Collectica notice of Enforcement for Magistrate Fin

frankiemoobear

Hi,

I've started a new thread due to confusion.

Here goes.....My head was up my a** for a while during this period so please don't judge I'm just looking for advice on what collectica can/cant do next.

I received 2 magistrate fines last year - one for tv license and one for thinking my broken down car only had to be taxed outside my house (i'd swapped the insurance onto a new vehicle and was landed with the driving with no insurance fine even though it wasn't drivable).

At the time payment deductions were been deducted from my benefits. I also managed to sort myself out and take out a DRO. I'm now discharged and due to my paperwork from Step Change including the TV licence fine I thought that was included however I know now it can't have been.

In January after been out of work for 5 years I managed to get myself back into a good part time job. Obviously my benefits stopped so too did the deductions for these fines. I didn't have any paperwork and in all honestly pretty much forgot about the fines or stupidly figured they'd send me something to advise the deductions had stopped.

In March I was in court after a bouncer tried to grope me in a nightclub and I basically hit him. The court hearing was set to the first day of a new job I was starting and they refused to change it. Right or wrong I chose to go to work thinking that i'd be far more out of pocket if I lost my job so sent a letter into the court explaining what had happened and why I was not there. I was found guilty in my absence and a warrant was issued so I handed myself in.

I was fined £400. I had never been in a courtroom before and did not qualify for legal aid at the time so I agreed to pay £200 at the end of the month and £200 the following month. I literally just wanted to get out of there.

The first payment of £200 was made. Then I phoned the court and explained i'd agreed to more than I could really afford due to panick and asked if I could pay £50.00 per month. This was verbally agreed.

In May I received a letter from the South Yorkshire Enforcement Unit. This was a notice of consolidation. It listed all m fines and the balance and advised future payments be made to a new account number.

My payments continued. I have made regular timely payments since March totalling £560.00.

That notice of consolidation was the last piece of correspondence I received from the courts so I had been regularly making the £50 per month payment with no idea they obviously didn't feel it was acceptable.

Last week I then received a notice of enforcement from a company called Collectica. The balance of £883.50 has now jumped up £75 as I understand is correct for their fees, although I can't really understand why it has been passed to them.

Straight away I called them up. I explained I had been making regular payments for 6 months and asked if I could continue this. This was refused. He told me unless I paid half the amount I could not agree a payment plan. I explained this was impossible and that since my DRO I live on a very carefully planned budget and only live within my means. I also explained that fully understood the debt was mine to pay, that I had no other debts so this was of course my priority however I see no point in solving one problem to inevitably cause another because that's what got me in a mess in the first place. I simply stood my ground. Chris advised me that if I didn't pay the amount an enforcement agent would visit my house and take goods to the value.......I told him this seemed ludicrous. That would basically mean that the payments I had made every month would have been for nothing. Had I not paid them and put them to one side I could almost have afforded the initial payment he was asking for hence leading to an agreement on a payment plan without incurring further charges.

At no point have I tried to dispute this debt is mine. It is and I will pay it, I'm not trying to get out of it I simply cannot afford to pay what he is asking for. I also doubt he could fine the value of what I owe in goods in my house. I have a super old lap top and my son has a 3 year old ps4 that he got for xmas. My t.v's are certainly not new, large or modern. I cannot afford luxuries at the moment. All I have is the car my mum bought me so that I can take my kids to school and get to work on time. I certainly do not want them to take this.

My biggest worry is that they will take my car or add further charges onto this debt. That will just take me back to square one and I desperately don't want to go back there. I'm starting to think i'd have been better off staying on benefits and what kind of thinking is that.

Can anyone please take the time to advise me of what would be the best thing to do. What can/cant the enforcement agent do if he comes to my house. Will they already know I have a car and the Reg so that they can look for it if I park it somewhere else?

Many Thanks

sourcrates

Hi,

There are certain situations where bailiffs can force entry, including: Collecting unpaid fines: As a last resort they can force entry, whether they have been in your home before or not, if they have a Magistrates Court warrant.

It does depend on the type of fine they are collecting.

My suggestion would be to contact National Debtline and run your situation past them, also try posting on Legal Beagles for advice, they are more geared up on the legal side of things.

You have to remember, that despite what they might say, its money they are after, they don't want to be removing goods, as long as you don't have 3 lost Picasso`s on the front room wall, as its time consuming and costly, and second hand goods never return what they are worth.

Keep offering the payment you can afford, and eventually they will accept it when they know nothing else is forthcoming.