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Bailiffs bid for share of £7m debt-chasing deal
‘Harassment’ claim as 64,000 unpaid parking tickets are pursued
BAILIFFS are set to bid hard for the right to collect parking debts in a deal worth
£7 million to Camden Council.
The council’s parking debt enforcement scheme is one of London’s most lucrative. Last year, 64,000 unpaid parking tickets were handed over to private debt collection companies.
But motorist campaign groups have accused the council of putting too much power in the hands of bailiffs, who have the right to seize goods under laws dating back 800 years.
Contracts for the debt collection, which allow bailiffs to charge hundreds of pounds for writing letters to debtors before seizing the property of non-payers, were agreed by the council’s ruling executive last month.
They will face their final examination at a meeting of the culture and environment scrutiny meeting on Tuesday.
The contracts are run at no cost to the council, with the bailiffs’ fees being met by debtors on a scale of charges set by the council.
A resident who does not cough up until bailiffs come to seize goods is liable to end up paying a total of £399 for a £105 parking penalty, and much more once goods are actually seized.
Although the new contracts include a detailed code of conduct and a fee-capping scheme which councillors claim will curb any excesses by bailiffs, the system was criticised by London Motorist Action Group (LMAG) this week.
Spokesman Alex Henney said: “It is quite disgraceful that Camden issues 64,000 warrants of execution for parking tickets in a year. Councils are here to help citizens, not harass them or send the bully boys around. They should take measures to cut the numbers of warrants right down.”
The council received 31 complaints about bailiffs last year.
A press official said: “We received two formal complaints against bailiffs in 2006 and 29 ‘informal’ complaints that did not strictly fall within the council’s complaints procedure.
“Both formal complaints were made against Equita bailiffs for acting inappropriately and charging excessive fees. The informal complaints were made for not receiving letters, inappropriate behaviour and excessive charges. Each was reviewed.
“Of all 31 complaints, six were upheld.” An ombudsman partially upheld one of the formal complaints, forcing the council to make a settlement.
But in a report compiled by borough parking chief Rudy Bright for councillors, the council’s parking experts argue that the use of bailiffs is the only way of dealing with non-paying customers who dodge council letters.
The report acknowledges that concerns have been raised over proof of posting of bailiffs’ letters and “phantom” visits which boost fees, and said these would be accounted for in new contracts.
Conservative environment chief Councillor Mike Greene said: “Although using bailiffs to recover unpaid parking debts is always a last resort, we expect high standards of customer service from them as well as clarity and transparency in the way they operate.
“We are tendering a new contract that will raise the bar and deal with areas of concern we’ve previously identified.
“We want to make the process fairer and clearer for motorists, helping them avoid escalating bailiffs fees.” |
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