Issuing a Small Claim to recover Bailiff Fees

[tomtubby]

In the “Sticky” section you will see that I have provided a new Sticky entitled:

 

A Guide to Bringing and Defending a Small Claim in the County Court.

 

In you have a dispute regarding fees charged, it is simply astonishing the number of websites offering to assist debtors in “reclaiming” fees.

 

With the majority of debtors having never been in court, it can be very tempting to accept such services but a word of warning.....anyone tempted to use such services should first make sure that they look at the small print on the site as they will very likely discover that such firms are really offering to “reclaim” bailiff fees on what is commonly called a

“no win, no fee” basis, the proper name for which is “Conditional Fee Agreement”

 

It is very important to be aware that this does not mean that you will not pay anything !!! I will provide further details shortly.

 

Alternative there are also many websites which worryingly "encourage" debtors to issue claims against bailiff companies and even offering for a fee to "assist" the claimant with completing an N1 Claim Form on their behalf !! Sadly in order to encourage debtors to use their service it is common to see such sites making claims that:

 

“Costs cannot be passed onto the litigant in the Small Claims if you loses”

 

Or even:

 

“If you lose in court will will only lose the fee of the summons and you will never ever pay the other persons costs ”

 

Unfortunately, neither of these statements is true and claimants should be aware that if they bring a small claim and are unsuccessful, or as a defendant in a small claim you put the other side to huge trouble and then lose, the court has a discretion to make an order for you to pay the costs that the other side has incurred if you have acted unreasonably. This is confirmed by the Civil Justice Council.

 

If you are considering issuing an N1 Small Claim to recover bailiff fees then please visit the new Sticky here:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?403670-A-Guide-to-Bringing-and-Defending-a-Small-Claim-in-the-County-Court(1-Viewing)-nbsp

[ploddertom]

I note that in the Civil Justice Council handbook on this Section 1.5 (3) deals with costs and is specific to say:

 

However, you should be aware that if

you bring a small claim and are unsuccessful, or as the defendant in a small claim you put the other side

to huge trouble and then lose, the court has a discretion to make an order for you to pay the costs that the

other side has incurred if you have acted unreasonably.

[HCEOs]

The above is why HCEO's are often awarded costs against claimants in this area.

 

Most will often advise the claimants that the correct forum for any fee challenge is through assessment in the High Court but because of advice on many forums this is ignored.

 

It might be prudent to cover the difference in the way to challenge HCEO fees as opposed to Bailiff fees in your Sticky.

[tomtubby]

The above is why HCEO's are often awarded costs against claimants in this area.

 

Most will often advise the claimants that the correct forum for any fee challenge is through assessment in the High Court but because of advice on many forums this is ignored.

 

It might be prudent to cover the difference in the way to challenge HCEO fees as opposed to Bailiff fees in your Sticky.

 

Working on it....

[tomtubby]

In the main "Sticky" I mentioned that people need be aware of the many websites that offer to help with "reclaiming bailiff fees" and that in reality, a lot of these websites are either "no win", no fee" claims managements companies or alternatively "introducers" to "no win, no fee" solicitors. This thread was only started this morning and I have received so many messages asking for further info on "no win, no fee".

 

I will be updating the thread either Sunday or Monday with more info about the potential pitfalls to be aware of when considering "no win, no fine" arrangements.

[Ganymede]

In the main "Sticky" I mentioned that people need be aware of the many websites that offer to help with "reclaiming bailiff fees" and that in reality, a lot of these websites are either "no win", no fee" claims managements companies or alternatively "introducers" to "no win, no fee" solicitors. This thread was only started this morning and I have received so many messages asking for further info on "no win, no fee".

 

I will be updating the thread either Sunday or Monday with more info about the potential pitfalls to be aware of when considering "no win, no fine" arrangements.

 

 

 

I don't see how there can be any confusion. If you lose you don't pay but if you win you do.

[tomtubby]

I don't see how there can be any confusion. If you lose you don't pay but if you win you do.

 

 

 

I think that you may be wrong here...

[HCEOs]

tomtubby is right.

 

If a claim is brought that has no merits or you we're advised of the correct procedure but chose to ignore it then the court rightly has the ability to award costs against you.

 

Anybody wanting to issue a claim via the courts really should seek some proper legal advice first to ensure they don't end up getting stung for costs.

[EWHC1362]

Would it be an option (if both parties willing) to draw up a consent order agreeing that there be no order as to costs?

[HCEOs]

Of course, but if a claim is issued without merit or incorrectly I can't see the defendant agreeing to no costs.

[quails]

I draft CFA agreements every day in my work in litigation.

 

If you lose your claim, you don't pay your own solicitors base costs (hours worked), but you do have to pay any disbursements. If your opponent has accrued legal costs, then you have to pay them, it is as simple as that. You can challenge them by asking for detailed assessment to check they are correct and proportionate, but you do indeed have to pay them.

 

The CFA is a great tool to help people fund essential litigation where they can't afford to instruct solicitors by paying fees on account. Solicitors tend to only offer CFA for very strong cases, especially since the Jackson reforms came in on April 1st, when the recovery of success fees from the opponent was effectively abolished.

Edited September 23, 2013 by quails

[tomtubby]

Quails,

 

I am not at all familiar with Conditional Fee Agreement or "no win', no fee" actions and thank you for providing a brief explanation. From the little information that I do have I am aware ( and thank you for confirming the position) that solicitors will only consider CFA in cases where there is a strong prospect of winning.

 

As mentioned in my main post there are so many websites/companies offering to assist with recovering bailiff fees and I am very confused by the explanation given on one particular site that the person seeking to reclaim bailiff fees would "sell" the supposed "debt" to a "company" and that this particular unnamed "company" would then "recover" the debt through the court and the proceeds would then be shared between the client, the lawyer and the "introducer" (who I assume would be the person or company "introducing" the claimant to the solicitor.

 

I am sure that there are many ways in which such "fee recovery" claims work but the above scenario sounds very complicated indeed.

[tomtubby]

I draft CFA agreements every day in my work in litigation.

 

If you lose your claim, you don't pay your own solicitors base costs (hours worked), but you do have to pay any disbursements. If your opponent has accrued legal costs, then you have to pay them, it is as simple as that.QUOTE]

 

Quails:

 

I am certain that the vast majority of people seeking to reclaim bailiff fees would not have any understanding at all as to what is covered by "disburements". Can you provide any more detail?

[Ganymede]

I draft CFA agreements every day in my work in litigation.

 

If you lose your claim, you don't pay your own solicitors base costs (hours worked), but you do have to pay any disbursements. If your opponent has accrued legal costs, then you have to pay them, it is as simple as that.QUOTE]

 

Quails:

 

I am certain that the vast majority of people seeking to reclaim bailiff fees would not have any understanding at all as to what is covered by "disburements". Can you provide any more detail?

 

 

 

Dibs are things like Court fees or the cost of experts reports etc.

[Ganymede]

I think that you may be wrong here...

 

 

 

Sorry I was referring to your own legal costs.

[tomtubby]

It is so important for anyone tempted to use a "no win, no win" solicitors for the recovery of bailiff fees that they understand BEFOREHAND what costs (disbursements) that they could be liable for. As an example of how complicated "no win, no fee" arrangements can be the following is taken from one particular online service:

 

What is the cost?

 

Your debt is risk assessed and will be assigned a colour:-

 

 

Green

 

The case will be run on a no-win-no-fee basis. You pay nothing. The disbursements (Court fees and process servers) are paid for you, and the case is insured at no

cost to you. If you win, you receive all the debt recovered with no deductions. If you lose, you pay nothing.

 

Yellow

 

The case is run on a no-win-no-fee basis. You pay only the fixed disbursements such as Court fees and process servers. The case will be insured at no cost to you to protect you from the chance of adverse costs (costs incurred by the other side). If you win the case you receive all the debt recovered without any deduction, plus the disbursements you paid at the start. If you lose, you pay nothing.

 

Red

 

The case is run on a fixed fee basis, which is payable at the beginning. If the case is won you receive all the debt without any deductions, together with the disbursements recovered. If you lose, you pay nothing more.

 

PS: Even I am confused !!!

 

Always remember that if a website tries to encourage you to provide confidential personal information about bailiff fees etc on the basis that they will refer your complaint to a "no win, no fee" solicitor then you need to be aware that the website will then receive an "introducers fee" from the legal firm that they refer your case to !!!.