bailiff payment, fees etc

girlycara

ok long story but I had a bailiff visit in relation to an unpaid magistrates court fine for no tv licence. the balance including fees etc is £703. they agreed to do nothing as long as I paid in full by 31st October. I can physically pay it on the 31st, but that and my rent literally equals my income, to within £5, so would leave me very short this month.

the bailiff point blank refused any kind of instalment offer, and said if not paid by 5pm on 31st he will visit to remove goods.

I cant remember how much of this is the fine and how much is fess etc, but I think the fine is £300-£400 ish.


I rang the court to try to pay directly but they refused as its gone to bailiffs.

what can I do? I need to reduce this bill somehow.

girlycara

anyone? what can I do?

MrsSave

I have no experience whatsoever here, but is there a way you can some extra money to help you through the month. If it was me, I'd pay up and get selling to make some extra money. Food wise, do you have a good stock cupboard so would only need to pick up a few basics?

As I said, I have no experience, but I wouldn't have thought you could reduce the bill now. Sorry that I can't be of any more help!

Herbie21

The new regulations (The Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013) that came into effect on 6th April 2014 provide a 'Compliance Stage' where payment proposals can be made.

If a payment proposal is to be made it needs to be outlined within the strict time frame as provided in the Notice of Enforcement. A fee of £75 is applied to the account at this stage.

Trying to set up a payment proposal after the Compliance Stage has ended is more difficult to achieve given that the debt would have been assigned to an individual bailiff and additional fees of £235 would have been applied.

Did you receive the initial Notice of Enforcement and if so....did you contact the bailiff company?

girlycara

thanks, already on it listed loads of stuff on gumtree etc but that isn't guaranteed obviously, got the real basics in but no meat etc. will find a way to cope, even £200 would do me for fuel and food, there fees are £300-£400 which is a real kick in the teeth

girlycara

I think I got the notice of enforcement but I physically had it 3 weeks after it was sent as I was away visiting family (in uk, not an exotic holiday etc) it has been assigned to a specific bailiff and he point blank refuses to negotiate over the phone

girlycara

anyone got any tips? today is D-day, just ahd a text off the bailiff saying if I don't pay by 5pm they will be here at 6pm and further costs etc. I physically have the money but it will leave me, my partner and my 2 year old with under £20 for the rest of the month

[Deleted User]

How long exactly is "the rest of the month"?

By that, I mean, how long till your next pay day?

What absolute essentials, if any, do you have, between now and then?

girlycara

its 1 month, I got paid today as did partner after our rent is paid we have £720ish left, £703 of which they want today by 5pm

[Deleted User]

So to the second part of my question.

What absolute essentials, if any, do you have, between now and then?

Surviving a month, on £20, isn't impossible, provided you have no absolute essentials (eg. bus fares to work) to pay, and you have a decent amount of supplies (primarily food and drink) already in.

Also, doing without meat, won't do you any harm.

Is there anything you can delay paying, until next month?

Regarding the fine, it is a high priority debt, because it could, ultimately, lead to imprisonment.

National_Debtline

Hi girlycara

I'm very uneasy about the idea of your household trying to manage on £20 until next payday. It makes far more sense to me for you to offer perhaps half now and half in a month's time.

Even if you haven't already done a budget of any sort, I suggest you scribble down a list of the expenses you expect to have between now and next payday - i.e. bills, food etc. , so that you can show/announce these to the bailiff as justification for being unable to pay in full. If you haven't already done so, make it very clear that there is a 2 year old dependent child in the property.

Plus, if the fine is only in your name, then strictly speaking it's only you that needs to make an offer.

Do you own a vehicle? Or anything else worth enough to clear the debt and therefore realistically be of interest to the bailiffs? (I'm not talking about your average household appliances and furniture; it's very unlikely that bailiffs are interested in anything like that). Did they make a list or inventory on the previous visit?

Dennis
@natdebtline