Enforcement agents advice

tommytynan123

Parking penalty charge (council) caught up with son (moved house twice) via Marstons who visited old address. New owner knows son and gave him the Final Notice (removing goods) dated 1/12/15. £392 and son knows he has little choice but pay. Son now lives at home. Phoned agent and offered whole amount on Dec 23rd (pay day) – agent happy. Gave agent new address. Discussed with me and realised he couldn't pay all on 23rd so phoned back to offer £200 on 23rd and remainder on Jan 18th. Agent said no because he (agent) had already told the magistrates court that whole amount would be on 23rd.
I have a vulnerable person at my home and any bang on door could cause massive anxiety if I'm not here. Son and I have emailed Marstons twice and written twice (recorded) to revise offer and insist on no calls at house without first contacting me. No replies as yet. Son has phoned Magistrates and County court and both have no record of a court case. So:
1. I'm guessing the agent is acting for Council not following a court case. Notice has client as ''Cornwall Council'' and does not, surprisingly, have any address for son.
2. If not a court case then agent is lying about ''Mags court'' and, I believe, Mags court don't do parking fines.
3. If not a court case then agent can't remove or threaten to remove goods. (with no address on Notice – from where?)

My plan is:
a. Get son to phone again and repeat the offer of £200 / £192
b. Ask agent for the court reference or copy of court order
c. Write again to Head Office and tell them the payment arrangements then pay £200 on 23rd direct to Head Office not over phone to the agent.

Any more advice please.

National_Debtline

Hi Tommy


What your son has appears to be a Penalty Charge Notice, in which case it is nothing whatsoever to do with the magistrates court. It's a civil penalty as opposed to a criminal one and it will have been issued via the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton. It's enforced in a similar way to the county court judgments that are mostly handled by Northampton, but it won't appear on your son's credit file nor it will be on his local county court's radar.


Whether he speaks again with the agent or not, he should go ahead and make the proposed payment come the 23rd, whether to Head Office or indeed at www.marstongroup.co.uk using the reference number that should appear on any paperwork given him by the agent.


It looks like you have already made Marston aware by email of the distress that a visit could cause - just ensure that you keep a copy of the relevant email(s) as they will be useful in the event that any complaints are necessary.


In the event that this agent does visit, please do not let them in under any circumstances. If your son owns a car, he should ensure it is not identifiable to the agent if and when they visit.


You may find our fact sheet on parking penalties of use:


https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/33%20EW%20Penalty%20charge%20notices%20(PCNs)%20for%20parking/Default.aspx


I hope that helps but I'm here for a couple of hours this evening if you need to know more.


Dennis
@natdebtline

tommytynan123

Hi
Thanks. So the matter of a parking penalty charge in Cornwall is handled by a central parking place in Northampton and, in effect, is a county court 'procedure'.
He has phoned the council who told him to deal with Marstons not them. Can he phone the Northampton office to arrange instalments?
If he pays the £200 on 23rd what can Marstons do then? Of course all the documentation is linked to his address at the time not where he lives now. Should the final notice have an address?
Thanks

tommytynan123

Hi all
If Marstons are dragging their heels wrt a ''split over 2 months'' deal can I contact the Northampton centre and agree with them?
Thanks

National_Debtline

Hi again Tommy, sorry I wasn't able to reply sooner.


There's no point contacting Northampton - they simply process the paperwork prior to the bailiff becoming involved and they won't be able to deal with any queries relating to this matter. As advised above, your son should make payments via the Marston Group website. The bailiffs may still decide to visit, as they could argue that he has defaulted on his original proposal to pay in full, but I don't think there's anything to gain by second-guessing them at this stage.


The agents can call at any address where they believe they may find the debtor. It doesn't need to correspond to the address on the enforcement notice if that is out of date.


Dennis
@natdebtline

tommytynan123

Thanks. Very helpful. I'll pay the £200 on 23rd and, luckily, I'm home from then until 4 Jan so no worries with visits. I'll post how it goes for others to see.
Best wishes

tommytynan123

tommytynan123 wrote: »

Thanks. Very helpful. I'll pay the £200 on 23rd and, luckily, I'm home from then until 4 Jan so no worries with visits. I'll post how it goes for others to see.
Best wishes

I've been trying by letter (recorded) and email to get this DCA to accept 2 payments - can't get a written reply. Now its ''leave it'' time and pay the £200 on the date specified. If I pay via on-line system or by phoning the payment desk can they refuse to accept the payment as its not the full amount? I may well pay the 1st sum 2 days early because its not 'late' until midnight on the 23rd.
Thanks

National_Debtline

Hi again Tommy


You'll have proof that you emailed them in an attempt to get the offer accepted, so I would agree that there's nothing more to be done on that score.


All being normal you ought to be able to make a part payment via the relevant links on the Marston website. If you're in a position to make the payment early then by all means do so - that way, if there any problems it gives you time to try paying by another method.


Ultimately though it would make little sense for them to reject a payment proffered by you - they are in the business of recovering money, so refusing to cash a part payment would go against that aim.


Let us know if the online payment bounces back for any reason.


Dennis
@natdebtline

tommytynan123

Thanks Dennis. Its now just onwards and see how we go. I'll let you all know how it pans out. The one positive is that son will not ignore a PCN again - I'm not giving him one penny towards this one.

tiger305

Thought I would wind this one up. 23rd came and we couldn't pay on-line (technical snag) so phoned pay line. Offered the £200 to be told ''the balance is only £157'' Son verified again that it was the correct account linked to a PCN for car reg XXX XXX. ''Yes'' they said and so he paid the £157. Have now received an email receipt stating that the account is fully paid and filed. Very odd indeed!!
Guessing either:
1. Mistake or
2. Agents figure on the final notice has some artistic licence.
Either way - fully paid with receipt. Win some / lose some!