Stop Bailiffs From Ripping You Off

Firstly, bailiffs are different to debt collectors. Debt collectors collect money for private companies that have lent you money, which you have failed to pay back. Or they may work for companies with whom you’ve been given credit and failed to pay for, such as a mobile phone company. Bailiffs on the other hand are court appointed officials, who are given licences to work and usually work for government departments, like traffic enforcement authorities and courts who have issued fines for wrong doing, such as speeding. Bailiffs have a lot more powers than debt collectors. They can enter your home and seize goods in place of cash, to pay your outstanding debt with the authority concerned. And if you refuse they can ask Police to keep the peace while this is happening.

Unscrupulous bailiffs will also crank up costs to ridiculous levels. For example for a £25 fine, after two or three unsuccessful attempts to obtain payments from you at your home, they can increase the fines from £25 to over £400. However, there are guidelines for how much a bailiff can charge for repeated visits. Although these are only guidelines – a code of conduct, most bailiff companies that appointed by a court and hired by a local authority should be adhering to these guidelines. If they’re not then the local authority and the court that issues their licences should seriously consider terminating their relationships with bailiffs who don’t abide by the code of conduct.

In an example I used myself on behalf of a client, who owed £25 for a parking offence, the code of conduct is as follows:

With debt less than £100 a £20 charge should be made. In debt more than £100, it should be set at 20% of the first £100, followed by 4% of the next £400. In which case the charges should have been around £30 – £40 for each visit. The bailiff made three visits which means the charge should have been around £120 (Source: http://www.debthelpuk.co.uk ).

In this example the bailiff charged £223 for one visit, which obviously is unacceptable and goes counter to the code of conduct. Also, in the above case, I threatened (on behalf of the client) to seek to have the individual bailiffs licence revoked. He also claimed to have come round to the house, knocked on the door, got no reply and as a consequence had to charge a further £200 for the next visit. He did this twice. However, my client was sat in his front room, with his three kids, just a meter or two from the front door. We suspected that the bailiff did not knock on his door, so that he could charge my client extra money for a re-visit. The lesson being if you feel you’re being ripped off, complain and use the code of conduct to reduce the amount and demand a refund or a reduced charge.

The Debt Pack: Your Self Help Guide to Debt and Credit: http://www.the-debt-pack.co.uk.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Debt-Pack-Guide-Credit/dp/0954969162/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1357898195&sr=8-3