A liability order was made against Mrs. Evans for unpaid community charge. When the bailiff called at her home she was at work. After speaking to her on the telephone, he posted through her letterbox a notice of distress and a draft walking-possession agreement which he had signed.
She challenged the validity of this purported levy by issuing a complaint under Regulation 40 of the Community Charge (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1989. The justices held that the authority had validly distrained on the complainant's goods. Mrs. Evans appealed to the High Court and her appeal was allowed. The following practices are questionable when a bailiff makes a levy:
Levies of household goods carried out at a bailiff's office or other premises
Levies of cars or other goods conducted merely by driving past premises
Levies on vehicles conducted in communal car parks at blocks of flats and with notices of seizure left by communal entries
Levies based on generic lists of goods without any detailed inspection of premises
Two-stage levies which rely in part on the use of "global seizures" of goods by "catch-all" phrases on inventories
Doorstep levies without full entry
This case was a first to deal with "Constructive Levies" and is defined in Paragraph 2 on Page 5 of this Local Government Ombudsman's report.