Collectica - No way out!

Missdonnamarie

Good morning all...

Firstly apologies that this may be long,I would appreciate anyone who had the time to read and help me out in this situation.

I have an ongoing issue with 'Collectica' I will explain below.

Originally I had to attend court due to no TV licence,I was ordered to pay £6 a week by the court which at the time I was very happy to do, I knew i was in the wrong for having no TV licence. I made a number of payments but then everything got on top of me and I buried my head in the sand and stopped paying as I was finding it hard to keep a float.I have 2 children and am currently job seeking - I cannot remember the last time I went food shopping! things are just so tight.

I then had a letter from Collectica to say that they had taken over the debt I rang them to arrange a payment plan which was set at £12 a week - again I paid this for a while and then stopped because things got tight.I received another letter from Collectica stating that I now owed £441.00 - I rang to ask why it had jumped so much and they told me that someone had been out to my property - I asked them for more information on this as I was not aware and had no proof that someone had been out but they would not give me any information.

Between then (about 6 months ago) and now I had another person visit my house, this time i was home we made an agreement at the door that the door that he would come back the following Thursday to collect £30 off me and I would continue to pay £30 every week.... He didn't turn up! ... I then left it again, the stubbornness in me thought 'well if they can't be bothered to turn up then i am not paying' I found out the hard way that it's only me that loses out on that theory.

Again, another lady came out and was very friendly - I explained all to her and she was quite understanding and said that the previous person that came out should have left me with a 'Notice of attendance' and made notes which he never so now it's my word against there's that he came out.

Don't get me wrong I have not been entirely ignorant about the situation I have called Collectica so many times but they are very very rude, un-interested, Blunt and they do not give you chance to speak or come to a mutual arrangement. There have been many times that I have come off the phone crying because they are so nasty! - This is the sort of thing that makes me bury my head in the sand.

You can't even speak to a manager to complain about the service although it says you can on the back of their letter - the agent will do EVERYTHING possible to not pass you onto a manager by telling you to write in etc. I've never dealt with such a horrible company.

This morning (09/10/13) I had a very loud and blunt knock at the door at 7.20am (is that allowed???) ..I didn't answer as I was in bed - they knocked 3 times I thought it could only be them which gave me more reason not to get out of bed.They posted a notice of attendance through my door.I thought enough is enough - I called them to try and set up an arrangement I was even happy to try and pay them £100 a month but they totally refused and told me I would have to pay £240 before they would set up an arrangement.
I would never have this money in one go so they told me to pay voluntary payments but this does not stop any action as apparantly there is a distress warrant issued.

Question: I read this morning that if I pay directly to the court the amount I was originally fined for does that this would cancel the distress warrant as it would just leave Collectica's 'fee's' and would they still be able to enforce the bailiffs to collect their fee's?? Is this true

I really don't know where to go from here - I feel like they own me! it's awful

please help.

vassa

Make an offer of payment, and make it something you CAN afford. If you're on JSA (which i'm assuming) then you can't pay £100 a month unless you have savings.

Offer to pay something which reflects your circumstances, and tell them to take it or leave it. If they take you to court, there is proof that you've offered payment and it was refused.

Do this in WRITING. Do NOT speak to them at the door, do NOT speak to them on the phone, everything in writing.

For example, if you have £4 spare each month then offer them that, do not offer what you cannot afford. A judge will take a dim view of them refusing your offer.

Also, you're not in the wrong for not paying your TV licence, Capita (the company umbrella which owns 'Tv Licensing') tell you you're in the wrong but you're not. Did you sign an agreement to admit that you were watching without a licence? I take it you did as it's been to court?

So, you write to them, asking for a stoppage on any interest as you cannot sustain that, and that your circumstances have changed since the original agreement and you can only afford £X amount. Then, ignore everything that isn't acceptance or a court summons, because they will try to scare you with letters and knocking, but in reality they have no power, only a judge can order you to pay a certain amount. I don't know how it'd go with not paying the £6 the court ordered you to, but if it was me i'd be trying to get it back into court, carrying a copy of my bank account and monthly budget, to renegotiate the payment with a judge. If you've already offered reasonable payment prior to court then the judge will be more lenient.

Also, sell your TV. You'll get money for it and your kids won't get brainwashed whilst sat in their own living room.

vassa

And tvlicenceresistance is a good forum to visit.

Missdonnamarie

Thanks Vassa.

I would try and get it back to court because court was a lot better than dealing with these vile creatures but I do not have the knowledge of how to do that. I offered £100 a month because I could leave paying some of my other not so important bills just to get this cleared over 4 months.

vassa

Missdonnamarie wrote: »

Thanks Vassa.

I would try and get it back to court because court was a lot better than dealing with these vile creatures but I do not have the knowledge of how to do that. I offered £100 a month because I could leave paying some of my other not so important bills just to get this cleared over 4 months.

Don't do that. You need to educate yourself - there are laws in place to prevent them scaremongering you like this, but you have to know how to use them to your advantage. So for instance, they're not allowed to fine you before court, as there's a law which has never been repealed that says 'all fine and forfeiture before court action are null and void' or something to that effect. Basically, the only way they can actually fine you legally is to get it rubber stamped by a judge, and they do that by taking you to court, where you must be given the opportunity to defend yourself. If they say 'YOU NOW OWE US £70 on top' or whatever, they cannot do ANYTHING to you without the say so of a judge. The way they get their payments without court is by scaring you into paying, by sending nasty letter with big bold red writing on them, and by having some bully bang on your door when you're in bed.

Pay all your other payments as normal, and get in touch with the court regarding your original £6 order and the company who are chasing you for money.

Offer what you can afford in WRITING, and if they reject this and claim court action will be forthcoming then ignore it and go to court when you're summonsed and take your evidence with you, including all incomings and outgoings. You'll then be made to pay what you can afford.

You need advice on the law, and I would advise going to get out of debt free, but getting past the freemen and getting some actual practical advice on the law is difficult.

It's also hard to know what the situation is before anyone's read/understands what the current order from court was. Try writing to the person dealing with that and explaining the situation.

dancingfairy

Not sure which court deals with tv licensing - is it county court or magistrates? I believe that either has procedures for making payment plans.
Definitely if it is in the county court you can apply for a variation order and can vary the amount (ie to pay in installments).
I'm not sure but the fees might also be wrong.
df
Edit: It appears tv licences are dealt with in the magistrates court. Read this very helpful factsheet from National Debtline: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=13_magistrates_court_fines

vassa

dancingfairy's probably got it right, I've never been to court over that so I don't know what paperwork you've got...but as I said, although they can send you whatever papers they want threatening charges, they are unenforceable (ie there's ZERO they can do to MAKE you pay) before it's been to a court. If your court order says they can do it then i'm not sure, but if you're being told to pay more than a court has ordered then i'd try to get in touch with the court to explain the situation.

Also, make sure you sell your TV, it'll be the best thing you've ever done.

hallowitch

Do you remember if you received a further steps notice from the court before Collectica turned up at your door you should have

a distress warrant for a magistrate court fine lasts 180 days (6 months)

I think you can go to court and ask for a means test (will dig around and see what I can find out if in right on that) and get the fine deducted from your benefits

bailiff fees for a magistrate court fine are £85 letter fee and £215 visit fee

Missdonnamarie

Firstly, I'm really not going to sell my TV I don't know why you assume that kids get brainwashed?! it's a bit of an unfair comment as I was asking for help with my debt situation not my lifestyle.
Plus I am renting my TV and am tied into a contract which I pay.I relax watching my TV I honestly could not imagine a house without a TV so that's a no go.
They said that they have issued me with a further steps notice but i think all i have received is a notice of attendance.They do lie alot about things! so if they say they have done something how can i compete against it? I will dig out all my paper work now and get back to you with ore clearer information.

Missdonnamarie

Firstly, I'm really not going to sell my TV I don't know why you assume that kids get brainwashed?! it's a bit of an unfair comment as I was asking for help with my debt situation not my lifestyle.
Plus I am renting my TV and am tied into a contract which I pay.I relax watching my TV I honestly could not imagine a house without a TV so that's a no go.
They said that they have issued me with a further steps notice but i think all i have received is a notice of attendance.They do lie alot about things! so if they say they have done something how can i compete against it? I will dig out all my paper work now and get back to you with ore clearer information.

Missdonnamarie

OK the paperwork I have is:
26/06/2013 A TV licensing Record of Interview (this is when they came to my door)
23/01/2013 Notice of fine and collection order from Magistrates Court for £141.
22/03/2013 I then attended court and agreed to pay £12 per week .
26/07/2013 : Notice of Attendance from Collectica
09/10/2013: Notice of Attendance from Collectica

That's is all the paperwork I have ever had.