Any chance of claiming past payments paid to bailiffs?

[ssmith31]

Hi all,

It might be a little bit cheeky and not sure if it is possible but thought it was worth a try.

 

i have recently moved in with my partner and we've been sorting the finances and I've found out that she paid over £1000 to a bailiff over the past year.

 

One was for clamping a vehicle and cost just under £600 just for one visit (for PCN).

 

The reason I'm asking about claiming back is because she had a terrible year in her personal life, very bad anxiety and mental health problems.

 

She was the single mother of 3, one who is disabled and all this pretty much tipped her over the edge.

 

I sorted out the last bailiff problem with the council and they took back the debt and everything is a lot better now.

 

But the bailiff was horrible and threatened me so I'd much prefer any money my partner spent to be in her pocket than the bailiff.

 

Is there any way of claiming back?

 

Was it legal to clamp the car for a parking ticket when she has a disabled child?

 

He was overcoming cancer and the car was needed for trips to the hospital but the bailiff said that didn't matter and she had to pay the £600 anyway.

 

So that's all, any advice would be appreciated

 

Thanks

[dx100uk]

yes you have 6yrs

 

the family was CLEARLY venerable so no bailiff action AT ALL should have happened.

 

 

Department for Constitutional Affairs - Enforcement - National Standards for Enforcement Agents

.

Vulnerable situations

•

Enforcement agents/agencies and creditors must recognise that they each have a role in ensuring that the vulnerable and socially excluded are protected and that the recovery process includes procedures agreed between the agent/agency and creditor about how such situations should be dealt with. The appropriate use of discretion is essential in every case and no amount of guidance could cover every situation, therefore the agent has a duty to contact the creditor and report the circumstances in situations where there is evidence of a potential cause for concern. If necessary, the enforcement agent will advise the creditor if further action is appropriate. The exercise of appropriate discretion is needed, not only to protect the debtor, but also the enforcement agent who should avoid taking action which could lead to accusations of inappropriate behaviour.

•

Enforcement agents must withdraw from domestic premises if the only person present is, or appears to be, under the age of 18; they can ask when the debtor will be home - if appropriate.

•

Enforcement agents must withdraw without making enquiries if the only persons present are children who appear to be under the age of 12.

•

Wherever possible, enforcement agents should have arrangements in place for rapidly accessing translation services when these are needed, and provide on request information in large print or in Braille for debtors with impaired sight.

•

Those who might be potentially vulnerable include:

'

the elderly;

'

people with a disability;

'

the seriously ill;

'

the recently bereaved;

'

single parent families;

'

pregnant women;

'

unemployed people; and,

'

those who have obvious difficulty in understanding, speaking or reading English.

 

this applies to the whole HOUSEHOLD 'a' vulnerable person resides there.

[brassnecked]

Yes Formal Complaint to the Parking manager, CEO of the council, elected leader your local member and MP regarding the bailiff for whom the council is 100% liable vicariously, both jointly and severally, who ignored a vulnerable situation that could have had life threatening consequences, due to the cancer, pressed for the payment with undue duress viz immobilisation of transport required to take the child to hospital. Point out the relevant part from the guidelines posted by DX in the complaint.

 

What bailiff company is this please so they can have another rotten tomato on the wall of shame.

 

Other Caggers will be able to ponit you further in the right direction.

[ploddertom]

Send off for a breakdown of the fees charged and when it comes back we can maybe help to sort fact from fiction. Here's an example of what to send, use and adapt at will & send 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"

[ssmith31]

Hi again,

Thanks for all the replies. I'll get a full breakdown of all charges from them before I go ahead with any more action.

There were 2 different bailiffs that she dealt with around that time and I'm not at home at the moment to check but I'm pretty sure this one was Stanford & Green. But I only found out last night that they also did it about 2 years ago for another matter and were paid a total of £500 after clamping and this was when the cancer was at it's worst. I didn't think we could claim that far back but as you say it is up to 6 years ago then it might be worth a go.

Just one quick thing, I heard it was illegal to clamp a car that is on private property. Is this correct?

Thanks again, I'll let you know how it goes when I get a response.

Edited June 21, 2013 by ssmith31

[ssmith31]

Hi again,

I'm waiting for the full details from the bailiff but I have now found the letter from the day that it happened.

Here are the details and costs:

It is from Marston and says I Mr Cutts certified bailiff of the above address am acting on a certificate granted to me by the (random squiggle that we can't read) county court and under a warrant authorised by the traffic enforcement centre at Northampton.

 

Penalty charge / inc court fee £164

Bailiffs attendance costs £146.28

Attendance to remove / removal costs £175

VAT on bailiffs costs at standard rate £64.26

Amount due today £549.52

 

He told my partner that the car wasn't worth enough (Renault Laguna worth around £1000 on the general market at the time) so he was going to take it to be scrapped.

 

Could anybody shed any light on the costs and what to do next to claim back? As the posts say previously, my partner was definitely considered as vulnerable at the time.

Thanks

[brassnecked]

"He told my partner that the car wasn't worth enough (Renault Laguna worth around £1000 on the general market at the time) so he was going to take it to be scrapped."

 

Ballcocks and balderdash, they would be in serious trouble if they levied and towed a car just to scrap it. It's Formal Complaint Time!

[ssmith31]

So it would be best to just go directly to a formal complaint to the parking manager and MP etc? Or is it worth calling the bailiff or the council first? I actually have the direct number for the parking manager so I could try him tomorrow.

[renegadeimp]

Follow the info in #3