help with marston group

skypixie6

Please help! I had an old water bill from a previous address that I was paying for through a debt management plan, I had to pause my DMP for 3 months after my partner changed jobs and we were receiving less funds, during those 3 months the debt appears to have been moved to 2 seperate debt collectors without notifying me and a CCJ made against me. Its now been passed to the Marston group and over £1000 added to the debt (£340) I received a hand delivered letter from a bailiff ( I was out when it was delivered) basically stating pay up or else, I tried to call the number on the letter but got no answer so left messages which were ignored. I've just received a text message today saying "My officers and removal contractors are coming tomorrow to enforce a warrant on your address". I dont know what that means or how I can stop them, I'm still getting no answer when I call

fatbelly

Stop phoning.

Your water authority has escalated this to High Court and Marstons are acting as High Court Enforcement Officers.

This is becoming a very common practice, particularly in the SWW region though they are using a different HCEO as far as I know.

They are no different from any other bailiff, apart from their fees, which sound excessive. So standard advice is keep doors locked, cars hidden and talk to them through a letterbox or upstairs window if you must.

They cannot force entry on a first visit so, provided you have not previously let them in, their threats are meaningless

Provided you don't encourage them by payment they will make a couple of visits then hand the debt back to the water authority.

You need to check whether a dmp is still the best route for you now things have escalated or whether something like a DRO might work for you. Try National Debtline for advice. They should also be able to check those bailiff fees and advise about a formal complaint to the water authority, as their behaviour sounds excessively aggressive.

Herbie21

skypixie6 wrote: »

The debt appears to have been moved to 2 seperate debt collectors without notifying me and a CCJ made against me.

Its now been passed to the Marston group and over £1000 added to the debt (£340).

The fees that can be charged by a High Court Enforcement Officer are different to those that can legally be charged by an enforcement agent pursuing unpaid council tax, magistrate court fines or road traffic debts.

If fees of over £1,000 have been added, then this would indicate that a 'sale stage' fee has been applied (which in your case, would seem wrong). It would also indicate that two previous visits had taken place.

Unless the debt was a business one and you ran the company from your home address (which again does not apply to you),the enforcement officer cannot use force to gain entry into your property. Therefore, he will be looking at seizing a motor vehicle on the driveway etc. If you do not have a motor vehicle or it is parked away from your home, it would be likely that the warrant will eventually be returned.

As mentioned above, the fees charge do not appear correct. The following page outlines the charges in much more detail.

http://bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/bailiff-fees/high-court-enforcement

skypixie6

Received a letter this morning saying they are coming on the 6th september with removal contractors to take control of goods to satisfy the debt and they are refusing to consider a payment plan. These people are scarey

fatbelly

Yes, precisely. They are relying on scare tactics and they are instructed by their 'client' to do that.

You've had good advice from Herbie. I can't add any more at this stage. But Herbie may be able to if you contact her through that site. At the very least their fees need to be questioned.