Letters from Enforcement Officers and what to do about them

Lemon__Head

Enforcement Offices
_____________________

I'm  seeking help and advice
IM sure this has happened to many people now its happened to me...
A big white letter appears through my door. Its from the Magistrates court. 

In bold  are numbers, numbers no- one ever wants to see- £1014.00..."as you have failed to make payment..."
I don't remember there being any previous warning letters. 
The letter is stark- demanding payment or the right to take action but of course fails to specify why I'm being asked to pay this amount. I  have 10 working days. Those days pass and ...

Then a blue letter comes- CDER group. its intent on intimidation. ENFORCEMENT. 
Below are again those grievous numbers £1014.00 and  below these are confusing words;
           "HMCTS Financial Imposition- Warrant of control"
ah they are a debt collection agency . 

It warns that if i do not pay by 30/10/2025 then an enforcement agent can visit my property and seize my belongings. 
Well i know what a baliff is and i know they have no jurisdiction to enter private premeses but this is a new word ....enforcement agent..?! what in the dickens is one of those. Sounds very Matrix to me. 

apparently google says: 'An Enforcement Agent is a person authorised to enforce payment of certain debts, either a court official or employed by a private firm, who can demand payment or seize and sell belongings to raise funds, with powers granted by law (Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007) and issued warrants or liability orders.'

I wouldn't care as i don't own much and take the opinion that they can take me to court if they want, however... one small problem...im temporarily living  with my parents and i'm worried that any lack of action could cause them to loose their possession's. 

I am one that picks my battles. I have had fines that have no legal standing and i haven't settled them. I ignore threats from companies who have no legs. BUT I feel its different this time as i'm playing with someone whose given me a division code, case ref and the case has been handed to a court.

The questions in my mind are.. am i in a place to appeal? Am i legally bound to pay my dues? Do i have a legal right to know where this fine came from before it was passed to a court then a debt collection agency?

they want attention- do i give it to them? 

Pictures of the two  letters are attached. Hope you can read landscape :'I

Any advice,  knowledge of legal grounds, or appeals welcome  

RAS

I'd start by ringing the Cambridge HMCTS office, tell them you don't recall any previous letters about this and are in temporary accommodation. Ask what it's about. 

GardenBirdWatcher

Were you living with your parents in the first half of this year or were you at another address?

At a guess, I would say that this probably relates to either unpaid council tax, TV license or an unpaid fine from a motoring offence (unless it relates to one of the more serious matters HMCTS deals with). So you would have numerous letters leading up to the hearing in June, plus notification of the outcome of the hearing. You're going to have a hard job convincing the court that you have no idea what this is about unless all of the previous correspondence went to an old address and they only found out where you were living in September.

fatbelly

Enforcement agent is the new name for bailiff

Bailiffs enforcing a criminal fine fromvthe Magistrates Court DO have the right to force entry on a first visit. Again a new bit of legislation though it does date back a few years now. Having said that, they are supposed to use that right proportionately

Find out what this is as RAS suggests. It's not council tax, and TV licences I thought were dealt with at Weymouth. But it's something.

How you then deal with it depends on your circumstances. I have had good results with people of little means by requesting a means hearing as is mentioned in this fact sheet

https://nationaldebtline.org/get-information/guides/magistrates-court-fines-ew/

Lemon__Head

GardenBirdWatcher said:

Were you living with your parents in the first half of this year or were you at another address?

At a guess, I would say that this probably relates to either unpaid council tax, TV license or an unpaid fine from a motoring offence (unless it relates to one of the more serious matters HMCTS deals with). So you would have numerous letters leading up to the hearing in June, plus notification of the outcome of the hearing. You're going to have a hard job convincing the court that you have no idea what this is about unless all of the previous correspondence went to an old address and they only found out where you were living in September.

good advice. I found out what it was about today. Its a driving offence; 'Failure to comply with traffic sign- red light'.
I rang HMCTS, The speeding law solicitors and CDER group enforcement. Apparently the prosecutors had sent letters to an old address before i got the enforcement letters, i was being sent my old letters by my old house mates and none were to do with the fine. I also moved and didnt get any letters there either. the first knowledge i had was the enforcement letters. 

I've in the process of  a Statutory Declaration although i dont know what good it will do and i am worried that in the meanwhile the Baliffs can decide to not Pospone the warrant and still turn up. and yeah im worried about force entry and seizing of  possesion that are my parents not mine. can that happen? i read it can take 6 months for a SD to be approved- I wonder if i should choose to set up payment but its a lot of money?  AND then there are details in the conviction that don't add up -  the conviction date is when my van was SORN on a private driveway. And because i haven't seen the letters that i assume would have the proof of the conviction on  i dont want to pay for something that might be un-just.  But if i appeal i fear i  run the risk of the baliffs turning up and having to pay the fine, and my parents loosing possessions . Any thoughts? 

Lemon__Head

fatbelly said:

Enforcement agent is the new name for bailiff

Bailiffs enforcing a criminal fine fromvthe Magistrates Court DO have the right to force entry on a first visit. Again a new bit of legislation though it does date back a few years now. Having said that, they are supposed to use that right proportionately

Find out what this is as RAS suggests. It's not council tax, and TV licences I thought were dealt with at Weymouth. But it's something.

How you then deal with it depends on your circumstances. I have had good results with people of little means by requesting a means hearing as is mentioned in this fact sheet

https://nationaldebtline.org/get-information/guides/magistrates-court-fines-ew/

Thanks for the link. Agh that sucks. Apparently 90% of the time Baliffs do put a pause on collecting payment while a statutory declaration is ongoing but its not for sure. The process can take up to 6 months though and in that time a Baliff could turn up which is the bit i don't like. and if they turn up i pay more. Is requesting a magistrates hearing different to statutory declaration then? 

sourcrates

Unpaid magistrates court fines are one of the few things they can force entry for, not that that would be a first response, but if they do call, I would advise making an arrangement with them, and argue about it later.

The last thing they want is to remove goods, it will be money they will be after, so if you can`t afford to pay in full, make certain you can show them that`s the case, and make them a reasonable offer of payment.