My son Cannot Pay his fine as he is on JSA

lusamoel

B4 i start i hope this is in the right place on the forums,
Hi guys my son like the stupid idiot he is got a fine the other day for stealing. He lives with us and pays a little towards his keep.
The fine was for either £60 or £80 but either way he was told he cannot pay installments, although he cannot afford it out right.
They said he has to miss a payment and the the fine will go up to £120 and only then can he pay in installments.
This really doesnt make sense to me and think this is really unfair,
I will be contacting the cit adv beu to see if anything can be done.
Can anyone confirm this?
thnx,.

mum2one

Maybe if he takes a letter confirming he is on jobseekers, and a statement of affairs, his outgoings, and use that as a base.

I know yrs ago, when I was in court to give evidence, the person got finded,he had brought in his expenditure, and was allowed to pay £5 a week, but things may have changed since then.

custardy

is it a 1st offence?

Snakeeyes21

If its an on the spot fine you cant pay in installments, if he doesnt pay it will go to court, additional fees will be applied but then he can request to pay in installments.
I would give him a clip around the ear and tell him to pay it out of the £103 or £130 he gets.
Tell him to face up to being a complete muppet, he will just have to go without his fags
and drink for a couple of weeks.
Might teach him not to try and get a 5 finger discount in future.

SarEl

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

If its an on the spot fine you cant pay in installments, if he doesnt pay it will go to court, additional fees will be applied but then he can request to pay in installments.
I would give him a clip around the ear and tell him to pay it out of the £103 or £130 he gets.
Tell him to face up to being a complete muppet, he will just have to go without his fags
and drink for a couple of weeks.
Might teach him not to try and get a 5 finger discount in future.

I would agree. To slightly amend the classic quote "if you can't pay the fine, don't do the crime". And more than that - let him sort this out - or not - himself. Don't go running around after him picking up the pieces and smoothing the way. You aren't doing any favours for him by doing so.

It is highly unlikely that this is his first crime - more than likely that this is the first time he got caught. If the parents pick up the pieces - either sorting the problem out or paying it off (and good luck on seeing that money again because if he says he can't pay you, what will you do?) then he is getting off lightly. It may sound cruel, but if this scares the living daylights out of him and makes sure that he doesn't do it again, then it will be an investment in his future. So if he can't pay and has to go to court for non-payment - well this is a consequence of his actions, and he must "man up" and deal with it. The worst that will happen is that he will have to pay more - and they won't let him off a week or two here and there because he needs his money for something else, like you will no matter how hard about it you say you will be. With any luck it may be the lessen that he needs.

Oldernotwiser

He'll get a minimum of £110 per fortnight, why can't he pay it out of that? And, by the way, don't minimise his actions by describing them as "stupid"!

[Deleted User]

I work with people who are allowed to pay fines for £30 at as little as £1 per week. So whoever said it has to be larger to pay in installments is talking c**p.
So long as he keeps up the repayments he'll be fine, if he does not pay he may find himself back in Court for non payment with a bigger fine and a conviction.
As mum2one says he needs to contact the Court and arrange this. They will issue him with a paypoint card to make payments in the local shop or post office.
And got to agree he's a tad more than stupid, it's called criminal!

withabix

Maybe he needs a spell in jail.

That will teach him.

Or, like someone else said, he can pay it out of his JSA and do without the fags and booze.

Oldernotwiser

Is this the 18 year old who can afford to run a decent car?

wireframe_2

lusamoel wrote: »

Hi guys my son like the stupid idiot he is got a fine the other day for stealing.

A FINE?
for STEALING?

WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO THIS COUNTRY?

Out of interest, what was it he stole?

wireframe_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Is this the 18 year old who can afford to run a decent car?

Source?
(I do believe you, but can't find a post relating to it )