Ross and roberts check bailiff **Returned to Council**

[Ruby83]

I have recently had some dealings with a bailiff from ross and roberts,

the problem as such is sorted,

in that I never ever let him in my home and I am paying the council directly.

 

However I cannot find this bailiff on the register as a certified bailiff.

 

On my "first notice" it only has his name as S Jackson

 

I'm not entirely sure what his first name is,

 

I've searched the company and the surname and another mr jackson comes up but not with that initial.

 

I am dealing with the council first to ask how much I still owe and I will deal with ross and roberts once the council have replied,

as I'm interested to know what my charges are etc

 

I annoyed this bailiff because I was recording our conversation when he turned up at my house,

the reason for this was many years ago I was threatened by a bailiff from the same company,

 

another one of my questions is was I legally allowed to record that converstion

( I warned him I was doing so and what my reasons were before he started to talk to me, he then said to someone during a phonecall

"she is recording me and I haven't given her permission").

We were outside my house so a public place.

 

Thanks for your help, sorry I've been a bit vague ,

if I told the whole story I would be here forever and a day,

so I kept it down to essentials

[ploddertom]

No reason why you can't do that. if nothing else it would make him behave.

 

As to not appearing on the Register then that is very common. You could ask R&R what Court he is Certificated at and then ring the Court to check.

[i hate bailiffs]

Charges should be capped at first and second visit fee so 42.50 unless they have a levy

[Ruby83]

No levy has been done, much to his disappointment.

 

He did stumble on his words on a few occasions whilst being recorded with urmmmm, uhhhhh, ummmmm's

which s surprising because when he phoned me last year he was VERY talkative indeed

and not exactly lost for words when it came to telling me what he could do and what I couldn't do !

[dx100uk]

and yes you are allowed to record/video and you don't have to ask their permission

 

dx

[Ruby83]

No reason why you can't do that. if nothing else it would make him behave.

 

As to not appearing on the Register then that is very common. You could ask R&R what Court he is Certificated at and then ring the Court to check.

 

Is there a reason it's common ? X do they not have to be certified to collect a council tax debt ?

 

He did behave, certainly more polite to me than he was over the phone last year, I also asked a friend to come by as a witness this time that's how intimated and bullied I felt last time, he sat outside my house for ages , so long I had to drive to the council and ask them to contact his office to get him to move on !

[ploddertom]

Is there a reason it's common ? X do they not have to be certified to collect a council tax debt ? The online Register is never 100% accurate - down to people joining, leaving, renewing etc + some Courts are not quick off the mark reporting changes.

He did behave, certainly more polite to me than he was over the phone last year, I also asked a friend to come by as a witness this time that's how intimated and bullied I felt last time, he sat outside my house for ages , so long I had to drive to the council and ask them to contact his office to get him to move on !

 

If he has been before there would be nothing to stop you asking for a fee breakdown and we'll see if you were overcharged then.

[Ruby83]

Hi,

 

Came home this morning from work to a letter from Ross and roberts (posted, not hand delivered).

They are getting on my damn nerves now, but I've not seen a final demand before and have to admit it appears a bit frightening.

Basically since the bailiffs visit 16 days ago I have paid £354 ( of 1600) directly to the council I owe to, I have told both the council and r&r of my intentions (not allowing access to my house and the payments I intend on making, and have so far stuck to) by email. Both have replied , the council saying they are basically not asking for the debt back and I should be aware a bailiff can visit again but that they won't decline my payments (that's nice of them I'm doing it online the idiots) and r&r saying that they can't do anything but proceed because the council haven't told them otherwise.

 

So my letter today says this ... (I will keep it short)

Our bailiffs are back in your area next week and will be looking to seize goods in respect of your unpaid council tax debt. Under the act we are authorised by our clients to seize goods in respect of unpaid debts. However as a last opportunity you may still make a payment arrangement with our office on telephone number .....unless we receive a communication from you with your proposals to discharge this debt we will be forced to execute the magistrates liability order issued against you. We trust you will give this matter your urgent attention.

 

Do I just carry on payments direct to council as planned ?

Do I send them another email to remind them they won't get access and I'm still paying the council ?

 

They can't levy my car , it's on finance, never had access to my house either. Threatened me a few weeks ago with the "I hope you know the consequences of not paying etc" "commital" threats the lot. Trouble is I am actually paying, just not them !!!

[ims21]

Two threads merged. Please keep to this one thread for the R&R issue.

[brassnecked]

No they cannot levy the car if it is on finance,

so long as the finance is HP not a bank or other loan,

so keep Ross 'n Robbers out,

keep paying the council, but allow £42.50 for the two lawful visit fees they can claim.

 

The letter is designed to frighten you, and make arrangements to pay them, rather than the council,

 

so the bailiff can try and insist on a levy to "secure" the payment plan,

and allow him an in to add mega fees when you default on the unaffordable payments HE will demand.

 

They are also noted along with Equita as unlawfully frontloading fees,

but keep them out deny them a levy and they can only have those visit fees,

no phantom ATR, no van fee, no abortive van fee no unlawful waiting fee,

no spurious unlawful header h for redemption of goods not removed, NOTHING ELSE.

 

You are doing the right thing, just make sure you add those visit fees to the total and get the council to sign off on them when you make the final payment. Ross 'n Robbers are therefore rendered relatively powerless.

[lookinforinfo]

Bear in mind that if the bailiff is not certificated you are not liable to pay for his visits.

[tomtubby]

The local authority are liable for the bailiffs actions and if you are getting no response from R & R then complaint to the council.

 

It i.s sadly the case that the bailiff register is NOT up to date and this was confirmed only 3 weeks ago by MOJ. The problem is that the individual courts are not sending details back to the Ministry of Justice is a timely manner.

 

You need to find out whether this local authority are run by a "back office" provider called Capita Ltd. If so, you could have problems given that Capita own Ross & Roberts !!!

 

Unless a levy had been made on goods.....then fees are capped at £42.50 and that is all that you should pay

[Ruby83]

Should I remind ross and roberts I won't be dealing with them, no matter what ? Since I only did that last week by email ?

I've tried to find out also if they are being run by capita, because I was miss informed by a lady at my council that I absolutely had to to let the bailiff in and I had left myself with no other option (which I know is wrong). How do I find this out ?

My car is defiantly on hp via the garage/car finance company and not my bank etc so I'm note worried about that.

[Ruby83]

Two threads merged. Please keep to this one thread for the R&R issue.

 

Sorry, new to site and didn't realise

[Ruby83]

No they cannot levy the car if it is on finance, so long as the finance is HP not a bank or other loan, so keep Ross 'n Robbers out, keep paying the council, but allow £42.50 for the two lawful visit fees they can claim. The letter is designed to frighten you, and make arrangements to pay them, rather than the council, so the bailiff can try and insist on a levy to "secure" the payment plan, and allow him an in to add mega fees when you default on the unaffordable payments HE will demand. They are also noted along with Equita as unlawfully frontloading fees, but keep them out deny them a levy and they can only have those visit fees, no phantom ATR, no van fee, no abortive van fee no unlawful waiting fee, no spurious unlawful header h for redemption of goods not removed, NOTHING ELSE.

 

You are doing the right thing, just make sure you add those visit fees to the total and get the council to sign off on them when you make the final payment. Ross 'n Robbers are therefore rendered relatively powerless.

 

 

Should I ring them and offer to pay this fee separately from the debt , so they might consider leaving me alone , or is that wishful thinking ? (The 42.50)

[lookinforinfo]

It is probably wishful thinking.They always look to collect as much as they can squeeze out of each person and £42.50 is much less than they want. Thus they will keep trying to

gain access or levy on your car to increase their fees regardless that you are paying the Council. They don't care that your car is on finance as once they have

levied on it or clamped it, even though it is unlawful, they know you will find a way to pay to get the car released.

[brassnecked]

It needs them to be exposed on Watchdog, or Rogue traders clamping a wheelchair users Motability car to get the public to understand what goes on with Crapita and it's subsidiaries in the really real world. I would keep the car away from the house at present, and pay the £42.50 into the council and inform the council what it is for.

[Ruby83]

It is probably wishful thinking.They always look to collect as much as they can squeeze out of each person and £42.50 is much less than they want. Thus they will keep trying to

gain access or levy on your car to increase their fees regardless that you are paying the Council. They don't care that your car is on finance as once they have

levied on it or clamped it, even though it is unlawful, they know you will find a way to pay to get the car released.

 

I wouldn't be able to work without my car, so I really hope that does not happen. I'm assuming should it happen that I will still be able get around that issue without paying them ( r&r) l maybe I should just worry about that if that happens?

[Ruby83]

It needs them to be exposed on Watchdog, or Rogue traders clamping a wheelchair users Motability car to get the public to understand what goes on with Crapita and it's subsidiaries in the really real world. I would keep the car away from the house at present, and pay the £42.50 into the council and inform the council what it is for.

 

Yes it appears they have a lot to answer. I can't imagine what people go through who haven't been here for advice and genuinely can't keep up ridiculous payments set by them.

I will pay that 42.50 to the council On its own and email to explain what the odd amount is for.

[lookinforinfo]

I wouldn't be able to work without my car, so I really hope that does not happen. I'm assuming should it happen that I will still be able get around that issue without paying them ( r&r) l maybe I should just worry about that if that happens?

 

That is why Brassnecked said in his last post that you should keep your car away from the house to prevent the bailiff seizing it. It will

obviously be inconvenient for you in the meantime but far better than the bailiffs having you over a barrel.

[brassnecked]

That is why Brassnecked said in his last post that you should keep your car away from the house to prevent the bailiff seizing it. It will

obviously be inconvenient for you in the meantime but far better than the bailiffs having you over a barrel.

 

Thanks exactly so lookedinforinfo, better to prevent Ross 'n Robbers gaining leverage than being sorry after the event.

[Ruby83]

That is why Brassnecked said in his last post that you should keep your car away from the house to prevent the bailiff seizing it. It will

obviously be inconvenient for you in the meantime but far better than the bailiffs having you over a barrel.

 

Will do from now on, Thankyou. Not having access to my car would be a real pain for me. I am going to start ringing council and try and convince them to take the debt back, that also might be wishful thinking as I still don't know if capita are behind the scene.

[tomtubby]

If you go to the councils webpage you should be able to see whether they outsource their council tax collection functions to Capita.

[outlawla]

Have a look on this spreadsheet: Revenue Collection Statistics 2011-12.

 

Select "Main Statistics" tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet

 

Check your council against the heading "Name of Provider Where Contracted Out", Column 129.

[tomtubby]

Outlawla is an EXPERT in this field. Well done!!!