bailiffs due to a fine i didnt know about.

ashley.lawless

I had a fine for an unpaid metrolink ticket back in 2010. I had never received the fine nor any of the other letters they had supposedly sent. I had no knowledge of this matter up until the bailiffs where knocking on my door. Which they demanded I pay the sum of £550 there and then otherwise they were taking my stuff from my home. They said I had to pay as the lock smith and the van were enroute already and stated I had 45 minutes until they arrived to make the payment.

They had shown no I.D. nor any proof of the fine details, just the warrent they had been given. I'm sure this is comes under the law "obtaining money by deception" due to the way they handled the matter.

The fine itself was £250 and they added on the other £300 for there costs and a £1 charge for the card payment. I seen online that they aren't allowed to charge more than the fine, is the correct?

So my question is this.

Would it be beneficial for me to reopen the case under section 14 of the magistrates act 1980. Or my other option is to do a charge back and pay the court direct? What can I do?

McKneff

Did you not even realise in 2010 about the fine and the first time yo had any knowledge of anything was when the bailiffs turned up.

ashley.lawless

As I had moved house before the fine came through. And no I didn't know until the bailiffs was at my door.

lincroft1710

Bailiffs cannot force entry into your house. A phrase such as "The locksmith is on his way" suggests a firm of debt collectors trying to flout the law.

McKneff

But did you know at the time of the 'offence' that you had done something wrong and were going to get a fine

Did you set up a redirection of post at thepost office.

ashley.lawless

I knew I was getting a fine. And no I didn't redirect my mail. If you search on google. Section 14 of the magistrates court act 1980. It states if the judgement was done with out you knowledge you can have the case reopened.

I know the bailiffs can't force entry. But the way they handled it suggests they obtained a money transfer by deception, which is a criminal offence. By saying the lock smith is on his way and that I had to pay the money there and then.

McKneff

So you knew you were getting a fine, and did absolutely nothing about it.

I'm out. .....

ILW

Why did you not get your mail redirected?

Wywth

ashley.lawless wrote: »

I had a fine for an unpaid metrolink ticket back in 2010. I had never received the fine nor any of the other letters they had supposedly sent. I had no knowledge of this matter up until the bailiffs where knocking on my door. Which they demanded I pay the sum of £550 there and then otherwise they were taking my stuff from my home. They said I had to pay as the lock smith and the van were enroute already and stated I had 45 minutes until they arrived to make the payment.

They had shown no I.D. nor any proof of the fine details, just the warrent they had been given. I'm sure this is comes under the law "obtaining money by deception" due to the way they handled the matter.

The fine itself was £250 and they added on the other £300 for there costs and a £1 charge for the card payment. I seen online that they aren't allowed to charge more than the fine, is the correct?

So my question is this.

Would it be beneficial for me to reopen the case under section 14 of the magistrates act 1980. Or my other option is to do a charge back and pay the court direct? What can I do?

So the bill was £550 in total?

Crikey, you could have paid for a lot of metrolink tickets with that.

If nothing else, I hope you learn from this expensive lesson.

Wywth

ILW wrote: »

Why did you not get your mail redirected?

I suspect the OP was hoping to avoid the fine.

Well they managed it for 3 years ... :cool:

... and they are still whinging

spacey2012

You fell for the oldest trick in the book, a locksmith can only open a lock, they can not break and enter, this is one ever existed in the first place, which I doubt .