What is this country coming to? Anyway, I can't offer much advice but there are plenty on here that can - you're in the right place. Soon enough someone will be along to guide you. You'll probably need to provide a little more information - especially dates. Were the fees all charged on the same day? This must be the most agressive abuse of process I've seen. 1970

Was Jacobs, visited me as Swift while still registered as Jacobs, now no longer appears on the register for either.

Hi, With my on-going complaint to the LA which I suspect will end up with the LGO I'm including issues I have with the bailiff's certificate. Firstly he was unable to produce a certificate. With the help of CAG I found where to check his certificate and found that while he was acting for one company he was actually certified with another company. I have complained directly to the bailiff firm and they replied with the following: (Note, the bailiff called at my home on the 6th Nov 2007) Reply from bailiff firm: The position is that at the time Mr X applied for his certificate in or around April 2007, he was employed by another company. As stated above, Mr X's current employment with the company commenced in June 2007. Mr X wrote to Liverpool Court on the 6th July 2007 requesting a new certificate showing the company as his employer. A response was not received and a chasing letter was sent on Mr X's behalf by Mrs X of the company on 7th September 2007. Mr X was, therefore a Certified Bailiff at the time in question. We can also confirm the Mr X was employed by the company and that a certified bond was in place from 8th June 2007. So there we have it. None of it make sense to me. If Mr X had still not got his certificate by the 7th September 2007 how could a certified bond have been in place on the 8th June. I notice also that it simply says they chased the court in September. It doesn't actually say when the court replied and when his certificate was actually issued in the new company name. When he called at my home in November he was unable to show a certificate and the register confirm that he worked elsewhere. Are they at fault here or does it not matter what company is identified on the certificate? Cheers 1970.

Ok, all looking good with my supporting information. This is very likely to go to the LGO so I am also in the process if obtaining further info from other councils that have stopped their contractors charging the head H fee etc.via FOI. Another matter which came up during my investigations is that a bailiff that called on my was certificated but for a different comapny. He started working for swift and had asked the court to change his certificate but began acting for swift before the court had made the changes. Does this have any implications? Would his bond have been invalid at the time? Worth adding to the complaint? 1970

I was informed there was a fee of £20 but I disputed it. The bailiff took the charge anyway and wrote on the form "c/p disputes bailiff fees" I was at work at the time and my wife was at home with the bailiff so over the phone I sorted it just to get him out of the house for my wifes sake.

Sorry about that, here are the goods: Microwave Dining table Dining chairs TV 3 seat sofa 2 seat sofa arm chair washing machine

Also, I have a response from the bailiff in writing explaining their use of the fee.

Interesting. I've just been reading some FOI requests on this very matter.

Hi PT, The document I have is two sided, on the front it says notice of seizure of goods and inventory which lists his fees and the goods he itemised when gaining entry. On the back it says walking posession agreement and has terms and conditions along with the regulations for fees. So, on the front the charges are: Debt £1323.76 Levy to scale fee £62 Attending with a vehicle with the view to removing £200* Walking posession fee £12 Removal fee where no sale takes place £24.50* Payment made by credit card on the spot £400 (they only credited £380 to the account as there was a £20* charge) Balance due £1222.26 with an agreement to pay in 30 days (which I did). The items with a * are the ones I deem unlawful and intend to claim back. This was the first and only visit. I sent a SAR and there are no other charges on this account - ie first visit fee which in my view should have been the only fee for this visit as I paid £400 there and then and followed up with a full and final payment 30 days later. 1970

thanks PT. Very clear. To clarify, following a SAR I noticed a £24.50 fee appear on the account some months after the account was paid in full. I questioned this and was told it was a fee where no sale takes place - in other words, Header H fee as you describe above. I shall have them for that too. Many thanks.

Many thanks everyone for your input. I now have some good references in regard to multiple visit fee's which I shall include in my documentation to the LGO. The final issue is the vehicle fee. In my view there should be due process and each stage of the process attracts a fee of some description. Upon a single visit, the bailiff charged me a visit fee, levy fee and a fee for attending with a vehicle with the view to removng goods. There was also a no sale fee. How did he know there were goods to remove? What right did he have to remove goods if I had not already signed a WP? Are there any references or case references in regard to vehicle fees? The fee charged was £200.00. Multiply this by an approximate 5 visits a day over monthly period then each bailiff could afford to purchase a new van every month. This does not represent reasonable costs. I've challenged swift on this matter and they claim reasonable costs also includes company overheads. On the first visit surely there should be a visit fee and a levy. If the walking posession agreement is not honoured then the bailiff has the right to return with a vehicle at my cost to collect the goods listed on the WP. Correct? Thanks. 1970

Hi, Long story which has been going on for years and I have posted here before. However, my situation is coming to a head now and would like clarification on the following: Multiple fees. I had 3 liability orders. Bailiff attended in regard to all 3 on one visit. I was charged a fee for each even though it was one visit. Is this lawful? Attendance with a vehicle fee. On one account (seperate visit to the above) a bailiff attended and I signed a walking posession order after paying £400 on the spot and agreeing to pay the rest 4 weeks later. On the walking posession order he left, he charged a "attendance with a vehicle fee with the view to the removal of goods" of £200 along with a levy fee, a walking posession fee and a no sale fee. Can this fee be charged? I dont think he had any intention of removing goods, just wanted money or an arrangement. 1970

Hi, Short version: Remortgaged last year. Solicitor took over 3 months to complete the remortgage. Solicitor admits in email they made mistakes and apologises for errors and offers partial refund of fees. In my original written instructions I made it very clear that the remortgage had to happen fast as I was paying an interest only mortgage at 12%. Chased them loads of times. Never got replies. Had to do some of the work myself. Was promised a completion date 3 times, all of which failed. Solicitor delays caused me to make 3 additional payments to the old mortgage company at £1400 a time. Had these payments gone towards my new mortgage at least I would have been paying off the capital. After the remortgage, the solicitor chased me for a a signed copy of an occupiers document. Due to me sending it back late my new mortgage company charged the solicitor £300 for the delay. Solictor has sent me a claim form for the £300. My arguement is: They delayed and cost me £4200 in interest payments. I delayed and cost them £300. Therefore, do I have a counterclaim for £3900? ie the cost of their delays less the cost of my delays? Thanks, 1970.

postggj - any further thoughts on the agreement?

good luck.

I'm half a payment behind which I shall bring up to date at the end of this week then I shall make an approach to get this sorted.

One thing to add, the broker website states the following: FAQ: Do you sell vehicles? No, absolutely not. We only provide the finance for you to buy the vehicle; we're experts within our field and focus our energy on ensuring we get the best possible finance deal for you. In our opinion, we believe YOU are the best person to choose the vehicle YOU WANT from the dealer of YOUR CHOICE, at Car Loan 4U we believe in putting you in complete control. Therefore, why would the get involved In marking up the price of a vehicle to make their money if they have nothing to do with the vehicle sale but just the finance? 1907

Excellent. My main gripe is signing an agreement for £5500 when the garage was selling the car for £4200. Either I pay an arrangement fee or the broker makes a mark up. Not both. Many thanks. 1970.

Ok, the GAP insurance was a one off payment in month one of £171.00 which is shown on page 1 of 2 of the GAP document (page 9 of the PDF). The PPI costs is on page 12 of the PDF and is shown at £20.76 per month and is added to my normal monthly payment. None of the above forms part of the credit agreement. It is as if they are seperate payment plans. There's no additional interest payable for these premiums. 1970.

Done.

PM me your email address as I have it all in PDF format.

British Credit Trust is the finance company (BCT). I have PPI (not part of the charge for credit but as a seperate document) GAP Insurance And, having checked the agreement again just now I see there is an "Arrangement" fee of £750 in the section where is details the charge for credit and what that charge is made up of. I have it in writing also from the broker website that they are not paid a commission. Is the arrangement fee charged by BCT for setting up the agreement??

wow - could be interesting.

Hi, Story so far in brief: I used an online car finance company last year - they are regulated by the FSA as a finance broker. They advertise that you can find a car at a garage and they will arrange the finance for you. They actually offer you a selection of cars also which I was happy with and chose a vehicle from their list. The car was priced at £5500 and the website arranged the loan with an external finance company. By pure chance while searching on google I found the actual garage that was selling the car. The garage photo clearly showed the registration plate etc and the price on the site was £5500. Therefore I assumed the broker would get a commission from the finance company. On the day I signed and sent back the agreement I checked the garage website again to see if the car had now been sold (ie to me) and to my surprise the car had been discounted in a sale to £4000. I have an electronic copy of the website displaying the price. I thought it was too late to do anything about it, but a few days after delivery I challanged the broker on the price. They said they do not get a commission from the finance company. They claim they actually purchased the car for £5000 and sold to me at £5500 making a £500 profit. This is how they make their money - so they say. My concern is that I now have on finance a car which should have cost me £4000 instead of the £5500 written into the agreement. Also, I have a suspicion that the broker recieved a commission. The reason for this suspicion is that their site says "buy the car of your choice from the dealer of your choice" and there's no mention of them adding their profit to the dealers price. Therefore, how do they normally make their money? In my view it must be by way of a commission on the finance. Does anyone think I have a legal claim here? Something to consider is that I am happy with the car and would be happy to carry on paying the monthly payments. I'm not really wanting to cancel the agreement and send the car back unless I got a refund big enough to go and buy another car cash. 1970.

Interesting thread. Any developments?