your car - park it a few streets away) for them to levy on.

Although about Council Tax this will give you an idea about how to handle the bailiffs: I'm behind with payments, and now the bailiffs are after me! - allaboutFORUMS

Was the original amount on the ticket payable to the council? If so, I would suggest you try to pay the £149.44 as soon as possible and then deal with the bailiffs excessive charges by way of a formal complaint. Let's see which council it is first.

Hi Caspar,

You're spot on - she's sat on this for over a year...! The original PCN was issued in May 2010. She's adamant that the ticket was issued erroneously and that she called the council at the time and spoke to them about it. I've explained to her that it doesn't work like that and that she would have had to have submitted an appeal in writing. Whatsmore - there are bailiffs knocking the door - so she clearly hasn't "dealt" with it.

Aaaand breathe.... lol. The council is Test Valley Borough Council. The ticket was a PCN issued by one of their CEOs.

Thanks

Lakeside1

ps - when you say above - "You need to write to them and ask for a full breakdown of their fees". Do you mean write to the bailiffs or the council?

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

---> Council Home Page

[caspar]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

Write to the bailiffs for the breakdown of fees, but for God's sake get your SIL to pay that ticket quick! Sorry - that's one of the few councils I haven't dealt with, but Marstons are definitely well known to me.

I assume the ticket has to be paid to the council? If so, phone and ask what amount she owes. If you're unlucky they'll tell you to deal with the bailiffs, if you're lucky they'll tell you the amount from Northampton, in which case carry your SIL down to the council offices if you have to, get her to pay it and get a receipt. Why? Because then when the bailiffs next come you'll be able to say there is no debt to be paid sorry, didn't the council let you know? They will be livid! They are still entitled to legitimate fees, but would have to get another liability order in order to collect them (unless they're one of the very few councils who have spotted a certain gap in the law and written into their policy - I won't go into that here as we don't want them all knowing!)

Keep us updated!

[Lakeside1]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

Ok...... so we've looked at the TVBC website as per Niddy's link and lo and behold there's an automated payment link for paying parking fines! We've keyed in her reg no. and PCN number and it brings up the total of her "fine" and the £5 court fees - i.e. £80. It will allow her to pay this amount online.

In theory, can she not just pay the Council directly via this and then pay the Bailiff the reasonable "fees" as described above by Caspar?

Caspar - quick question - are they able to charge VAT on the £28 or is that a fixed fee?

[caspar]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

Ok...... so we've looked at the TVBC website as per Niddy's link and lo and behold there's an automated payment link for paying parking fines! We've keyed in her reg no. and PCN number and it brings up the total of her "fine" and the £5 court fees - i.e. £80. It will allow her to pay this amount online.

In theory, can she not just pay the Council directly via this and then pay the Bailiff the reasonable "fees" as described above by Caspar?

Caspar - quick question - are they able to charge VAT on the £28 or is that a fixed fee?

Who put this out to the bailiffs then? It MUST have been the council. I don't understand where they get their amount owing from as the fine + court fees came to £93.44 - very strange. If the online system gives you a receipt, if that's what they say you have to pay, I'd play safe and pay the £93.44, but no more. If they don't update their systems that is not your problem.

I'll warn you in advance they (or the bailiffs) may claim that their fees are payable before the parking ticket. That's why I'd be inclined to go to the council offices for a written receipt in full payment of the parking ticket. This avoids any confusion as to what the money has been paid for.

With the online system, you still leave yourself open to the above scenario which you could do without, especially as it appears as though your luck could be in with the council.

The fee is £28.00 as far as I understand, not £28.00 + VAT, but don't take that as cast in stone.

[Lakeside1]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

Who put this out to the bailiffs then? It MUST have been the council. I don't understand where they get their amount owing from as the fine + court fees came to £93.44 - very strange. If the online system gives you a receipt, if that's what they say you have to pay, I'd play safe and pay the £93.44, but no more. If they don't update their systems that is not your problem.

I'll warn you in advance they (or the bailiffs) may claim that their fees are payable before the parking ticket. That's why I'd be inclined to go to the council offices for a written receipt in full payment of the parking ticket. This avoids any confusion as to what the money has been paid for.

With the online system, you still leave yourself open to the above scenario which you could do without, especially as it appears as though your luck could be in with the council.

The fee is £28.00 as far as I understand, not £28.00 + VAT, but don't take that as cast in stone.

Hiya

The £93.44 is the original £80 fine including court cost - plus £11.20 + VAT (on the £11.20) which is Marstons 'first letter fee'. The amount that's due to TVBC is £80.

In theory the Bailiffs fees shouldn't be anything to do with the Council - the order for recovery was for £80 only - which is what they'll be paid via their sweet little online system

The Bailiffs will definitely be p!ssed off with her I'm sure - but a formal complaint via the Form 4 route re. their excessive fees should help a bit and help her land on a more reasonable fee?

Just one more question - do unpaid parking fines and the Order for Recovery have any impact on her credit report?

Thanks

Lakeside1

[caspar]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

No, they will have no impact at all on her credit report.

[alwaysskint]

Re: Non Payment Of Parking Ticket - Assessment Of Fees Needed.

Just being nosy.....

Did SIL manage to get away with only paying the council using their online system?