Chandlers massive charges!

[beer guzzler]

Hi all,

This doesnt seem right to me:

I had an LO for £1095. Chandlers dropped of a letter without knocking and left a mobile number. I tried numerous times and left messages and even managed to speak to the Bailiff who said he was with a client and would call me back. He never did. Then on a saturday morning at 06:30 i was up getting ready to go fishing when i noticed someone walking away from my house down the path, he hadnt knocked as the 2 dogs would have woken the street!! I opened the door and asked him what he was doing? He said who he was from and said he had put a letter in the box (I have an outside one due to the dogs) I told him to go away and i'll call him when i'm ready. As it was Bank hol weekend he said he'll be back Tuesday from 6am! I said good luck and shut the door! I opened the letter to find a letter of distress. The fees he had listed were as follows:

Amount due: £1095.56

Levy fee: £57.00

Attendance £292.50

Total: £1445.06

He had scribbled a description of my car and number plate in the box on the back.

 

Is this all correct as it sounds excessive?

Thanks

[beer guzzler]

Sorry, forgot to add, the car is on HP!

[renegadeimp]

Cant levy if the car is on HP as you dont own the car. , and he cant charge that attendance fee either.

[beer guzzler]

Thanks,

I was hoping that was the case. Would this be grounds for complaint on excessive and maybe unlawful charges? £292.50 for attendance, surely is excessive.

[renegadeimp]

Yep. visit fee is 24.50 unless he levies. Since hte levy is unlawful, he cant charge it.

[renegadeimp]

He seems to be one of thos ebailiffs that will levy anything without checking. Plus he hasnt delivered the levy correctly, or allowed you to view the levy and sign it.

[beer guzzler]

He seems to be one of thos ebailiffs that will levy anything without checking. Plus he hasnt delivered the levy correctly, or allowed you to view the levy and sign it.

Thats for sure. He wont accept any repayment offer either and is demanding full payment and has now visited 4 times! I have emailed income and outcome and made repayment offer and said outright "NO" last time he came he said he was here to remove goods, so I told him he aint getting in.

[renegadeimp]

Have you contacted the council and paid them diredtly?

[beer guzzler]

Have you contacted the council and paid them diredtly?

 

I tried, they said I Gotta sort it with Chandlers. Told them they wouldn't listen so they told me to speak to Chandlers ho who inturn told me to speak to bailiff! Round in a circle!

[renegadeimp]

No you dont. You can pay the council direct. They cannot refuse payment. Use their online system if you need to.

[hallowitch]

Greedy greedy greedy bailiff

 

the amount of the levy £57.00 is correct

 

as said your car is on hp and cant be levied had the bailiff knocked your door and handed you the notice of distress (as he should have he is not a post man)explaining to you the next stage of enforcement would be the removal of the car at considerable cost to you if the debt is not paid or a payment agreement set up then this would have been the time to tell him the car is on hp and provide proof

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/courts/bailiffs-enforcement-officers/national-standards-enforcement-agents.pdf

page 7

Enforcement agents will clearly explain and give in writing, the consequences of the seizure of a debtor's goods and ensure that debtors are aware of the additional charges that will be incurred.

 

 

Attendance £292.50

 

Most bailiff fees are set in legislation when a fee can be charged is also set in legislation

 

A Bailiff attends to levy your goods if he Does not get a levy he can charge a 1st visit fee only £24.50

bailiff makes a 2nd visit does not get a levy he can charge a 2nd visit fee only £18

 

no further fees can be added to the debt unless he levy goods no matter how many times calls

 

Bailiff attends the property and manages to get a levy on goods (car) on this visit he can charge a levy fee if a walking possessions agreement is signed he can charge a fee of £12 (levy fee is worked out on a sliding scale therefore depends on the amount of the debt )

 

there is no such fee as an attendance fee there is an attendance to remove fee that cant be charged the same day as the bailiff levy's goods (until the bailiff gets a levy he has no goods to remove )

 

The next fee following the levy would be the attendance to remove fee when the bailiff returns to remove the goods previous levied

Legislation states Reasonable costs and fees incurred

http://www.bexley.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3028&p=0

As for this from your council

 

I tried, they said I Gotta sort it with Chandlers. Told them they wouldn't listen so they told me to speak to Chandlers who who in turn told me to speak to bailiff! Round in a circle!

what a load of crock its the councils debt the councils fees the councils levy and its the council who should be dealing with chandlers

Department for Communities and Local Government

5.3 Where bill payers get in contact with the Local Authority directly, concerns should be

investigated properly, not simply referred back to the bailiff. Local Authorities should

 

consider whether complaints, either formal or informal, from individuals and advice

 

agencies, constitute evidence of problems with collection or enforcement with their

 

bailiffs.

 

you add this to the Formal Complaint you are making to the ceo regarding the attendance fee

 

£ 292.50 is a shocking amount of money(greedy greedy greedy bailiff ) and It stands to reason that you are not the only person who has been charged this fraudulent fee by this bailiff

 

personally I would go for the jugular on this your council has a duty of care to all its tenant's and I would be sending a letter to the leader of the council (copied to all local councillor's and your MP) asking what he intends to do about this bailiff I would ask if they the council intend to check other levy's made by this bailiff if not why not do they really believe you were singled out by the bailiff and he has never charged another debtor this fee on the same day as the levy

 

if the fees charged are found to be fraudulent do they intend to report it to the police as a criminal offence under the fraud act if not why not as this is the action that should be taken according to the

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210478/Guidance_on_enforcement_of_CT_arrears.pdf

Department for Communities and Local Government

 

 

5.8 The Government consider that any fraudulent practices should be reported to the

 

police as a criminal offence under the Fraud Act and that Local Authorities should

 

terminate any contract with companies whose activities are proved fraudulent.

[hallowitch]

did you check he is certificated to chandlers

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?377382-Certificated-Bailiff-Register-Updated

[brassnecked]

Follow the advice of Hallowitch, this bailiff will have to remove all those fees, and replace them with a maximum of two visit fees a total of £42.50, you do not have to let him in, with no car free of HP or finance to levy he is stuffed, so Formal Complaint to the great and the (un)good as suggested

[beer guzzler]

I checked him out on the list and he's not on it. What does that mean?

[beer guzzler]

Thanks for all your advice everyone its gonna be a great help. I contacted council again today and although the lady was more helpful she still told me they couldnt bring it back and when i told her I was aware the actions of the bailiff and the fees he applied were the responsibility of the authority that instructed him. She told me he was self employed and it was nothing to do with them!!

[beer guzzler]

I also emailed Chandlers this:

Dear Sirs,

 

As suggested I spoke to Mr G***** and he would not accept my offer and informed me I should contact the council. I contacted Swindon council who told me there is no reason for you not to accept my offer and gave me your head office number and instructed me to call you. I contacted yourselves and was told I needed to contact Mr G*****. As you can see this is a circular motion and going nowhere.

 

 

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.

 

f - if a fee for levy has been added please supply details of what was the was on.

 

This is not a SAR 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.

 

 

I also re affirm my offer of £*** until this debt is cleared. If you decline this offer please could you clarify your reasons why you believe this as unacceptable.

 

 

Yours faithfully

[beer guzzler]

This was their reply:

Thank you for your email,

I can confirm that we are able to provide this information, however as your account is still out with Mr G*****.

I can see from the notes on your account that you are dealing with the council and refused Mr G***** access to your property.

As Mr G***** is still dealing with your account we are unable to intervene in the office and would not want to wrongly advise you of any recent information added to your account.

Please contact Mr G***** directly on 07********* to discuss your account and the charges applied.

Regards

Chandlers Limited

[beer guzzler]

The abrupt end to the first line is not me editing, thats how it came!

[beer guzzler]

Does anybody on here have the email addresses of people I need to complain to at Swindon council??

[outlawla]

Does anybody on here have the email addresses of people I need to complain to at Swindon council??

 

Swindon Borough Council's Organisation Chart

 

 

Head of Revenues & Benefits, Andy Stevens: anstevens@swindon.gov.uk

[beer guzzler]

About to mail this:

Dear Mr Stevens and MPs

My council tax reference number is:

 

Several months ago Chandlers left me a letter of attendance regarding a liability order regarding my Council tax without knocking and left a mobile number. I tried numerous times and left messages and even managed to speak to the bailiff who said he was with a client and would call me back. He never did. Then months later on a saturday morning at 06:30 i was up getting ready to go fishing when i noticed someone walking away from my house down the path, he hadnt knocked as the 2 dogs would have woken the street!! I opened the door and asked him what he was doing? He said who he was from and said he had put a letter in the box (I have an outside one due to the dogs) I told him I will read it and i'll call him. As it was Bank hol weekend he said he'll be back Tuesday from 6am! I opened the letter to find a letter of distress. He had not informed me what it was, he did not explain the cost implications and he did not ask me to sign it. As I said he didnt even knock the door. The fees he had listed were as follows:

Amount due: £1095.56

levy fee: £57.00

Attendance £292.50

Total: £1445.06

He had scribbled a description of my car and number plate in the box on the back.

 

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/...ent-agents.pdf

page 7

Enforcement agents will clearly explain and give in writing, the consequences of the seizure of a debtor's goods and ensure that debtors are aware of the additional charges that will be incurred.

 

The Levy is un enforceable due to the Vehicle being on HP. Had the bailiff knocked I would have told him this.

 

I believe the Levy and attendance fee issued on the same visit to be unlawful:

Most bailiff fees are set in legislation when a fee can be charged is also set in legislation

 

A Bailiff attends to levy your goods if he Does not get a levy he can charge a 1st visit fee only £24.50

bailiff makes a 2nd visit does not get a levy he can charge a 2nd visit fee only £18

 

no further fees can be added to the debt unless he levy goods no matter how many times calls

 

Bailiff attends the property and manages to get a levy on goods (car) on this visit he can charge a levy fee if a walking possessions agreement is signed he can charge a fee of £12 (levy fee is worked out on a sliding scale therefore depends on the amount of the debt )

 

there is no such fee as an attendance fee there is an attendance to remove fee that cant be charged the same day as the bailiff levy's goods (until the bailiff gets a levy he has no goods to remove )

 

The next fee following the levy would be the attendance to remove fee when the bailiff returns to remove the goods previous levied

Legislation states Reasonable costs and fees incurred

http://www.bexley.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3028&p=0

Therefore ontop of the debt he has added £325 of unlawful fees!

 

Department for Communities and Local Government

 

5.3 Where bill payers get in contact with the Local Authority directly, concerns should be

investigated properly, not simply referred back to the bailiff. Local Authorities should

 

consider whether complaints, either formal or informal, from individuals and advice

 

agencies, constitute evidence of problems with collection or enforcement with their

 

bailiffs.

The council has a duty of care to all its tenant's. I Have copied Justin Tomlinson MP and Robert Buckland MP into this letter and I ask what you intend to do about this bailiff I would ask if the council intend to check other levy's made by this bailiff if not why not do they really believe I am being singled out by the bailiff and he has never charged another debtor this fee on the same day as the levy

 

if the fees charged are found to be fraudulent does the council intend to report it to the police as a criminal offence under the fraud act if not why not as this is the action that should be taken according to the

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...CT_arrears.pdf

Department for Communities and Local Government

 

 

5.8 The Government consider that any fraudulent practices should be reported to the

 

police as a criminal offence under the Fraud Act and that Local Authorities should

 

terminate any contract with companies whose activities are proved fraudulent.

I request that whilst my complaint is being investigated my account be withdrawn from the bailiff and I will enter a payment plan with the council themselves.

look forward to your response.

Many thanks to Hallowitch for a lot of that ;-)

[beer guzzler]

Any other tips?

Edited September 19, 2013 by beer guzzler
duplicate deleted

[outlawla]

I like that.

 

If you haven't sent it yet I should request a read receipt when emailing (if you have that option) so you know if he's opened the mail.

[beer guzzler]

I like that.

 

If you haven't sent it yet I should request a read receipt when emailing (if you have that option) so you know if he's opened the mail.

 

I couldnt figure out how with web mail

[outlawla]

I couldnt figure out how with web mail

 

You could always call his direct line if there's no response: 01793 464661