FAQs
This is called the Compliance Stage. A £75 charge has been added to your account as soon as it has been allocated to us by the Local Authority.
The Notice gives you a minimum of seven clear days to either pay your debt in full or to contact us to make arrangements to pay. The date you should make contact with us by is printed on the first paragraph of the second page of the compliance notice.
Call us now on 01622 683308
S&G's advisors are experienced and professional and will seek to resolve your debt at this stage without the need for further recovery action.
I have had a visit from one of S&G’s representatives. How do I know that they are from your company?
From 6 April 2014, certificated bailiffs became certified enforcement agents. All of S&G’s enforcement agents carry two forms of ID.
S&G's Picture Card ID Badge
This shows their picture, job title, company address and telephone number.
Certificated Enforcement Agent’s Certificate
This shows their picture, company address, seal from the County Court from where it was issued, the judge’s name and signature, the date it was issued and the date of expiry.
Should you be in any doubt about the legitimacy of any of our agents, please contact Stanford & Green on 01622 683308.
As long as you comply with the terms of your agreement, no visits will be made to your home and no enforcement fees will be incurred. When the final payment is received, a receipt can be emailed, posted or sent by text message showing that your account is clear.
If you are unable to make an agreed instalment, YOU MUST contact our offices, either on or before your payment due date. Our advisors will attempt to assist you in resolving any short-term issues to prevent your debt escalating to enforcement stage.
Failure to make contact will result in a visit to your property that will incur a minimum enforcement fee of £235.00, an additional fee of 7.5% of the debt will be added to debts of over £1500.00.
If we are required to remove goods a minimum additional £110.00 Sale or Disposal Stage fee is charged, an additional fee of 7.5% of the debt will be added to debts of over £1500.00.
If you don’t pay your debt, or contact us during the Compliance Stage, a civil enforcement agent will visit your home to seek payment in full or take control of your goods. This is called the Enforcement Stage and will incur a minimum additional fee of £235.00 (see link to fees). Visits will be made between 6.00am and 9.00pm 7 days a week.
Our advisors are very professional and will seek to assist you to clear your arrears without the need for visits to your property.
Please contact us immediately so we can update our records and advise our client. If you know the person the letter is addressed to, or you have a forwarding address or contact telephone number, then please let us know so that we can update our records.
You will be asked to provide your name and the date you took over occupation of the property. You may also be asked for other pertinent information such as the name of your landlord, the solicitors and estate agents who dealt with the sale, or what area the previous occupant may have moved to.
You can email info@stanfordandgreen.co.uk or write to us at Stanford & Green Ltd, PO Box 313, Faversham, Kent, ME13 3EE or call us on 01622 683308.
The agent will try to collect the debt in full in some circumstances he may negotiate a short-term payment plan of your debt.
For an enforcement agent to make a short term agreement, he is required to take control of your goods and you will be asked to sign a document called a Controlled Goods Agreement, which postpones your goods actually being taken away.
In the first instance, you should make contact with your local authority’s benefit department as there may be benefits that you have not claimed and may be entitled to. This can also be done on line by visiting www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators
Prior to agreeing an arrangement, S&G may require you to complete an Income & Expenditure form.
S&G may still have to visit you and attempt to recover your debt. However, there are other avenues of free debt advice & support available;
For debt advice please click here.
Other free advice is available. S&G do not recommend paying for debt advice or debt management services.
If you’re unable to pay the debt in full, it may be possible, under certain circumstances, to accept a short-term arrangement. This usually means meeting the enforcement agent again to decide on the next move.
Depending on the type of debt you owe, you can pay;
In cash or by card to the enforcement agent
By credit or debit card (click here to pay online now)
Set up a direct debit
By standing order
By recurring payment
At the post office
At any bank (please call 01622 683308 for our bank details)
By banker’s draft or building society cheque
Over-the-counter at our offices
By post to Stanford & Green Ltd, PO Box 313, Faversham, Kent, ME13 3EE.
All payments must be made to Stanford & Green Ltd and include all fees and charges. Please make sure you mark all payments with your case reference number, name and address.
S&G have an excellent reputation of treating our customers with courtesy and always attempt to recover your debt without the need to enter your home.
Should you fail to make contact with our agents, repeated visits will be made at varying times of the day 7 days a week, whilst S&G attempt to make contact with you.
We would urge you to speak directly to our enforcement agents or to one of our advisors at our offices who will be able to assist you.
Your debt will not go away and should you choose to ignore this, local authorities will seek to collect the debt by other means; committal proceedings, bankruptcy proceedings, attachment to your earnings/benefits or by requesting a charging order are all used by our local authority clients.
That’s fine. Please note that you’ll still need to pay any fees due to us up to that point and an enforcement agent may visit to collect any outstanding balance.
The fees are payable by law in accordance with the Taking Control of Goods Regulations (Fees) 2014 and will be reclaimed from the clients. Further enforcement will continue until all fees and council tax are paid.
An enforcement agent will visit your property to take control of your goods that can be sold to repay your debt. Please note that this visit will add £235.00 to your debt. An additional fee of 7.5% of the debt will be added to debts of over £1500.00.
In the event that we are required to remove goods an additional £110.00 Sale or Disposal Stage fee is added. An additional fee of 7.5% of the debt will be added to debts of over £1500.00.
You need to take this up directly with the authority involved at the earliest opportunity as S&G will continue to try and recover the debt unless we are instructed otherwise by our client.
| Stage of process | Fixed fee | Percentage extra you'll pay for debts over £1,500 |
|---|---|---|
| Writing to you about your debt (called ‘compliance’) | £75 | None |
| Visiting your home (called ‘enforcement’) | £235 | 7.5% |
| Taking and selling your belongings (called 'sale') | £110 | 7.5% |
For example, if your debt is £2,500 you would be charged 7.5% on £1,000. This means you would pay an extra fee of £75.
ENFORCEMENT CHARGES
From 6th April 2014 there are new procedures and fee scales relating to the enforcement of debts such as the non-payment of Council Tax, Business Rates, Child Support awards, Magistrates’ Court fines, Road Traffic penalties (PCNs) and Commercial Rent. Such debts are enforced by enforcement agents, formerly often referred to as bailiffs.
When such debts are passed by the creditor, in the majority of cases the local authority, an account is set up by the enforcement company tasked with enforcing the debt. A fee of £75.00 will then added to the account. You will be sent a Notice of Enforcement which gives details of the outstanding debt. This stage is referred to as the pre-enforcement or compliance stage. You will not get an enforcement visit from an enforcement agent during this stage and therefore, if you wish to avoid such a visit it is most important that you contact the enforcement company immediately and arrange for payment or payments to be made and adhere to the payment agreement made.
If you fail to make contact with the enforcement company, or fail to adhere to the payment arrangement that you have made with them, the matter will then move to the enforcement stage. This will entail a visit, or a series of visits, from an enforcement agent, a further fee of £235 (plus 7.5% of the value of the original debt that exceeds £1500) will be added to your account and you risk having your possessions seized by the enforcement agent and subsequently removed and sold, if full payment is not made.
If your goods are seized and removed by the enforcement agent there will be an additional sale stage fee of £110 (again plus 7.5% of the value of the original debt that exceeds £1500).
If you have been advised that the debt has been passed to an enforcement company do not then make direct payments to the creditor. This will only complicate the process and may result in an enforcement visit when payment to the enforcement company could have avoided that. Direct payments to the creditor will not reduce the amount that needs to be paid nor will it avoid the addition of the enforcement fees detailed above.
How to make a Complaint
We take complaints about our work, staff and levels of service very seriously. If you are not satisfied, please follow the following process for raising a formal complaint.
Complaints we can and can’t deal with
We can only handle complaints about the work, staff and levels of service provided by Stanford & Green. We can’t deal with complaints regarding Local Authorities.
Complaints Procedure
If you want to speak to someone about a complaint, you can call our office on 01622 683308 (lines are open 9.00 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Thursday and 9.00am to 4.30 pm Fridays, excluding bank holidays), where we will try to resolve the issue if we can.
If you prefer to put your complaint in writing please address your concerns to our complaints manager.
The Complaints Manager
Stanford & Green
PO Box 313
Faversham
Kent
ME13 3EE
Or email to info@stanfordandgreen.co.uk
Or use the online form at the bottom of this page.
What Information we will need from you
- a clear, detailed description of what your complaint is about
- copies of any letters or emails related to the complaint
- a correspondence case reference number, if you have it
- your email address or postal address (so we can reply)
How to make a formal complaint
You can make a formal complaint by post, addressed to the Complaints Manager.
Write to:
Stanford & Green
PO Box 313
Faversham
Kent
ME13 3EE
Or email to info@stanfordandgreen.co.uk
What happens next
We will send an email or letter to let you know that we’ve received it within 2 working days.We will investigate your complaint (looking at whether your questions were answered, whether you suffered any injustice or hardship, and what remedy would be fair and proportionate in the circumstances and in accordance with our Complaints Policy Statement)We aim to respond to complaints within 5 working days. If we can’t reply to you within this time, we will let you know and tell you when you can expect a reply.
What to do if you are not satisfied
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your formal complaint you can contact our governing body CIVEA of which we are a member. The ombudsman investigates complaints where government departments or other public bodies have not acted properly or fairly or have provided a poor service. Government departments must co-operate with the ombudsman by law.
Our Complaints Policy Statement can be viewed by navigating to Policies on this website.