Marston Holdings

KimLouise17

Hi all

Please could someone help, apparently i have had a unpaid TV license fine from 2014 which has gone to court and i received a fine, to be honest i vaguely remember this but have suffered from severe anxiety and depression and have spells of just burying my head in the sand and just throwing my post out

today when i got back from the school run and there was a letter from Marston Holdings on behalf of HMCTS West MIDLANDS

saying i owe £650 and this was a final notice and they will be back after 7pm today to collect payment or remove goods.

i phoned the enforcement officer and he came back but stayed outside. He said that he was here to collect £650 if not he sends a removal van out to collect goods, these people will come with a locksmith and the police and come in and take goods, and also said that they will add on another £400 in fees so will be removing goods worth £1000 and that if my stuff wasnt worth that they will just keep coming back when i replace it and take that or i could go to prison!

im terrified, i dont have £650 and i have 6 young children, one only 3 weeks old. i offered a payment plan but this was declined!

please help, what can i do

National_Debtline

Hi Kim

I think the best thing to do first of all is telephone the magistrates court and ask to speak to the Fines Officer. Ask them for a means enquiry where they can look at setting affordable instalments for you.

It's at their discretion whether they take the debt back from the enforcement officer but I think you've got a case due to your anxiety and depression. It isn’t appropriate to use enforcement officers to collect from vulnerable people so while vulnerability isn’t clearly defined I think you should mention the stress this situation is causing you due to your condition.

Legally an enforcement officer collecting a magistrates court fine can force entry but it is extremely rare for that to actually happen. At National Debtline we hear from a lot of people in similar situations and the enforcement officers nearly always say they will force entry but it barely ever happens.

The key thing here is showing willingness to pay so make an offer you can afford and save it up if the court don’t take the debt back and if the enforcement officer will not accept your instalments.

James
@natdebtline