Bailiffs and Credit or Debit Card Fees
The law forbids bailiffs from charging a Credit or a Debit Card Fee
The fees bailiffs can charge are set out in the Schedule of the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014.
Bailiffs often refuse payment by card because they have had their card services suspended due to a high number of chargebacks.
They are made to lodge money with the bank to restore their services, or pay a high transaction fee to protect the banks interests from chargeback claims. These liabilities cannot be passed onto debtors, the Merchant Service fees are a contractual liability between the bank and the bailiff company.
You can reclaim any card fee through the small claims court, a chargeback, or by applying for a detailed assessment hearing because there is no contract between a debtor and a bailiff.
The Law:
Regulation 4 of the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 states:
4. A trader must not charge consumers, in respect of the use of a given means of payment, fees that exceed the cost borne by the trader for the use of that means.
Regulation 5 of the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 states:
5.—(1) Regulation 4 applies only if the use is as a means for the consumer to make payments for the purposes of a contract with the trader, and only to the extent that that contract—
Regulation 10 of the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 states:
10. Where a trader charges a fee in contravention of regulation 4—