Challenging High Court Enforcement Officers fees
You can take Court action over bailiffs in the following situations:
- you want to recover goods or possessions back because you believe the bailiff didn't follow the right process and wrongly removed items
- you suffered a financial loss because of something the bailiff did wrongly
- you disagree with the bailiff's fees and charges
You can also apply to the court for a decision where there is a disagreement over how much money any joint owners of belongings sold should receive.
If you believe the bailiff's fees and charges to be wrong, you should discuss this with the bailiff firm first.
If you are unable to reach an agreement on the fees and charges, you can apply to the Court to make a decision about how much should be charged.
The court will consider the following kinds of cases over fees:
- a dispute about the amount of fees and expenses charged by a bailiff
- where you, the creditor or the bailiff wants the Court to assess how much should be charged in fees and expenses
You can apply to the Court to assess the amounts charged, and must include the following evidence:
- evidence of the amount of fees or expenses you are disputing, for example a copy of the bailiff's bill
- evidence that the fees or expenses are not correct, for example a copy of an agreement saying you settled the debt before it was necessary to start the next stage of the process
- evidence that the bailiff has charged more than once for any action
- evidence that you are vulnerable and therefore should not have been charged fees without the bailiffs first giving you the chance to get help to deal with the situation
- if the dispute is over the percentage fee for any stage, evidence of the amount of money recovered and your own calculation of what the percentage fee should be
For further details and guidance, including tables explaining each stage of the process, just click here.
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