balliff action advice needed

[Trig04]

Hi All

 

i have a small second hand furniture shop

 

iv had for about 4 years its never going to be the next marks and spencers and money is very tight,

i am always behind with my business rates

iv always tried to make payments as and when i can afford to

but i take a very small wage from this and my commitments for my home away from work are only just covered,

 

as a result of the rates arrears they got passed to jacobs ballifs in september

 

i spoke to the balliff about this and had to pay £50 on meeting with him and filled in a seizure of goods notice at that time

the goods he listed were items off stock and i explained that it was obviously tools of my trade

and i would have to continue to sell them

 

he said in my ten years iv never had to remove goods so not to worry and to be fair he was very nice and understood were i was coming from.

 

i have then gone on and made 11 payments but i missed two

 

since i missed to iv still carried on paying and not thought anymore about it, untill today

 

i had a hand delivered letter saying removal in 48 hours

 

i contacted the balliff

a differant baliiff to the one i spoke to the first time

and even thou i offered there and then to make up the two i missed he wouldnt exept it

and wanted the amount in full by sat 5pm or they would break into the property and take the items.

 

i contacted the council again to see if they would take back the debt but they wouldnt.

 

obviously the stock they listed at the walking possesion order time has since been sold

 

what rights do the ballifs now have??

 

in the meantime i will carry on paying them as agreed but im worried they are going to come on saturday and break in??? any advice

 

thanks

[maroondevo52]

Hello and Welcome,

 

I've moved this thread to the appropriate Forum.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[dx100uk]

have you any details of what the council figure was in the first place

 

and what 'fees' have been added?

 

ideally, you should pay the council direct

 

and cut out the .middleman'

 

you never know what 'phantom' fees have been added

and the bailiff prob wont even tell you.

 

just take his cut and fwd the rest on.

 

dx

[Trig04]

thanks for the reply i am going to email the council and start paying them diectly and continue to do that, i am still concirned about the walking possesion order thou i have since sold that stock like i told the first balliff so can they enter and take other stuff?

[ploddertom]

In theory the goods that were seized were under the control of the Bailiff and any monies realised from their sale should have gone to him. At the same time regardless of the payments you have made he should have come back to check on his "stock" to make sure that if you had sold it you had replenshed or for him to take the money. Were the goods yours to sell in the first place or were they obtained on a 30 day credit agreement or similar?

[Trig04]

In theory the goods that were seized were under the control of the Bailiff and any monies realised from their sale should have gone to him. At the same time regardless of the payments you have made he should have come back to check on his "stock" to make sure that if you had sold it you had replenshed or for him to take the money. Were the goods yours to sell in the first place or were they obtained on a 30 day credit agreement or similar?

no all the stuff was on a 60 day invoice and still belongs to the supplier until paid for I told them all this when they come originally. Thanks for your help here its all stressing me out a bit as you can imagine

[ploddertom]

Simple if that was the case the levy was invalid. Therefore the levy fee and all associated charges should be removed. Do you know how much you owed the Council? You need to speak to someone at the Council and ask the following questions:

1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you

2 - the dates they were obtained

3 - the addresses they were for

4 - the period of time each covers

5 - how much each one was for

6 - how much is still outstanding

7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement

8 - the dates & amounts of any payments

 

Do you also know how much the Bailiff has charged you. As most businesses are used to being ripped off the Bailiff is no exception. You need a breakdown of their fees and this should be sent initially by email followed by a copy in the post.

 

"From:

My Name

My Address

 

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

 

Ref: Account No: 123456

 

Dear Sir

 

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

 

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were Certificated at.

e - the date of the Certification.

 

This is not a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

 

I require this information within 14 days.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Ripped off customer"

[Trig04]

Simple if that was the case the levy was invalid. Therefore the levy fee and all associated charges should be removed. Do you know how much you owed the Council? You need to speak to someone at the Council and ask the following questions:

1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you

2 - the dates they were obtained

3 - the addresses they were for

4 - the period of time each covers

5 - how much each one was for

6 - how much is still outstanding

7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement

8 - the dates & amounts of any payments

 

Do you also know how much the Bailiff has charged you. As most businesses are used to being ripped off the Bailiff is no exception. You need a breakdown of their fees and this should be sent initially by email followed by a copy in the post.

 

"From:

My Name

My Address

 

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

 

Ref: Account No: 123456

 

Dear Sir

 

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

 

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were Certificated at.

e - the date of the Certification.

 

This is not a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

 

I require this information within 14 days.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Ripped off customer"

 

I'm pretty sure I am getting ripped off by the bailiff as the original amout was 846.00 plus Costs

 

I have made ten payments of £20 plus the £50 on the day and the letter I had yesterday was for £938 so something's not quite right

 

I have emailed them asking this information iv also said I will have no further communication with the bailiff and would pay the council direct at £40 per week,

 

I have also made a point to the council that I have never disputed this amout and have always made payments as and when I could afford it

and I have also stated to the council as they said I broke payment arrangements that when I made the arrangements I made it clear some weeks I would not be able to make payments

they cannot use that as an excuse for sending it to bailiffs

 

 

the council had been haven irregular (given) payments up till the week prior to first bailiff getting in touch

I don't see that as a refusal to pay the amout I owe

 

I some from last yer about £300 and the rest is this financial year,

 

im sorry I can't be more specific about the amounts but I do need to check the bailiff fees.

 

Thanks for your advice I don't really know what more I can do now