Cambridgeshire (I am now in London) I guess the problem would be, having made an out of time SD, then having to persuade the bailiff at the door of the reality of it..

mmm.. yes that helps. So the time limit for making the SD would presumably be the same as the payment deadline..

oh I see, no it's not what I meant, I thought you were suggesting the fine might be too old to collect (duhhh).. regardless of my options for making statutory declaration or late payment etc, it would be reassuring to know that the warrant might not actually be imminent, because there is a necessary further stage of warning/communication, if that were the case..

Oh, is that something akin to a debt being statute barred? If so do you happen to know what are the applicable time limits? Can anyone else answer the remaining question: as the deadline is passed, am I now at risk of being hit with an (un)expected distress warrant, or must I receive some other communication prior to that?

If HMCS issue a 'grant of time to pay' notice in relation to an unpaid fine for a motoring offence, and I do not respond to the notice, what is likely to be their next action? Is it possible they will issue a distress warrant straight away without further notice, or is it necessary for it to go to court first? The situation is that I received such a notice from a non-local HMCS office relating to a fine dating from 2004. I have no previous knowledge of the offence or the fine. I understand from bailiffadviceonline that I can phone them and ask to make a Statutory Declaration and have the fine set aside, which I will do. However, if the deadline on the notice has already expired, is it possible that they may have already issued a distress warrant, or would I receive some further warning/notice to attend court or some such? If anyone reading this has any knowledge of the likely procedure, it would be very helpful. Many thanks, Greetings, tonkatoy

So is that to say that if they send the proof after say 15th December, they are definitely in default (therefore the '28 days' is a complete fiction) and I can then confidently refute the proof and issue warnings against further collection activity? I appreciate there is not much they can do in terms of actual recovery, but they may feel they are entitled to register a credit default against me.

Could anyone clarify the time limits here - why is it 12+28 days? Perhaps if you could point me towards the relevant legislation/guidelines.. I sent a letter to Mackenzie Hall on 1/12/08 disputing an alleged debt and requesting they provide evidence of liability (credit ag., statement, deeds of assignment). They have now replied dated 9/12 that while they would normally like to provide the information within 48 hrs, on this occasion they will need up to eight weeks, and asking for my 'patience'. Would it be best to ignore this and let them overstep the limit (and what actually is the limit - there's a big difference between 12 and 40 days), or perhaps to warn them further about persisting with collection activity outside the statutory limits? Any views, much appreciated..