help! i dont know what to do!

eiscosogin

Hi guys I'm new to this forum, signed up after receiving a worrying letter from a bailliff company.

A few years ago I used to travel frequently on the Tyne and wear metro system without a ticket, clocked up loads of fines through the magistrates court and just kind of avoided them with being on benefits at the time. (Not cool, I know)

The letter states the bailliffs have a magistrates court order that says they can enter my home to collect goods if payment of the full amount of just over £1,000 is not made within 7 days. I live at my parents house currently so first of all, would it be legal for them to force entry, and secondly, would they be able to take items which belong to my family?

I do work now and obviously I knew the day was coming where it'd all catch up with me, so what better time to resolve it than now? I certainly don't have the full amount to have so does anyone know the best way to get them off my back in the short term? A very angry dad woke me up this morning and it keeps happening they may kick me out.

What's the best way to make them stop sending angry letters and appearing at the home in the short term? And in the ling term, what's the best way to negotiate an affordable payment plan.

Any advice or support anyone can offer will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time guys.

wannabe_credit_free

Cab, Stepchange asap, as time is fast running out. These organisations will help you to set up a repayment plan..

eiscosogin

Called stepchange this morning they've made a phone appointment for me on Saturday with a debt advisor. Does anyone know of anything I can do in the meantime? I don't get paid until Friday.

FireWyrm

Bailiffs cannot force entry, they can only knock and walk in through open doors. They can levy against anything that they believe is yours, such as a car, but cannot levy against 'tools of the trade' if you are self employed. They cannot levy against anything that doesnt belong to you, and all your parents need do is tell them that the house doesnt belong to you and nothing other than your clothes do. In the meantime, you need to find out the exact amount of the debt and also research possible charges that bailiffs can attach to the debt (which they are allowed to do, but only within reason). StepChange are your best option here, but payment plans for debts owed to the court are sometimes difficult to arrange if it has gone to the bailiff already. I suggest you start thinking about how best to arrange to pay in full - even if it means a little hardship over the next few months. Have you spoken to your parents about a possible rent decrease, or use the rent money full stop?

When_the_going_gets_tough

Op get some specialist advice about the powers of bailiffs - magistrates court fines have a different process and wider powers than a CC judgement.

National_Debtline

FireWyrm wrote: »

Bailiffs cannot force entry, they can only knock and walk in through open doors.

This is true for the majority of bailiffs. Magistrates' court bailiffs, however, *do* have the power to force entry although this power is rarely exercised. From what I understand it has only been used a handful of times when it has been a proportionate response to take, given the circumstances.

It may be possible to negotiate affordable instalments with the bailiff although for a fine it can be a difficult thing to get sorted. It's always best to negotiate in writing, and always send a copy of your income and expenditure to show that the offer of payment is a fair and reasonable.

We've a useful fact sheet covering magistrates' court fines and bailiffs, you can find it here:

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/13%20EW%20Magistrates%27%20court%20fines/Default.aspx

Best wishes,

David @ NDL.

GuttedTBH

FireWyrm wrote: »

Bailiffs cannot force entry, they can only knock and walk in through open doors. They can levy against anything that they believe is yours, such as a car, but cannot levy against 'tools of the trade' if you are self employed. They cannot levy against anything that doesnt belong to you, and all your parents need do is tell them that the house doesnt belong to you and nothing other than your clothes do. In the meantime, you need to find out the exact amount of the debt and also research possible charges that bailiffs can attach to the debt (which they are allowed to do, but only within reason). StepChange are your best option here, but payment plans for debts owed to the court are sometimes difficult to arrange if it has gone to the bailiff already. I suggest you start thinking about how best to arrange to pay in full - even if it means a little hardship over the next few months. Have you spoken to your parents about a possible rent decrease, or use the rent money full stop?

Not true in the case of court baliffs collecting unpaid fines I'm afraid. They can and will force entry, although usually only as a last resort.

Get this sorted ASAP.

FireWyrm

GuttedTBH wrote: »

Not true in the case of court baliffs collecting unpaid fines I'm afraid. They can and will force entry, although usually only as a last resort.

Get this sorted ASAP.

https://www.gov.uk/your-rights-bailiffs

Bailiffs are allowed to force their way into your home to collect unpaid criminal fines, Income Tax or Stamp Duty, but only as a last resort.

a) this isnt a criminal fine
b) this isnt his house
c) last resort would be after many many visits and if the debtor clearly has no intention what-so-ever of ever paying the fine.

http://legalbeagles.info/magistrates-courts-fines/

Forced Entry
One of the most common worries about bailiffs is the claim they can force entry. With a Magistrates’ Court fine, if the bailiff is pursuing you for an unpaid fine for a criminal offence they do have the right to force entry. Usually this is used as a threat, but in these circumstances, the threat should never be taken lightly. The rules only apply to the Magistrates’ Court though, they do not cover things such as unpaid council tax, unpaid business rates, CSA arrears, parking fines and congestion charges and others.

This is a metro rail fine.

I agree is it possible, but so is being struck by lightening. If they did, as the legal owners of the house are his parents, they would be on very dodgy ground. We all know Bailiffs do what they want, but even they wouldnt be stupid enough to force entry into a house that clearly doesnt belong to the debtor.

The OP clearly needs to deal with this immediately and as a priority above all other things, agreed.

eiscosogin

Spoke to citizens advice bureaux today, followed their advice to contact the court to request a means enquiry hearing. Because there is a smaller, less serious fine for me which isn't escalated to the bailliffs they've took the big one back from the bailliffs and set up a repayment schedule.

Lucky escape there I think, good opportunity to get rid of it with as little hassle as possible. Thanks your pointing me in the right direction guys and good luck with your own endeavours.

National_Debtline

FireWyrm wrote: »

this isnt a criminal fine

The OP mentions that the bailiff has been instructed by the magistrates' court. Given that information it *could* be that a fine has been generated via the criminal, rather than the civil system via a prosecution based around travelling with the intention of avoiding paying the fare.

Generally speaking, penalties are enforced via the civil court. For there to be a criminal prosecution in the magistrates' court there would need to be sufficient evidence for fare evasion.

There's some useful information via the CAB Advice Guide site: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/travel_leisure_and_food_e/consumer_transport_e/consumer_public_transport_e/consumer_if_you_are_taken_to_court_e/if_youre_taken_to_court_for_avoiding_paying_a_fare.htm

All that said, I agree as regards the bailiff. It would be very unlikely for forced entry to take place.

David.

National_Debtline

eiscosogin wrote: »

Spoke to citizens advice bureaux today, followed their advice to contact the court to request a means enquiry hearing. Because there is a smaller, less serious fine for me which isn't escalated to the bailliffs they've took the big one back from the bailliffs and set up a repayment schedule.

Lucky escape there I think, good opportunity to get rid of it with as little hassle as possible. Thanks your pointing me in the right direction guys and good luck with your own endeavours.

That's a great result.

Best wishes,

David.