Help needed - bailiffs

surfpam111

came home yesterday to a letter from a company of baliffs that have been instructed by the council giving 14 days notice before they enforce a warrent of execution.

This is in regard to an outstanding parking ticket that I dispute recieving. I had one around the same time as this which i had previously paid e.g if i had recieved the ticket i would have paid. I have also moved house in the mean time.

Do you think the balliffs will accept payment in 2 installments? Also I think I read somewhere that for them to do this it means that a CCJ has been issued. I want to contest the ccj.

How do i go about doing this. also if i pay the balliffs will that affect me appealing the ccj.

Hope someone can help.

Many Thanks
Pam

skanger

I hate to say it, but if you dispute this then you should have attended the court hearing and disputed it there. It's a little bit to late now, as the court have decided you owe this money and issued a summons to collect. The Baliffs are acting on that summons.

You need to contact the council and see what can be done in terms of dispute at this stage.

As for the Baliffs, you have two options.
1. Don't open the door to them, refuse to engage with them, they don't have the power of forced entry so after making lots of noise they will go away, and after trying a few times they will send the distress notice back to the council for further action.
2. Pay the baliffs, and continue the duspute with the council to get your money back.

Moral of the story, if you dispute anything, then you must attend court and defend yourself, failure to attend means that the court will assume you accept the charges.

HTH

surfpam111

I would have gone to court if I had received a summons.

thanks
pam

skanger

Then that's the discussion you need to have with the council / court, although I believe if they can prove you were sent a summons to your 'last known address' then that's enough.

I think you need to apply to the court to have the judgemnt set-aside on the basis that you were not made aware of the hearing and therefore offered no oportunity to submit a defence, which you would have done, therefore the judgement was not issued in accordance with the law blah blah blah.

Best of luck

skanger

Oh, another quick thought. I might be wrong, but I am sure I have read somewhere that 'I didn't recieve a ticket' isn't a defence. You will need to prove that you couldn't have been parked on that street / at that time because you were at x or y. Maybe ask for CCTV footage that proves you wern't there, or proves you were somewhere else.

surfpam111

Hi Thanks for your help.

I phoned the collections company and the guy on the phone was really helpful. It has not got to CCJ level yet so that is one less thing to worry about. and they have offered to let me pay over 10 months with no added interest so quite relived!

many thanks
pam

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

If I Were You I Would Pay The Bailiffs To Stop Any Further Charges, Dispute It After This Has Been Done But You Said You Never Recieved Ticket And Never Recieved Court Papers Etc Some Would Say You Have Had A Lot Of Bad Luck

sonee2405

which bailiffs are they . I had the same prob with Dukes bailiffs and im paying them £20 a week over parking fine dispute.they increased the charge to over £225 just by posting letters . I think there should be some sort of way to claim back bailiffs excessive charges surely it doesnt cost £35 to send a letter

Larumbelle

Not necessarily much use, but fines and council tax do not require a CCJ to send in bailiffs as long as they are certificated.

Skanger's advice on your options are absolutely correct. You have the relative luxury of 14 days notice to decide what action to take or track down the right people to speak to - legally they need only give you 24 hours notice.

I would say go with the payment plan even if you decide to escalate your dispute with the council.

Hope this helps!

caseystar

My husband was in same situation recently, it is very distressing especially as it is so close to xmas. We rang 0800 028 4422. It's a free phone number ( from Landlines) with free advice. They are really great, they helped my husband sort everything out. We still have to pay the debt of course but the bailiffs are out of the picture and it's been back to the courts where he made arrangements to pay at a reduced rate.

Hope you sort this out, good look.

P.s If you cant get rid of bailiffs you can always take your expensive belongings to a friends BEFORE they visit!!