Bailiffs & court fines, the paying of...

Mozzer3k

I have a court fine of around £450 for a driving offence from last year.

I was paying it back in small payments of £5 a week. I missed two weeks due to whatever reasons... the upshot is when I called to pay what I owed for the fortnight I hadn't paid I was told it had been sent to a debt collecter and there was nothing I could do, i'd have to wait to hear from them.

I recieved my first letter from Marston Group on 22nd May telling me that with Bailiff Fees I now owe them £552. Not an amount of money I have, or have access to. Especially in full as they demand.

I called them maybe two weeks ago to arrange to make a payment plan with them. They weren't interested unless I would pay £100 off upfront, which I didn't have... i'm a student and i've barely got a spare £20 in my bank account let alone £100.

Today, after managing to save enough money, i've called them to pay that £100 and arrange a payment plan. They told me now that I owe £720 because I didn't pay within 7 days, and it has "Gone to a bailiff.".

I tried asking what the sudden £200 increase was for, and the only explanation the girl had was that it was for a 'Bailiffs attending fee', or something to that effect. No bailiff has attended.

They did not want to take my money over the phone unless I would pay in full, she simply told me to deal with the bailiff if I wasn't prepared to pay in full.

What the hell can I do about this?
Because this is a court fine, does this bailiff have the right to force entry?

I'd like to contact them via email from now on so I have anything they say in writing. Any suggestions for what I should send?

Thanks. Regards.

GeorgeUK

I suggest you take a look at Bailiffadviceonline - i'm pretty sure those bailiff fees are wrong.

Hopefully someone else will be able to come along or Herbie will look in on this thread.

Possibly also worth contacting nationaldebtline to see if they can offer advice.

Mozzer3k

Thanks for the response, will give the helpline a ring.

RAS

Hi

The bailiffs can charge £24.50 for the first visit and £19 for the second visit, so they are adding illegal fees. try to pm Herbie21 if you can and she will help you (she runs www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk which is fee-paying but offers advice here free).

ally663

Hi I totally sympathise. Ok you will prbably have already researched this but the bailiff fee's are definately illegal. Whatever you do, do not let them in your house otherwise these charges can be applied. Personally I would not answer the door if you think it is a bailiff, not untill you have had the chance to explore the following.
The bailiff is acting illegally so there is a possibility of the court taking this debt back. You are totally correct to correspond in writing from now on. Firstly write to the bailiff company asking for a breakdown of the charges and what they are for. When you get this, write to the court and make a complaint about the bailiff's added charges. In the meantime send a cheque and letter (quoting reference of debt) to the court making a payment, even if it is the £5 and in your letter tell them you will be continueing to do this weekly etc. If your fine gets heard in court again, the magistrate will see you have continued to pay. At the end of the day if the bailiff is unable to recover the debt (this would take alot of vigilance from you) they will send it back to the court as unrecovered and the court would contact you. The court will have you back in front of a magistrate but it is highly likely that in the time this all takes, you will have paid the fine off by continueing to pay a fiver a week (or however you choose). The £42 (£24 + £18) for the bailiff charges would need to be paid to the bailiff at the end of the day but at least it is not hundreds. Your local Councillor will be interested to hear from you if you continue to be harrassed etc by the bailiff illegally. Good luck with it all.

Mozzer3k

Okay, an update. A bailiff turned up yesterday while I was at work. He was not allowed into the house, my brother called me and i spoke to him on the phone. He told me he will only be collecting payment in full, that he has the right to force entry, and so on.

I quickly had two statutory declerations drawn up, and took the day off work today to deal with him, as he said he'd give me 24 hours (Being such a nice chap...). I went straight to a solicitor this morning to sign these.

He turned up around 12ish today in his van, I passed him the first statutory decleration through the door, which was this:
--Unable to post picture.
--Unable to post picture.

He returned to his van for 20 minutes to read this. He came back telling me how that he'd talked to the courts on the phone and they'd all had a good laugh about it, and that the issue still stands and I need to pay him today or he will force entry with a locksmith.

I then handed him my second statutory decleration through the letterbox, which was this:
--Unable to post picture.

After reading which, he posted this through the letter box:
--Unable to post picture.
And then left without a word.

Now, from what I gather, and I hope i'm correct: Yes, he can force entry, IF he has previously had peaceful entry to the house. Which he hasn't. So if he did use a locksmith, he is basically commiting burglary. Yes?

Thanks for reading.

Edit: As a new user, it won't allow me to link to image files. Sorry.

RobertoMoir

Actually, as you mention the debt is a fine, the bailiff can force entry for certain magistrates courts fines. You may find this page interesting from herbie's site. If you think this might apply to you then you really do need to speak to her.

Sadly, the issue of bailiff powers is by no means cut and dry and isn't related to the bailiff as a bailiff but rather changes depending on the type of debt they are calling in relation to.

However, if you don't own sufficent goods to clear the debt (and of course if those statutory declarations say someone else owns all the stuff in your house this counts, but you knew that I'm guessing) they still can't take those goods even if they do gain entry.