How to Stop Bailiff Enforcement for Parking Tickets
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- Parking Mate UK Support
- June 15, 2020
Table of Contents
Bailiff Enforcement Process
Dealing with parking bailiffs can be a stressful ordeal. If you have received any bailiff letters, you can follow our guide to resolve the situation. The law works in your favour if you follow our step by step guide. The process is easy to follow and you only need to complete the TEC forms. If you have received a letter from Marston Group, JBW, Rossendales or Equita, this guide will help.
A penalty charge notice must first be issued to you, and if you do not appeal or pay, the council can apply for a warrant to chase for payment. If you never received the PCN, this is a good reason to have the warrant cancelled.
A warrant must be issued by the TEC before the bailiff can contact you and demand payment. The warrant will be issued after the the TEC issue an order for recovery. At this stage of enforcement, the order for recovery is the document to challenge if you want to stop enforcement.
Before the bailiff can attend, they must send a notice of enforcement, this will inform you of the amount, the reason of visit and give you 7 clear days before they visit. If you have not received this document, you can complain about unlawful enforcement.
The bailiff enforcement officer will visit your home and attempt to secure goods either by entering if invited or by putting a clamp on your car. The bailiff officer can also take your car if they wish.
Please note: A vehicle can be secured anywhere on public land. But they can not take your vehicle on private land.
Stopping Bailiff Enforcement Action
You can challenge the warrant and get it cancelled. When the warrant is cancelled, the bailiffs will have to stop chasing you for payment. You can only challenge the warrant if you never received the PCN, if your appeal is still in progress or if you paid the PCN. If these options don’t apply, then you should avoid the bailiff fees and deal with the council.
1. Challenge the Warrant of Control
- 1. Complete the TEC forms and get them signed by a solicitor
- 2. Send the forms to the TEC by email to: tec@justice.gov.uk
- 3. The TEC will suspend enforcement within 24-48 hours
- 4. The council will have 21 days to respond to the TEC
Avoid Paying Bailiff Fees
You never have to pay the bailiffs any money at all. Any payment made to the bailiff simply goes to their pockets and they give the council the amount owed. Once payment is made to the council, the council will have to stop the enforcement process.
2. Paying the Council Directly
- 1. Find out how much is owed to the council
- 2. Check on the council website how to pay parking fines
- 3. Send a cheque or postal order with PCN reference to the council
- 4. The council will suspend enforcement when payment is received
- 5. Email the council after 2-3 days to confirm payment
- 6. Once payment is confirmed, the council have to stop enforcement
The bailiff is not entitled to any fees after the debt is settled with the council. If the bailiff persists, challenge the warrant and state that payment was made and provide evidence.
Complaning About Bailiffs
The job of being a bailiff is not easy for the people doing it. However, often, they do not always follow the rules correctly and therefore, you have a case for a formal complaint to be raised.
Remember, bailiffs are representing the council, so you should complain about unfair treatment to the council using their complaints process. You can see recent complaints at the LGO where other motorists have complained about bailiffs and successfully won. Complaints can be anything from unfairly clamping a vehicle, entering your home or making you pay.
3. How to Complain to the Council and LGO
- 1. Go to your local council website
- 2. Find the process for raising a complaint with the council
- 3. Follow the stage 1 and stage 2 complaint process
- 4. If you are not happy with the outcome, escalate to the LGO
Bailiff Enforcement Legislation
Read about the rules bailiffs follow and use it as part of your complaint.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to stop enforcement
As soon as you send an application to the Northampton County Court, bailiff enforcement will be stopped by 4pm the next working day and bailiffs can not contact you again until you receive a response to your application from the TEC. Please process above for forms to complete.
If the bailiff has not behaved correctly
Bailiffs may only enter your home if you invite them in or the opportunity to enter was not by force. They must however treat you fairly and if you are vulnerable, such as in financial difficulty, disabled, pregnant, have trouble speaking english, they must take extra care. Failure to do so is the basis of a complaint to the council and LGO.
Support for bailiff enforcement
You can use our apps to write witness statements and statutory declarations. If we need to write a letter of complaint to the council, we can prepare your correspondence and handle the complaint for you. Please get in touch with us via the home page.
Raising a complaint
If you believe that the enforcement process has not been fair, you can raise a complaint to the council and should you be unhappy with their response, you can then complain to the Local Goverment Ombudsman. The ombudsman can only investigate issues relating to wrongful enforcement and not the reasons related to the PCN itself.