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Getting an explanation of fees (a "breakdown") and costs from a bailiff Bailiffs companies pretend they have a right to charge you a £10 fee to give you an explanation of their fees. They claim its personal data under the Data Protection Act 1998 and say the fee is compliant with Section 7 of the Act. This is not true and the £10 fee is another way for bailiffs to earn money from your misfortune. Use this method instead. If the bailiff is honest with his fees then he would have explained them on his fee invoice. You have a right to an explanation of charges without paying a further fee and if the bailiff refuses then you don't have to pay them or you reclaim them in the small claims court. The law provides "reasonable costs" in relation to taking control of your goods, but if a bailiff does not give a reason for his expenses then he is unable to show it is reasonable costs. Case No 8CL51015 - Anthony Culligan (Claimant) v 1. Jason Simkin & 2. Marston Group (Defendants). If the bailiff has not removed your goods then the only fees chargeable are the statutory fees prescribed by the regulations. In the case of Magistrates' court fines, there are no regulated fees and it is a criminal offence under Section 78(5) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 for a bailiff to demand the debtor to pay fees in addition of the fine.
Bailiffs persistently charge high fees in the hope you don't bother to reclaim them or give up complaining about them. See reclaiming fees in the small claims track.
You can ask the bailiff make a sworn statement in answer to the above, a brutal approach but two things usually happen: the bailiffs fees quietly disappear or the bailiff responds with explosive threats of police and blackmail. There is lots more case law that can be used in reclaiming unlawful fees. You can anonymously report the fraud to Action Fraud online. These are investigated by the Serious Fraud Office who can investigate organised complex frauds. Police follow a list of criteria for deciding whether to investigate a fraud. You must learn the criteria and set out your complaint so it fits neatly into it. Otherwise police will summarily fob your complaint.
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