Lobbying for a fairer fee structure
At present a large majority of organisations that use bailiff services do not have to pay for these services. Therefore the costs for recovering the debt are paid by the debtors who do pay. As only a minority of debtors can be found, the fees and charges are higher than if all debtors were found and all shared the cost of recovery.
Depending on the fine or debt, there are statutory fees which the bailiff is lawfully able to apply and on top of these there are “reasonable” charges which the bailiff may add for attending to remove goods, removing a vehicle or goods, selling goods. Clearly if most or all of these fees and charges are “applied” the final cost may be considerably larger than the debt or fine.
Marston Group is trying to make it easier for the public, and their clients to understand the fees and charges and to guarantee that only those fees and charges that are lawfully incurred are charged.
We believe that the current statutory fees are outdated and we are lobbying for a fairer fee structure. If there was one administration fee this could reduce the costs which are faced by the debtor.