Marston Group Limited

kyh

Advice needed please.This morning out of the blue we had a man from the above company come with a "distress warrant" from the local courts for a "motoring offence" dated 1/12/2009.I have had no prior notification of this by telephone or post although his record stated that there was something sent in Feb 10 and a hand drop letter in Aug 10. This warrant was in my maiden name and for a previous address (haven't lived there for 2 1/2 years, have been married for over 3 years)I have no idea what this was for but my husband and I think it may relate to a period of unpaid car tax about 3-4 yrs ago when I first stopped driving - I thought I had paid this!! I haven't driven a car for 3 yrs now as I have a long term medical condition which is currently causing me balance/ vertigo type problems. I have chosen not to drive not had my licence revoked and because I want to get back on the road in the future have not handed my licence back in. I do have Doctors records I could access which state I am not driving currently as I know it is on record that I have this problem currently.I felt I had to pay this fine even though I was unsure what it is for as he said he only had an hour before he could bring the baliffs van to the property to remove goods, I am 7 months pregnant and can do without that additional stress. We are now in a position where although I have paid it we couldn't really afford to and will have to look at selling some things to get the money back for this month. I have been through a long period to get debt free and now budget quite tightly to ensure we have money for the month. Does anyone have any idea what I should do now - can I apply to the courts for further information and try and claim this money back? I guess I am going to get flamed and told I shouldn't have paid but I didn't know what else to do at the time!

hallowitch

I know very little about this but there is something not right if you have been married over 3 years and this was still in your Madden name (can i ask were the bailiff fee approx £275 ) magistrate court fees are £75 letter £200 visit fee
your best bet in getting this sorted is to get in touch with Shela at http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/ or google tomtubby she helps out on a very well known action group web site

sofababe

He said he was coming back in an hour with a van???? B*llshit. Did he come in and write down what he was going to take? Even if he did he still wouldn't be back in an hour. If u didn't think u owed anything why on earth did u pay? I'm not having a go at u, I'm so angry at the way bailiffs lie and bully people into paying when they don't have to.

Find out exactly what the fine was for and when. If u don't owe it then contact the court the fine was issued from. If u have been on the electoral role they could have easily sent the letters to the correct address, funny that they knew which address to call at to scare u into paying a debt u possibly didn't owe but couldn't send a letter to the right house. Are u sure he was a bailiff from the court? It sounds iffy to me.

RAS

Hi

Unless you have already let him in, make sure he never gets in.

Get any car out of the way (although I doubt you own one).

On Monday contact the bailiff advice line and the courts. You may be able to get this overturned, returned to cort and then be able to opay the initial fine rather than the bailiff.

kyh

Unfortunately I paid, I can't have the risk of this over me with my job for reasons I won't disclose on a public forum.We didn't let him into the house at all - made him sit on the back patio, the paperwork looked "correct" apart from the name issues but then as I don't drive and haven't done since I married I have never got round to renewing my licence - plan is when I feel able to drive again I will renew it then.Hollowitch - I will have a look at the website thank youSofababe - he said he would phone for the van and that would be another £125 plus additioanl costs for storage of goods etc - he said he wasn't able to leave the property until it was resolved as he had GPS on his phone which registered where he was?!The warrant says compliance fee £75 and attendance fee £200 - so if I had received the letters they said were sent and had paid them without someone having to attend that would have been £200 less to pay I guess.

sofababe

What was the fine for? Parking tickets which they deal with according to their website. I'm not too clear on what the issue is with your driving licence. If u haven't driven since it expired what's the problem? Surely not having a valid licence is only an issue if u have been driving without one?
And so what if his company can tell where he is? That doesn't mean he can stay on your patio for the rest of his life till u pay him. He would not have been able to bring a van to collect anything as he didn't have a WPO. These bullying liars make me so angry :mad::mad::mad:

kyh

Sofababe - The only thing we think the fine could possibly be for is a period when the car was in long term storage at a local garage and I forgot to SORN it - didn't realise the tax had run out at the time, we then sold the car as I no longer used it and I thought I had paid the tax owing. I was quite ill at the time and can't really remember . No issue with not having a valid licence as I am not driving but my licence would have been in my maiden name as would any records for that vehicle.

kyh

OK have found the Legal Beagles website and registered there - thanks for help so far!

hallowitch

The warrant says compliance fee £75 and attendance fee £200


these are the fees charged by magistrate court bailiffs as far i understand you have 21 days from being aware of the fine to send an out of time declaration

Legal Beagles website

personally i would have used The consumer action group web site you will find tomtubby on there bailiffs advice on line is her company but she helps out on the consumer action group web site free of charge