Free Traffic Legal Advice

Quote from: Incandescent on September 03, 2024, 09:50:24 am

I don't know the exact amounts for a judge review, but it's around £115 for a papers-based review, and circa £460 for an interview with the judge "in chambers". Without some hard information on when your V5 was updated, it is difficult to see any OOTs succeeding. You can get a "second opinion" here: -
www.baillifadviceonline.co.uk

At the moment, the amounts are at their minimum, with the amount owing the council, plus the bailiff £75 fee for each PCN. If bailiffs visit, you get another £235 added on to the amount for each PCN.

In a situation like this, it is best to pay the amount demanded to prevent it going up even more. Paying has no effect on whether an OOT will succeed or not, so I think you need to consider your next step very carefully. TEC are taking ages to process OOTs at the moment, and what you don't want is the bailiffs sneaking in and adding £235 x 3 to the amount demanded. I'm afraid that cases like yours that we frequently see on this forum, rarely turn out well, sorry to have to say it.

The enforcement agent (bailiff) can only load £235 once onto the charges owing, no matter how many Notices of Enforcement (one for each PCN) are being enforced.

The fee for a review by a district judge is £119 for a hearing on the papers only. And £303 for a hearing in person. One fee payable for each application for a review, one review per PCN. The fees are not refundable and cannot normally be claimed as costs even if your appeals to the Adjudicator are ultimately successful. The only exception is if your are entitled to an EX160 fee remission.

The advice to pay up now and then submit Out of Time Statutory Declarations at a later date is not without risks. This advice only came in during Covid and post Covid as there are long delays with the TEC informing the Enforcement Authorities that an Out of Time application has been submitted. This leaves you unprotected from the bailiff duing the delay.

Pre Covid the TEC would inform the EA electronically each day of any such applications received before 4pm on a working day. The EA was then compelled to call of bailiff enforcement immediately until the TEC had issued a decision. Leave it too long between payamnt and OOT and the Enforcement Authority will object on the grounds that you closed the case.