Bailiff indemnities

The request was successful.

Dear Hounslow Borough Council,

can you please answer under public interest using yes or no answers...

they will be contained within your code of ethics and your contracts or
simply in any code of conduct.this is not a complaint against your council
but research into how bailiffs can be a law unto themselves if not watched

1. Does your enforcement agent contract allow your enforcement agents to
issue an indemnity against prosecution for themselves without the
agreement of the council in cases where they have wrongfully seized when
the customer is identifiably vulnerable?

2. Have you ever allowed bailiffs to make their own settlement agreements
where goods have to be returned after 3 months?

3. Would you allow enforcement agents to breach the equalities act by
achieving a gain whilst someone is under mental health treatment if it
meant your business rates were collected,even if they didnt inform you?

4. How would you react if they did this without you knowing?

5. Would you class a secret indemnity kept from the council which achieves
a gain at the cost to the vulnerable victim a material breach of contract
.?

6. Must enforcement agents always report failed levies and a full report
when dealing with vulnerable customers 7.would you employ enforcement
agents that have fraudulently concealed information that could cause
litigation to the council or serious damage to a protected party in the
past ?

thank you for your public concern in answering these questions asap.

8.who are your current agents

Yours faithfully,

claire moore

claire moore

Freedom of Information, Hounslow Borough Council

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London Borough of Hounslow,

[1]London Borough of Hounslow
23-Dec-2019

Dear Claire Moore,

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Freedom of Information, Hounslow Borough Council

Dear Claire Moore,

Thank you for your below FOI request.

This has been logged under reference number FIR003132 to the service team for a response. This response will follow to you within the 20 working day deadline.

• For future reference, you are now able to use the online form to make further Freedom of Information Requests. This is our preferred method, because this form helps us to capture all of the information needed to respond to your request quickly.

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London Borough of Hounslow
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Poonam Matharoo, Hounslow Borough Council

2 Attachments

Dear Claire Moore

 

Re: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOI) 2000 RESPONSE

 

Thank you for your request for information of 20^th Dec 2019. You have
requested the following:

 

 1. Does your enforcement agent contract allow your enforcement agents to
issue an indemnity against prosecution for themselves without the
agreement of the council in cases where they have wrongfully seized
when the customer is identifiably vulnerable? No.

2. Have you ever allowed bailiffs to make their own settlement
agreements where goods have to be returned after 3 months? No.

3. Would you allow enforcement agents to breach the equalities act by
achieving a gain whilst someone is under mental health treatment if it
meant your business rates were collected, even if they didnt inform
you? No.

4. How would you react if they did this without you knowing? We would
instigate an investigation against the enforcement agents as this
would not only be a breach of the terms set out in the service level
agreement between us and the enforcement agent, but it would also go
against the code of conduct that all enforcements agents should be
working within.

5. Would you class a secret indemnity kept from the council which
achieves a gain at the cost to the vulnerable victim a material breach
of contract .? Yes

6. Must enforcement agents always report failed levies and a full
report when dealing with vulnerable customers 7.would you employ
enforcement agents that have fraudulently concealed information that
could cause litigation to the council or serious damage to a protected
party in the past ? Our service level agreement states all cases where
the debtor is a vulnerable customer must be passed to specialist
Welfare Teams where special measures are put in place, including no
enforcement visits. No, we would not employ enforcement agents that
have fraudulently concealed information that could cause litigation to
the council or serious damage to a protected party in the past.

thank you for your public concern in answering these questions asap.

8.who are your current agents? JBW, Phoenix and Newlyn

 

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Yours sincerely

 

 

Poonam Matharoo | Corporate Service Contract Client Officer – Client Team

3^rd Floor

Hounslow House London Borough of Hounslow 7 Bath Road Hounslow TW3 3EB

Tel: 020 8583 6682 | Email: [3][email address]

 

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Dear Poonam Matharoo,

thank you for your prompt reply/good ethics and transparancy well done

Yours sincerely,

claire moore