Disabled and dealing with the courts

Stressed_Dad

I wanted to post this to see if anyone has been in the same situation as me previously and if i can stop being treated the way i am at the moment by the courts.

In June 2010 I was driving 12 miles over the legal limit on an empty road in Somerset and was flashed by the camera.

At that time i had seperated from my wife and was not receiving all post from my previous home address, one of which was a speeding notification.

Fortunately my wife and I have since resolved our issues and are living together as a family once again.

I have been corresponding with the court via email and advised them why I had not paid the fine was because I was unaware, i advised of change of address and said i could prove this, the response i got was its ok we can check with public records.

A month or two later i received a notification that the cost had now increased 1000% and I now owed £625, i advised court that I was unable to make the hearing to discuss the offence for a number of reasons, I have mobility issues and an undiagnosed neurological condition, one of the symptoms related to this is a poor memory and concentration issues, all of which is backed up with medical records and has been offered to the court.

Add to this my wife and I are trying to care for the in laws, father has Alzheimers and Mother had a recent operation in which she ended up in ICU for three months and is facing a long recovery, this year has been utterly unbelieveable in terms of worry, stress and lack of sleep, we do not know where we are at the moment.

Yesterday I received a letter from a Bailiff giving me 7 days to pay £700 in full or get a visit from one of thier bullies.

Now you would think that in a democratic society that thought would be given by the courts with regards to our extreme circumstances, but I have received an email saying that my case will be reviwed in due course BUT Bailiff action will continue :eek:

Words fail me really, i am being fined £700 for travelling 12 mph over the limit on an empty road and now face the threat of having a bruiser take posessions from me and my family.

No assistance has been offered by the courts to pay an afordable monthly payment because I did not show for a case that I was unaware was hapenning at the time.

So the message I am trying to put across is if you have a similar disabilty to myself and find yourself in the same situation please make sure you have some kind of support from a support worker or your family to ensure that you can remember such issues and have helpe to resolve them as soon as possible.

I have pleaded with the court to remove bailiff action as i have a history of mental health problems and i am worried for my state of mind at the moment and im not able to deal with this very well, all the courts have now said is the case will be reviewed by a legal representative BUT bailiff action WILL continue.

This is the country we live in now it seems, and how no compassion is offered has come as a surprise to me but i do not want to see people in a situation like me health wise have to endure the hell i am going through at the moment.

So i9f you have a disability and are concerned about your debts, do try your very best to get some help as I would not wish for anyone to have to endure what I am going through at the moment.

kingfisherblue

I'm sorry that I have no answer for you, but feel I must comment on one thing - if you have poor concentration, should you be driving?

paddedjohn

Whats your disability got to do with it, you say you have mobility problems but you managed to drive when you comitted the alleged offence. Call the baliffs and make an offer of payment that you can afford.

Stressed_Dad

kingfisherblue wrote: »

I'm sorry that I have no answer for you, but feel I must comment on one thing - if you have poor concentration, should you be driving?

My illness comes in a relapse and remition form, unlike other people I would never dream of driving if I wasnt good enough to meet the standards required on the road on a particular day.

My concentration is affected when I have too many responsibilities to deal with and my brain just shuts down and goes into panic mode.

Stressed_Dad

paddedjohn wrote: »

Whats your disability got to do with it, you say you have mobility problems but you managed to drive when you comitted the alleged offence. Call the baliffs and make an offer of payment that you can afford.

As a compassionate sort of person I foolishly thought that the courts would take into consieration my personal circumstances, not just with my disability but also other events that took place recently that stopped me being able to make the court appearance.

I would have thought that common sense would prevail and as the court have also been made aware of my mental health situation and long history of anxiety that they would consider monthly repayments instead of calling in the bullies that will use all sorts of illegal tactics to cash in on minor offences.

But i need to remind myself that this country talks a good game but more often than not the reality is very different.

With regards to my mobility this is a relapse and remitting illness so some days are ok and some are awful.

The Labour government brought about a scheme where people like me can get about and try to live a normal life where possible, now that Cameron is in power that will now be taken away im pretty sure about that and he ensures his local councils rule with an iron fist, thats the great british democracy for you.

While people get away with fraud and many other serious offencess within government and banks its down to bullying money out of disabled people who drive 12mph over the limit and increase fines by 1000% to punish a disabled person with severe memory problems.

You may find that is perfectly acceptable and that no compassion should be shown for extreme circumstances but I certainly dont and i feel this country is the pits the way things are going.

The courts had two options available to them, accept a low monthly payment offer that I could afford or call in the heavies.....

sunnyone

The courts dont randomly increase fines 1000% as they dont have the power to do this so there is more to this, the courts must act as set down by goverment/law lords but they can send your debts to ballifs if offenders refuse to pay but it normally takes a long time unless there are multipul debts to pay going back years, it even makes the news regularly because so many debts are written off.

Once debts have been sent to ballifs they can increase but normally only after a decent period of time when all letters are being totally ignored so visits are made, each visit is charged for so the debt does then increase.

This has nothing to do with your disability (apart from if you are as bad as you claim does Swansea have full up to date copies of the medical evidence that you have prepared to submit to the courts) you might be better off on the motoring board for the original crime and the debt board on the top section of the boards where they will give you advice on ballifs.

Stressed_Dad wrote: »

I wanted to post this to see if anyone has been in the same situation as me previously and if i can stop being treated the way i am at the moment by the courts.

In June 2010 I was driving 12 miles over the legal limit on an empty road in Somerset and was flashed by the camera.

At that time i had seperated from my wife and was not receiving all post from my previous home address, one of which was a speeding notification.

Fortunately my wife and I have since resolved our issues and are living together as a family once again.

I have been corresponding with the court via email and advised them why I had not paid the fine was because I was unaware, i advised of change of address and said i could prove this, the response i got was its ok we can check with public records.

A month or two later i received a notification that the cost had now increased 1000% and I now owed £625, i advised court that I was unable to make the hearing to discuss the offence for a number of reasons, I have mobility issues and an undiagnosed neurological condition, one of the symptoms related to this is a poor memory and concentration issues, all of which is backed up with medical records and has been offered to the court.

Add to this my wife and I are trying to care for the in laws, father has Alzheimers and Mother had a recent operation in which she ended up in ICU for three months and is facing a long recovery, this year has been utterly unbelieveable in terms of worry, stress and lack of sleep, we do not know where we are at the moment.

Yesterday I received a letter from a Bailiff giving me 7 days to pay £700 in full or get a visit from one of thier bullies.

Now you would think that in a democratic society that thought would be given by the courts with regards to our extreme circumstances, but I have received an email saying that my case will be reviwed in due course BUT Bailiff action will continue :eek:

Words fail me really, i am being fined £700 for travelling 12 mph over the limit on an empty road and now face the threat of having a bruiser take posessions from me and my family.

No assistance has been offered by the courts to pay an afordable monthly payment because I did not show for a case that I was unaware was hapenning at the time.

So the message I am trying to put across is if you have a similar disabilty to myself and find yourself in the same situation please make sure you have some kind of support from a support worker or your family to ensure that you can remember such issues and have helpe to resolve them as soon as possible.

I have pleaded with the court to remove bailiff action as i have a history of mental health problems and i am worried for my state of mind at the moment and im not able to deal with this very well, all the courts have now said is the case will be reviewed by a legal representative BUT bailiff action WILL continue.

This is the country we live in now it seems, and how no compassion is offered has come as a surprise to me but i do not want to see people in a situation like me health wise have to endure the hell i am going through at the moment.

So i9f you have a disability and are concerned about your debts, do try your very best to get some help as I would not wish for anyone to have to endure what I am going through at the moment.

GlasweJen

Your "only" 12mph over the limit could have been the difference between a child living and dying if youd knocked into them, pay up please. These letters come in with big red notices on the front "this is not a circular", "do not ignore", "important documents enclosed" etc. why aren't you blaming your wife for being too vindictive or too stupid to pass them on?

Richie-from-the-Boro

The courts .. .. unable to get you to pay your fine gave the job of collecting the fine to the bailiffs :

- the bailiffs not the courts increased the amount you owe
- the bailiffs will continue to increase the amount you owe each monthly period
- each week you delay it will relentlessly increase
- each phone call / and / or visit by a bailiff will be one more extra charge
- - - example a letter sent to you £15.00
- - - example a phone call to you £15.00
- - - example a visit by an officer of the bailiffs £65 per hour

You are not "" being fined £700 for travelling 12 mph over the limit on an empty road "" you are being penalised because in the 17 months since your original fine you have made not one effort to pay it.

The original £60 fine is now £700.00 and at the end of this month it will be £700.00 + phone calls + letters etc and a one hour only visit from a bailiff will by the end of November have your bill at £820 .. .. s/he will add his / her costs to the £700 and demand immediate verified payment right there and then, or arrange a re-visit with a different vehicle when they will take away goods & chattels to the value what you owe them.

Am I being harsh to you ? - no I am not. I'm telling you that if you do not start to pay this week it will go on and on and on going up until they take away your TV / furniture / clothing etc.

All the advice in the world will not stop the bailiffs taking away goods to the value of, and at 17 months on non-payment even the Pope let alone the CAB will be able to delay the relentlessness and hopelessness of your situation.

Offering to pay £20 a week each and every week and never missing a payment might just might be enough to get the [STRIKE]rottweiler's[/STRIKE] bailiffs off your back.

JamesPeter

Dear Stressed Dad,

Speaking as a magistrate familiar with the process, it would appear that you are saying that you did not receive either the Notice of Intended Prosecution/Fixed Penalty Ticket, nor the form to declare whom was driving the vehicle at the material time of the offence? If you were/are the Reigistered Keeper of the vehicle, why where the DVLA not informed of your updated address (this alone being an absolute offence).

Obviously if you did not substantiate the Fixed Penalty Ticket by following the actions on the ticket, then without doubt a court date would be listed. details of which together with a summons/subpoena if necessary would again have been sent to the address of the registered keeper of the vehicle.

If no response was received from yourself, then the case should be heard in your absence. In light of no defence or financial statement from yourself, as well as the relevant tariff fine, both prosecution costs and Victim Surcharge would be added. The tariff fine would reflect the relative seriousness of the offence, ie travelling 12 miles per hour in excess of a 30mph permitted speed limit carries much harsher tariff fine than 12 miles per hour in excess of a 70mph permitted limit. Hence this is where at least part of the relative increase in what you will have to pay. This again would have been sent to the address of the registered keeper of the vehicle.

Once you have not paid the fine, or offered to pay the fine (including costs and Victim Surcharge) the warrant for non payment of fines would be passed to the court bailiff to enforce. Such charges as laid down in law can at this point be added to the fine, with regard to the enforcement of the non payment of fine warrant.

Should the bailiff not be able to obtain payment from yourself, then it is entirely possible for a warrant to be issued compelling your attendance at court to explain why the relevant fine, costs and Victim Surcharge has not been paid. Note this will not quash the original fine, costs, victims surcharge or bailiffs fees.

As the registered keeper of the vehicle, if you had kept the DVLA informed of your current address, then it would appear that you have received the fixed penalty ticket etc and you would not be in the position you now find yourself in. Sorry but disability, forgetfulness etc does not come into it at this stage. You would have had the chance to explain this in court when the original case was listed. As you failed to appear and it would appear the case proved in your absence then your chance to have your 'say' in court in relation to the fine has been forfeited.

JP

paddedjohn

JamesPeter wrote: »

Dear Stressed Dad,

Speaking as a magistrate familiar with the process, it would appear that you are saying that you did not receive either the Notice of Intended Prosecution/Fixed Penalty Ticket, nor the form to declare whom was driving the vehicle at the material time of the offence? If you were/are the Reigistered Keeper of the vehicle, why where the DVLA not informed of your updated address (this alone being an absolute offence).

Obviously if you did not substantiate the Fixed Penalty Ticket by following the actions on the ticket, then without doubt a court date would be listed. details of which together with a summons/subpoena if necessary would again have been sent to the address of the registered keeper of the vehicle.

If no response was received from yourself, then the case should be heard in your absence. In light of no defence or financial statement from yourself, as well as the relevant tariff fine, both prosecution costs and Victim Surcharge would be added. The tariff fine would reflect the relative seriousness of the offence, ie travelling 12 miles per hour in excess of a 30mph permitted speed limit carries much harsher tariff fine than 12 miles per hour in excess of a 70mph permitted limit. Hence this is where at least part of the relative increase in what you will have to pay. This again would have been sent to the address of the registered keeper of the vehicle.

Once you have not paid the fine, or offered to pay the fine (including costs and Victim Surcharge) the warrant for non payment of fines would be passed to the court bailiff to enforce. Such charges as laid down in law can at this point be added to the fine, with regard to the enforcement of the non payment of fine warrant.

Should the bailiff not be able to obtain payment from yourself, then it is entirely possible for a warrant to be issued compelling your attendance at court to explain why the relevant fine, costs and Victim Surcharge has not been paid. Note this will not quash the original fine, costs, victims surcharge or bailiffs fees.

As the registered keeper of the vehicle, if you had kept the DVLA informed of your current address, then it would appear that you have received the fixed penalty ticket etc and you would not be in the position you now find yourself in. Sorry but disability, forgetfulness etc does not come into it at this stage. You would have had the chance to explain this in court when the original case was listed. As you failed to appear and it would appear the case proved in your absence then your chance to have your 'say' in court in relation to the fine has been forfeited.

JP

Very well explained, hope you are still reading op.

Richie-from-the-Boro

- the O/P hasn't logged on since the #5 post [ Yesterday 4:31 PM ] anything posted since has not been read.