just looked over the form....the nature of the complaint, I assume this means the nature of my complaint about the bailiff??? and action taken....is this the response from the council???? it says on the form to send straight to the court where the bailiff got their certificate from...should I do this or send to council first? or email council and advise I am not happy with their response and advise I have filled out a form 5?? thanks

do you think its worth my time in sending the form 5 then? having looked at the court fees im not sure I will get a lot of remission and cannot afford the £200 so would it be more advisable to make a complaint to the LGO?

I'm just enquiring more about this form 5....so if I find the form and send it off to the council for them to send to the court, would the council have to include my original complaint along with any findings they have had from the bailiffs?? I am also still rather perplexed as to how they can turn down my offer of all further payments be taken via an attachment of earnings as it would take too long! surely the fact that i'm offering to pay and within my budget should be acceptable?! The council told me to go back to the bailiff by the end of the month with my income and expenditure AGAIN and try to come to some repayment arrangement....would I be best advised to do this or just send this directly to the council and make a payment directly to them? Panicking now as only a few days left!

Hi, but they aren't upholding my complaint really are they. They're saying their charges are justified, I know they have removed one fee and given a reduction as a good will gesture- which to me just says even more they were in the wrong as I certainly wouldn't give someone a good will gesture if I was abiding by the rules. If i'm making a 2nd stage complaint, who do I make this too? I'm just rather concerned as the end of the month is approaching and i'm worried the bailiff will turn up again

well I wrote a letter of complaint to the council and received this response yesterday "with reference to the visit fees , they are specified in the Council Tax(Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 and are lawfully applied to each visit for each case. The issue raised in the Blaby report was one of proportionality and is not necessarily directly relevant in your case since that involved 8 separate cases and 8 separate sets of fees. You have suggested that the vehicle fees applied by removed as there was no tow truck present and I am told that the bailiffs attended with a vehicle suitable for removing general goods. Should a specific vehicle be required then Constants have a procedure in place whereby they contact local suppliers to provide a van, low loader or tow truck, as required. You have also raised the issue of a previous complaint regarding goods being levied upon whilst still under a Hire Purchase Agreement and I can see that we corresponded with you in November 2011 and having investigated your case, we concluded that Constants had not acted improperly, copy letter attached. Your final paragraph deals with the arrangement for repaying the council tax. Our instructions to the bailiffs are that arrears are to be collected as quick as possible and in general the look to recover the debt in a 6 to 8 month period where possible. Given the level of your debt, Constants have advised if you contact them with details of your income and expenditure again they will look again at the arrangement made with you. With reference to the fees, Constants have advised they have removed the second van fee of £115 as this was added to your account in error. They have also deleted fees of £85 as a gesture of goodwill, and are keen to emphasise it as such, and that it in no way sets a precedent of any description. They have sent you statements of both outstanding accounts which I hope you have received by now. The accounts are on hold until the end of this month to allow you the time to go back to them to re-negotiate the arrangement. I am not prepared to take the cases back for an attachment of earnings order as the amount it would recover would mean the account would not be cleared within a reasonable period. The refund of some of the fees is a step forward at least but I'm still not happy. Would it be advisable to respond and say that although I am grateful for the refund of some of them I am still not satisfied with the outcome and with now proceed with complaint? which route would be the best to go down? the court or the LGO? As a single parent in receipt of working tax credit would I get reduced fees if I made a claim at the court? thanks in advance x

thanks I am in the process of writing a formal complaint, I just wanted some assistance on how to respond to their claims that it was legal but yes I provided a photocopy of the HP agreement and sent it to the council with my previous complaint could you please tell me what - a Regulation 46 Complaint at the Magistrates Court naming the Council as Defendant is many thanks

i understand everyone saying about the fact my car shouldnt have been levied while it was under finance still but what do I say as a comeback to the council when they said this However, in your case ownership is not in dispute. You are the owner of the property, albeit, the car is being purchased on finance, which is due to be paid in full in April 2012. The bailiff is legally entitled to levy distress on a vehicle that is subject to a hire purchase agreement provided a default notice has not been issued, in accordance with the Consumer Credit Act 1974. If the bailiff then decideds to sell the vehicle he will have a duty to contact the finance company to advise them how their interest in the assest is to be discharged. I must therefore conclude that Constant & Co have not acted improperly and their fees will stand." is what they're saying actually true? If not is there anything I could quote from somewhere to back up what i'm saying in that they shouldnt have done it?

the finance company didnt do anything...bailiffs levied my car despite me advising it was not fully paid for at the time. When I wrote my complaint to the council I included a photocopy of my HP agreement to prove it was still under finance. I'm still confused on where I stand on that? Should I make a complaint about everything and ask for all charges to be removed apart the ones theyre obviously allowed to charge such as first and second visit fee?? I'm unsure as to what they are actually allowed to charge me for

are there any template letters that could help with the complaint at all?? just to help with wording lol

I did write to the council back in November 2011 to complain about the fact they had levied on my car whilst still under HP agreement quoting the article written by Andrew Hobley....this was the response "You have stated that they had no right to levy your car because it was still on finance and you have quoted an article written by Andrew Hobley to back this up. In the article Mr Hobley quotes four cases where the levy fees had been charged enrroneously because it was established that the cars did not belong to the debtors. I would agree with his findings and in these circumstances I would instruct the bailiff to refund the cost. However, in your case ownership is not in dispute. You are the owner of the property, albeit, the car is being purchased on finance, which is due to be paid in full in April 2012. The bailiff is legally entitled to levy distress on a vehicle that is subject to a hire purchase agreement provided a default notice has not been issued, in accordance with the Consumer Credit Act 1974. If the bailiff then decideds to sell the vehicle he will have a duty to contact the finance company to advise them how their interest in the assest is to be discharged. I mus therefore conclude that Constant & Co have not acted improperly and their fees will stand." should I include it in my complaint again?? I dont understand about the redemption fee either? should they not be charging this at all or again like the others only charge once? I would rather the council just to an attachment to earnings to clear any balance..should I offer this in my complaint or do so seperatly? many thanks

I sent the email as you advised and got this back this afternoon. Even upon closer examination of the notice of seizire of goods on one of them he has definitlely put down the wrong amount even owing to the council!! the amount owed shouldve been £461.93 and not the £554..68 he put on the form..... Please find below a table showing the time and date of all bailiff actions incurring a fee [your point a)] and the names of the bailiffs undertaking the visit on those occasions [c)] Case xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx Bailiff Visit Date & Time 10/09/2012 12:15 Visit 1 24.50 Visit 1 24.50 Visit 1 24.50 25/09/2012 12:40 Visit 2 18.00 Visit 2 18.00 Visit 2 18.00 01/03/2013 07:20 Levy 42.00 Levy 47.00 Levy 33.00 Walking Possession 12.00 Walking Possession 12.00 Walking Possession 12.00 Abortive Removal Fee 115.00 Abortive Removal Fee 115.00 Schedule 5 Fee H 24.50 Schedule 5 Fee H 24.50 Schedule 5 Fee H 24.50 Waiting Time 45.00 The fees charged were as prescribed in the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, as amended [b)]. Both X and Y's certificates were issued by Milton Keynes Court [d)]. The dates of the certificates are 17 December 2012 and 12 May 2011 respectively. I would be grateful if you would confirm the receipt of this e-mail. Team Leader Constant & Company 1 Studio Court Queensway Bletchley MK2 2DG ( (t) 0845 2747200 ( (f) 01908 370073

Hi, there are no dates attached to each fee...only the date on the notice of seizure of goods and inventory which is the 1/3/2013 and he has given me 3 of these each with the charges I set out above

thanks for your quick responses...this last time the bailiff visited my car was in the garage but the garage door was not locked and he just opened it but as far as i was aware i couldnt do anything about this as he hadnt broken in and not knowing any different he told me he was allowed...its very hard to think clearly when placed under stress at 7.30 in the morning so just assumed he could having read the link to the LGO case would you recommend then I ask the council to apply an attachment to my earning to pay any remaining amount? I cannot afford the £150 the bailiff is asking for

Hi I would be grateful of anyones advice on this as I am now completely confused and dont know what to do for the best. ok this relates to council tax over a period of years due to an apparent overpayment of benefit...their mistake:-x 2006/2007 - £352.21 2007/2008 - £679.75 2008/2009 - £723.57 2009/2010 - £833.79 ok..so i had received a letter from the council/court saying they would be doing an attachment to my earnings to recover the monies owing starting from 2006 this began in Sept 2010. Now in June 2011 I was surprised to get a letter through my door from a bailiff for non payment of council tax...they called twice charging £24.50 for each letter I contacted the council as wanted to know why this was the case. They told me my attachment of earnings was only for 2006/07 but that would continue on to the next years once that was paid but the bailiff was coming for the 2009/2010! I asked them just to keep the attachment of earnings going to pay all of them once each was paid off as there was no way being a single mother could I afford to do both. They said nothing they could do as it was already with the bailiff. The bailiff called again at my house at the end of july 2011 and clamped my car telling me unless i paid in full he was taking it. I didnt have the money..he gave me 1 hour to come up with £600...thanks to family I raised it. he then told me I would have to pay £70 per month..I told him I didnt have that but he said not his problem! at the time of levy on my car the charges were amount due to council 833.79 first visit fee 24.50 2nd visit fee 18 levy charge 49 walking possession fee 12 vehicle fee 115 redemption fee 24.50 total then due 1076.79 this was obviously then 476.79 as i paid 600 i paid the 70 at the end of the month as he stated as i was scared of him taking my car...even though this meant not paying other bills! the next month i could not pay it, so he turned up at my house again in oct 2011 and charged 115 for attendance to remove goods....if I paid 250 he would leave my car, my mum again helped me out I then complained to the council and asked them to take the debt back as he had levied my car when it was still under a hire purchase agreement and asked for the fees to be removed they said the fees were just and would not be removed. various amounts of communication happened between the council and myself with me even disputing the amounts owed, I went to the CAB but they werent much help really just told me to appeal and put in a formal complaint, which I did. Letter came back to say I couldnt appeal as had been too long...jokers it was there fault it had taken so long. This then brings us up to Sept 2012 when i get another bailiff letter...i contacted them via email and said i acknowledged their visit but there was no need for them to come to my property to make a payment arrangement..I filled out an income and expenditure form and emailed it to them and made an offer of 27.05 per month which was pro ratad out with my debitors, they just said they would except payment without prejudice but nothing formal would be in place unless they came to my house and levied my goods. I refused but continued to make these payments each month. The bailiff turned up at my house again on 1/3/13 this time with liability orders but they dont state which years they are for...he wanted payment in full which was just over £2000!! told him no way i had it he would just have to take the car( no longer under hp agreemnet) I was very distressed and crying as was my 10 year old son...he even said "your mum helped you last time i can drive you to her house and see if she has the money for you!!" after about 45 mins of me having no luck obtaining that kind of money he said he would take £650....my sister bless her used all of her savings to help me...he's now demanding i pay £150 per month until its cleared! I said to him, im a single mother on a low income that figure it just ridiculous..he said nothing he could do they wont take less. Im confused on his charges too, can he charge me 3 times for each thing?? and how can i get my payments reduced?? the attachment of earnings I previoulsy had says about a 7% of my net monthly earnings which is about what I can afford charges this time by bailiff are amount owed £308.98 1st visit 24.50 2nd visit 18 levy charge 33 walking possession fee 12 redemption fee 24.50 total 420.98 amount owed £554.68 1st visit 24.50 2nd visit 18 levy charge 42 walking poss 12 vehicle fee 115 redemption fee 24.50 total due 790.68 - 182.80 + 45 waiting time= total 652.88 amount owed 723.57 1st visit 24.50 2nd visit 18 levy 47 walking poss 12 vehicle fee 115 redemption 24.50 total 964.57 does this all seem ok? how can they be allowed to make all these charges when it was all in one visit?? hopefully I havent confused you all too lol and you can advise on my best course of action...the bailiff is expecting a payment of £150 at the end of the month many thanks

well even the council cant get it right! i received an email 2 days ago which i posted above, today i receive this email: Year Liability Order Date Stage & Date Balance outstanding 2007 28/09/09 Attachment of Earnings 20/10/11 £405.75 2008 29/06/09 Attachment of Earnings 20/10/11 £723.57 2009 27/09/10 Bailiff Constant & Co. 26/05/11 £406.79* 2011 02/06/11 Reminder 02/06/11 £483.90 sub total £2020.01 * awaiting £135.00 from Constant & Co, once received balance will reduce to: £1885.01 the first email would indicate that constant had paid over everything i have paid but this email today says something completely different! constant have paid over the initial payment of £600 and second one of £70 but my last payment of £250 theyre only paying £135...why??? thieving b***ds!