And I know you are on here, I thought you was going to relax and chill out!!! or as my teenager says chillax

You will get lots of good advice on here, each of us putting little bits to you. Now if like me you had a "breakdown" of their fees enclosed with the letter, hand posted through your door, then I'd still do what HW said............if you want to pursue the bailiffs! now at this very early stage I have decided not to go this route, basically because they haven't had nor got my money! And as I have written to the court, at least the court that 'issued' this order is aware there are some discrepencies! But if you do decide to pursue this route then ask for the breakdown as HW suggested. Bailiffs are not for the feint hearted, INMHO, they float the law,ignore the law and in my experience they break the law!!! And they are muppets! ( sorry Kermit) I personally won't waste my time and energy pampering to their whims! have a good weekend cas

Hey Tom, Hope you're about some time. Just wanted to let you know my update. Heard back from the high court, was told it was still infront of the Judges! Since had a letter telling me its been stayed until 30 nov AND I have liberty to apply for variation!!! ( only got 3 days to act though) Cas

Hey Kelp I have/had a similar problem to yours ( mine is a water bill) I wrote to the High court and asked them for more time to pay. They informed me that decision had not been made yet and it was still in front of the Judges. So IMHO bailiffs are balliffs regardless of court!. I know you said what the debt is but have you had the county court paperwork? ( you must have for it to go to High court). Right I suggest you write to the High court, telling them why this was not dealt with 1) sooner and 2) at county court level. takes a bit of pride swallowing, but nothing compared to 2 hairy ar**d fellas knocking your door with a big white van I did this and I got a reply yesterday telling me a stay of execution until 30/11/10 and liberty to apply to vary or set aside................ The last bit I'm not too sure what it means hence me being on here, but I'm just looking for confirmation, then I can tell you my experience further. And finally, and maybe most importantly, please try and relax, you'll think much more clearly and you'll be able to make better decisions. I wonder ..........did you deal with it at county court level? maybe if you hadn't that looks to the courts as admission so they just carry on regardless! and don't forget the 'recession' is just beginning to bite for a lot of people and the courts are aware of this

Hi Shadow I will check out the new lending code. The inhouse dca has given me food for thought,don't want to go into too much detail yet, but once its resolved will let you know how it goes Best wishes cas

Hi Shadow That makes interesting reading,they had passed it to a dca (their inhouse dca) so spitting my dummy out I wrote and told them account in dispute, they replied that they have put it on hold and would I let them know the details of my dispute, so am now trying to figure out how to word the letter. I like what you had to say and will mention that FOS route in my letter, but of course I won't let on I know the fee they would be charged. I'm not asking for this money to be "returned" it wasn't mine but nor did I ever use it, its just the fact I feel its constructive debt. Best wishes Cas

Hi Shadow No they never gave us an overdraft, the nearest I got was a letter dated July 07 whereby they say " You will realise that no formal limit has been agreed between us" They then go on to say the interest rate. I'd written the month, (15th June 07), before requesting the refund of the bank charges. Cas

Hi Everyone What can I do about an overdraft that is made up entirely of bank charges and interest? Had a loan and joint current account ( with my son) with HSBC, current account was put into dispute because of previous bank charges, loan account was my Son's and I believed he too had challenged this as it was a 'managed' loan. Due to personal circumstances he transfered the monthly repayment direct debit onto the joint account, believing the loan account was indispute, hsbc wrote and said they were waiting for outcome of court case regarding bank charges, but for 15 months they called for DD on loan, (they made the payment then rejected it) hitting me with a £25 + interest bank charge, so I have the loan account outstanding but the joint account was not used since I requested bank charge refunds in June 07, yet with the "unpaid direct debit" charges, now stands at nearly £1,000 and they want it. Is there anything I can do, I accept the loan account, as I had the money and should (and will) pay it back.

Ploddertom I hereby declare that IMHO you are officially the best thing since sliced bread and I love you for it. Cas

Oh and one other thing if it was to be heard at High Court wouldn't I have been told to appear and answer it? Cas

Hi Tom the answers are No,No,No and yes But I must be honest here, I may have had letters, need to check this out but the one brain cell is acting like a sieve, no excuse I know but I am more interested in the £1100 bailiff fees. Now I know they have not been to my house before now, they claim they have levied etc but I have nothing from them so can't see how they can say they have a list to sell at local auction Cas

Cassie the council are doing you NO favours! they seem to get off on stitching people up just like the bailiffs! But for future reference........... you don't have to pay to the bailiffs, that is just one option open to the councils ( and it appears the quickest way to get their money). The second you pay ANY money to a bailiff, he takes his fees first, so if you had a debt for £500 and he lumpped £300 fees and you agreed to pay £50 per week it would be 6 weeks before you start chipping away at the arrears, whereby if you pay the council it would all go towards the arrears, I fear that as they have allowed you to pay the bailiff then you have lost that money! Remember that if the bailiff hasn't levied or got you to sign a WPO then the only money you owe him/her is £42.50 Cas

Hi Cassie Firstly, you are not alone, plenty of us have been where you are and we're still standing There is plenty you can do, I always advise people when sending any correspondence to sent it recorded delivery, bailiffs say they haven't received it, then you can prove otherwise. A few facts for you, IMO bailiffs are nothing more than bullies, and they play on your ignorance, they will tell you the sky is bright pink if they thought they could get away with it! I, too am self employed and if I have 7 months work in a year then I've had a good year! So bearing that in mind, I suggest you be honest,polite and nice to the council ( you can always pretend your pillows are the jerk at the end of the phone ) In the past I have set up a STANDING ORDER via my bank to pay my council tax, for two reasons, 1st I have control as to how much is paid and when it is paid and 2nd the council can't/won't refuse payment. All you need to do is go to your bank with the councils account details ( found on CTbill payment slip) and your CT account number. I suggest you do an income and expenditure sheet,( keep this info to yourself for the moment) then divide the figures by 52, don't forget to take the current years liability into account, then offer a realistic figure, don't offer more than you can afford because one missed payment and they will be back. Now you can ASK the council to take back your file, Cassie, they will refuse, put everything in writting, and get a receipt from the council for all documents. BUT carry on paying via Standing order/ online. Always mention that you are not refusing to pay your bill but due to unforeseen circumstances you cannot make the payment in full/ to date. Keep us uptodate and there will be lots of advise, some of us ( Oh! that'll be me then ! ) like to give the bailiffs a hard time, and as your confidence grows you'll se they are not so scary Best wishes Cas

Hi Everyone What, in layman terms, is the difference between a high court enforcement officer and a county court bailiff? I have received a hand delivered letter, stating I have an outstanding balance of £918.62 for water rates. The letter is titled " High Court form 55 -notice of seizure. Now, at no time has these guys entered nor even spoke to me yet the demand is for......................£2,261.18 Their "schedule" for this is made up as follows; Amount of Judgement or Order ( including interest awarded by Judgement or Order) £918.62 Judgement costs £147.00 If sent from county court by certificate interest 2 post judgement or county court judgement or order over £5,000 until date of certification £10.82 at the rate of 8% per annum. Cost of execution £101.75 Charges of the Authorised High Court Enforcement Officer £1,083.69 Boy! am I up the swaney Any feedback? Cas

What do you plan on saying on your form 4?

Oooh I forgot to add this Its from the Distress for Rent Rules 1988. Now is it correct that only certificated bailiffs can collect council tax arrears? If this is so then have a look at this Forms of Certificate 3.—(1) A general certificate in Form 1 may be granted only by a Judge and shall authorise the bailiff named in it to levy at any place in England and Wales. (2) A special certificate in Form 2 may be granted by a Judge or Registrar and shall authorise the person named in it to levy only in respect of the distress or distresses to which it applies. And this; Levy and Removal 12.—(1) Every bailiff levying a distress shall produce his certificate to the tenant if he is present or, in the absence of the tenant, to such other person present as appears to be in control of the premises. (2) A bailiff levying distress shall deliver to the tenant, or leave on the premises where distress is levied, a memorandum in Form 7 identifying the bailiff and specifying in an Inventory the goods distrained on and setting out the amounts for which the distress is levied and the fees, charges and expenses authorised by these Rules and being actually and necessarily incurred under them. (3) A bailiff or his agent attending to remove goods from the premises or withdrawing from possession prior to sale of the distrained goods shall deliver to the tenant or leave on the premises where distress is levied a memorandum in Form 9 setting out the expenses of removal authorised by and incurred under these Rules.

hey everyone, reading through this thread, I'd like your opinion on this; Back on page 25, post 494,hallowitch has copied the Council Tax (Administrations & Enforcement Regulations 1192) etc, now it clearly states on there, fees for attending with a van " reasonable costs" so how can the bailiff company and the councils agree to the fee? surely this must be done on an individual basis?

Anyone?

Hi Everyone Is the info on the "Challenge a default on a disputed account" up to date? I'd like to go this route and wondered if the decision made last november had any bearings? Cas

Hi Donnie, I know how she feels, some of these people can be so intimidating, but you are getting a good amount of feed back from others on here, and maybe just matbe once you're in the know, if it should ever happen again she will know what to do. One word of warning though, councils are not so slow on the deceiving front either, in my opinion, beware and double check that the money you have paid has gone to the right account, because if you owe any for this years' they will use any money you pay to pay off the arrears thus putting you into arrears for the current year, this has happened to me and its a heck of a job to clear it up Best wishes Cas

Hi Monty I thought I had managed to delete any reference to who the company were, but hey! Yes I have just had a rather heated telephone conversation with them as they started my claim in july 09 and kept fobbing me off with excuses, three people have been "dealing" with my claim and all no longer work with the company anymore! This reference I quoted is of interest as it may be significant to my claim against the company these were trying to sort out Cas

Sorry Vicki I left my one brain cell in bed this morning, are you saying that on the same day she called on you she called on a neighbour and levied? Did she leave any paper work for your neighbour? For months I have been saying people in local areas should get together and take on the bailiff companies en masse, I believe the Judges would then sit up and listen.

What does this mean in laymans terms please The non disclosure of commissions or feesA lender potentially breaches the non disclosure of commissions or fees part of the consumer credit act is when a lender: pays a commission to a third party such as a finance broker or another division of the lender in recognition of their assistance in the lender providing a credit card or loan agreement. This is because section 155 of the consumer credit act 1974 which states: “in the case of an individual desiring to obtain credit under a consumer credit agreement, any sum payable or paid by him to a credit- broker otherwise then as a fee or a commission for the credit-brokers services shall for the purposes of subsection (1) be treated as such a fee or commission if it enters, or would enter, into the total charge for credit"

hello Donnie I doubt very much you can do anything about this. It may just be a very bitterlesson learned. bailiffs (imo) are the masters of deceipt. And I think he has got you. It will be your word against his with regard as to what was said about the notice of seizure. They should have written to you warning that they are coming to collect this debt, they can visit your premises twice, charging £24.50 and £ 18.00 ( hence the " redemption fee) Then they should have called and issued a levy, this is basically a list of the items, they feel, could be sold at a local auction to recover this debt, now this is dodgy ground, as I was at this stage and contacted the Ministry Of Justice, who informed me that ALL certificated bailiffs, when levying on property, should leave a form 7 mandate, which you should have signed, ( this is basically a form that you are agreeing NOT to sell the goods listed to anybody else) Then he could impose the levy fees, also on this form you should have come to an agreement as to how to discharge this debt, i.e. weekly payments, and at that point, should you have missed a payment, he had the right to attend with a van and take the goods. You can challenge what he calls the £115 " for him just turning up" but it will not be easy, I am just trying to summon the bravery to go this route and I have been fighting mine for 4 years, ( stubborn old bat I am ) The law states their fees have to be "reasonable" Now for the really bad news, I fear they have sent you letters and they were not acted upon, you can send an SAR request, it costs £10 and they SHOULD send you copies of all the information they hold on you, they SHOULD send you copies of the letters they dropped off when they called. You can go as far as to ask for a screenshot, which shows sat nav print out, be prepared to work hard, the term " flogging a dead horse" comes to mind but to some of us, the injustice far outways the frustrations. Keep us informed and later others will be by to the voice their experiences. And on a positive note, you will learn a heck of a lot for future reference. Cas

Sorry I disagree, copy to the council,If you don't keep them in the loop they'll use this against you as a delaying tactic. I would also play on words here, inform the MP that it is you that has tried to resolve this matter, and the council have sat back. I don't believe that the councils are allowed to decide, with the bailiff company, how much they charge. But it appears my council does. Now with regard to the van fees, there is a bit you can do.......... the law says "reasonable" costs, you can challenge this fee, but it will be one heck of a headache, I once spoke to the national debt line about this and they basically said, that if i can prove it would be cheaper to hire a van + petrol then that can be used to challenge their van fees. Don't forget the chances are you wasn't the only one she would have visitied that day, so if she had done 3 then she would have charge £ 330, it wouldn't have cost that much to hire a van + petrol ( remember at this point you have NO WAY of proving she visited anyone else) It just gives them a hard time and gives you a buzz knowing they are having a "bad day" Cas