Pre Bailiff demanding money

grace

This is a right mess and Im totally confused...

I have/Had and agreement with The Lewis Group decided through the County Court to pay them £25.00 per month in respect of a Store Card bill.

1. They were late sending out the Giro Slips so the first deadline was missed but it was waved when I explained about the Giro Slips.

2. I set up a Standing Order which is now working, but... between the last manual payment and the new Standing Order I missed one payment!!! I know its my fault I just forgot I had one more manual payment to make....

Now yestrday I had a grubby card posted to me from a man working for the Lewis Group who says he is a Pre-Bailiff and he wants £122.00 on Friday cash...I asked how this amount was arrived at but he didnt know.

I contacted my bank to make sure the SO had gone out and it has, I then contacted the Solicitors asting for The Lewis Group but they wouldnt speak to me about it, so I rang the Court.

The lady I spoke to was very nice and she is sending me out a reduced payments form to fill in and to send back.

I explained this to thier Pre Bailiff but he says unless I pay him the real Bailiffs will be sent out and nothing will stop the action then.....

Is there anything I can do....

Grace

southernscouser

Don't answer the door if they do come back on Friday and just sit tight and wait for form to arrive!

System

There is no way in hell I would give cash to some bloke on the doorstep whom you dont know from Adam. Also he prolly has no rights of entry whatsoever, so tell him to fork off in my opinion

grace

Should I contact the Police?

file_wizzard

"The Real Bailiffs" ohh you have got to love them for trying !

This is blatant terrorism!, it is VERY unlikely that bailiffs would be instructed for a commercial debt, a CCJ has obviously been issued for the amount owed, however before a bailiff can get anywhere near the stage of seizing goods a further distress warrant would have to be issued by the court, and for a commercial debt of minimal size this is very rare indeed.

As has been mentioned pay him what you can, if you have missed one payment offer that, if you feel you may struggle to continue to make payments at any stage complete the N245 which the court are sending you for a variation order on the original CCJ.

if he makes anymore stupid malicious threats give him the option of you continue paying what you can or you submit a new I&E for to the court and ask for a variation order of £1 a month.

see how he likes that !

file_wizzard

grace wrote:

Should I contact the Police?

Unfortunately the police would have no interest or jurisdiction, this is purely a civil matter and no offence has been committed

grace

I have got to ring him back on Thursday to let him know how much I can pay, Im hoping to have the N245 filled in and sent back by then...with luck....I have a good mind to pay them a £1 per month but I really want it cleared and done with....so I will drop it to £15.00 I think...

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

ill be honest i missed a payment and yes they asked me £100 i paid it, like you i had a card the cab told me to pay it as it had been to court and balliffs can be called in ,it reduced the debt and things were a bit tight for 1 month so haveing read this should i or shouldnt i have paid ,i dont quite no but i think they would not have hesitated to call them in for the debt and all what i would have paid would have appeared again as charges etc ....so i think i would pay it if you can

amosworks

Aww grace, you seem a bit scared and intimidated by this, so why not invite a few strong men over before he comes back to give you peace of mind? Maybe you could also give them odd jobs around the house to occupy them whilst they wait (putting up shelves, jetwashing the pathway etc. etc.)

grace

Till unsure what to do, but at least I have got a reaction from the Company (they wouldnt talk to me yesterday at all) but this morning I have got a message to ring their solicitors.

I rang the CCCS last night and they were great, really reassuring. I also read on their website that once a N245? has been applied to the account/claim no warrants can be issued against it until it has been processed, which would be why he is trying to rush me into paying him by Friday before the N245 is in place.

I will have a bit of a think...but the way Im leaning to is... to contact the Solicitors acting for the Collection Agency ... and advise them that their Client is looking at a much reduced monthly payment unless they are prepared to behave reasonably.

If they decline the N245 will be in place and there is nothing they can do anyway...at least I hope thats how it will work....

Pigeongirl

Hi Grace!

I used to deal with N245s a lot and whenever one was submitted the warrant was removed from bailiff. A copy of N245 is sent to claimant and they are given 14 days to respond. If no response, or if claimant accepts offer, then the court officer will go ahead and make an order that the amount you have offered be paid per month. If claimant refuses offer then a court officer will do a 'determination'. This means looking at the figures you have given and calculating (using set allowances etc) how much you can afford to pay. The court officer will then draw up an order saying how much you should pay per month. If this is still disputed (by claimant or defendant) then a hearing is set up so a District Judge can decide.

Just a hint - do not put cigarettes or Sky TV on your list of outgoings as these are are seen as luxuries and will not be included by the court officer when calculating how much spare dosh you have.

Of course, if you default on any of the payments, enforcement proceedings will very likely recommence. :eek:

Hope this helps.