A subject that we receive a huge number of enquiries about concerns a credit card (or debit card) 'chargeback' and whether bailiff enforcement may recommence. A year ago I started a thread on this subject which has received 6,000 views and given the new legislation (that came into effect on 6th April) it would be wise to update the information with a new thread. Again, from the enquiries that we receive, a lot of people are encouraged to make a 'chargeback' request following information on various websites. The following is taken from one particular FMoTL website: As can be seen the debtor is specifically told that when completing the 'chargeback' form they must NEVER mention the word 'bailiff' on the form and instead, should state the following: "The merchant forced me to make over my card details by placing me under undue pressure exerted upon me to coerce me to perform an act that I ordinarily would not perform and this constitutes a misrepresentation to obtain a money transfer. I asked the merchant to refund the money who refused to do so and is in breach of contract and remains indebted to me". Debtors are also informed that: "It strengthens your application considerably if you support it with a sworn statement proving the card transaction was made under duress. This increases the chances of getting a rapid charge back to a near certainty" It would seem that debtors are being informed that if the credit card company reverse the payment that bailiffs cannot enforce the debt given that 'apparently' the 'enforcement power has ceased' and that there is "nothing in the regulations that provides for bailiffs to revive it". The supposed case law being paragraph 58 of Schedule of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and paragraph 31 of the Guidance in the Taking Control of Goods, National Standards 2014. So....is the above advice correct? NO...it is not.

Hi, Just received a letter from a court stating that they have issued a "notice of issue of warrant of control" stating that they will collect goods if payment is not made. It is for a debt i had starting in 2008 i took out hp on a car which was repossesed in jan 2009 as i lost my job and was not able to make payments. this is the first letter i have had from anyone relating to lowel portfolio and as the debt is over £6k and im not working and not able to pay the full requested amount of £6227.16 the court is asking. does anyone have any advice on where to go as i dont want anyone turning up trying to take stuff. Thanks

I received a criminal damage conviction 5 years ago and now I've just had a card through the door asking for pay payment in full, or to attend court this Tuesday 18th Nov. The card reads... Does anyone know if I'll be arrested as soon as I enter the court, and held in a cell for a specific court hearing, or if I can walk in court and pay the fine in full, then walk out a free man? I ask because I will have to make some important arrangements in anticipation of being held in custody. Any advice is appreciated p.s it's been more than 24 hours since i received the card... been 3 days actually.

I successfully prevented a warrant of entry being granted for a disputed electricity bill earlier this year, quoting the Electricity Act 1989, section 6. I am in a similar position with gas at the moment but can't seem to find an equivalent act for gas, which clearly states a warrant cannot be issued when a bill is in dispute. Scottish Power have ignored letters and emails regarding a wrong charge for a very long time and are now seeking a warrant since I stopped paying their bills in protest. Is there a similar act which I can quote, other than the 1954 act, which doesn't have a specific section to spell out when a warrant can not be issued? If not would quoting the 1989 act be valid? Thanks in advance.

ive got into arrears my own fault and all that just couldn't afford it at the time. got a summary warrant notice this morning phoned the office the guy was quite cheeky and demanded £27 a month said i couldn't realistically afford that i can't even afford gas at the min. told me thats what they/he wants and no less refused to accept any less on a plan and if i can't afford it sheriff officers will be at the door. can they do this? i want to pay it i just cant afford that much. might not be a lot for some people but im in the process of switching to esa and waiting to see if my son can get dla, spending more than 50% of what i do get going to drs/hosp appointments for myself and him.

Hi, I am looking for some advice regarding Edinburgh council tax and Scott and Co and stumbled upon this great site, and after a bit of reading I cant seem to find another post that quite matches my issue. I would like to start by saying I am under no illusion that i am perfect in this situation but I still believe i have been treated unfairly. I am also able to afford the payment, i just disagree with the 10% addition. I will try and give you as much information as possible as briefly as possible... For several years council tax has been paid on our flat a full year at a time to save stress. Recent changes in who is living here prompted us to change to monthly payments and due to many reasons there was a gap between the start of the financial year and setup of Direct Debit (DD). This meant the first 2 payments of this financial year were manual, one of which was late and rightfully so prompted a 1st late payment notice. The rough timeline of what happened next is as follows. 20th July - fill out online form to setup DD on council website and receive e-mail receipt 24th July - receive "e-bill" thanking me for setting up direct debit and telling me when payments will be taken and to take no further action (i should have checked the first payment came out but did not as it was a month or so before it was due and i have several DD setup i.e. i forgot) Mid Aug - unknown to me direct debit 'fails', don't know exact details yet but no notice from council Mid Sept - again unknown to me direct debit 'fails' 15th Sept - another demand which must have constituted 2nd payment notice from council, no mention that DD has failed or even mention that i had a DD, I assumed this was an error and took no further action (was following previous e-bill but now realise this was an error). 25th Oct (1) - return home from weeks holiday to find summary warrant from Scott and Co. 25th Oct (2) - E-mail scott and co stating that demand is incorrect with copies of documents received. 26th Oct (1) - reply from Scott and Co stating they have contacted council and council has said DD failed (this was new information at this time) 26th Oct (2) - called council, they confirmed DD failed but couldn't tell me why, agreed it was odd that DD was not mentioned on the payment notice. Suggested i write a letter and gave me postal address (a PO box) 26th Oct (3) - e-mailed Scott and Co again again stating why demand is incorrect and informing them i was submitting a complaint/appeal and would send them a copy My gripe is that the council did not try to contact me after the first failed DD and then tried to take another the next month. The letter they did eventually send made no mention of DD failure and in fact no mention of DD at all (except helpfully informing me it would be easier to pay with DD). I will end this information by again saying i realise i have not acted perfectly in this situation but members on this site seem to be very good at not judging too much. My questions are.. - i guess first question is do i have a case worth fighting? - reading other posts am i right in thinking the warrant is issued and can therefore not be recalled? i.e. should i just pay Scott and Co and take it up with the council? - would me paying equate to admission of guilt? i.e. remove my right to appeal - should i have made a specific request to Scott and co to put my debt on hold? i.e. will they continue to pursue even though i have told them i will be submitting a complaint/appeal - will this appear on my credit record no matter whether i pay or appeal? - is any of this covered by the DD guarantee? the guarantee was printed on the back of the "e-bill" - any advice on how i should approach this with the council/Scott and Co? Sorry for the long post but i have seen members get annoyed when they don't get the full story so i have tried to be as honest as possible but can provide the documents or any other information to anyone who is willing to help. Thank you for any help you can offer.

I had a fine for £945 in September for driving with no insurance . I completely forgot about the fine due to relationship problems etc . I have now had a warrant issued for my arrest unless I pay fine in full or attend court . I have opted to attend court as I can't afford to pay in full I have made a payment of £145 today and plan to take £300 in cash with me ( which is all I have ) and am going to ask for a payment plan for the remaining . Could I possibly go to prison tomorrow when I attend court? Thanks

Hi all, I have got myself in a mess and probably do not deserve help as its my own fault but here goes. Today i received a Notice of issue of warrant of control from my local county court. The letter states that I have seven days to make a payment of £172 including fees with a remaining balance of £500. If i do not pay this fee then bailiffs will attend in 7 days. Now I think I recall receiving a claim form several months ago from the Northhampton bulk centre court and I ignored it (I am regretting this now). I have several old debts from the early 2000's when i was a student and have moved several times and some remain unpaid. I am unsure what this debt is for. I also received a letter from Bryan Carter today explaining the warrant of control and saying they may take a payment. I know that this means I have a ccj against me but I have a feeling that the debt was statue barred when the ccj was taken out. My questions are: What do I do next? contact Bryan Carter and do a payment plan? What if the debt was statute barred when the ccj was taken out? by ignoring the claim form is it too late to set aside the ccj? I am currently unemployed (living with husband) so cannot offer a substantial amount per month, how do i negotiate with Bryan Carter? I would be really grateful for any help Thank you

Hi urgent help needed please I gave my car to my son so he could use it. The car was insured under his name only. He then bought a new car and transferred his insurance to that car. A friend of his was going to buy my car and I was going to give that money to my son as my contribution towards the cost of his new car. His friend could not come up with the money. my car was not purchased. Of course, i was not fully aware of the last final piece of information. So the DVLA fined me for not having insurance on my car. Unfortunately, at that time i was abroad. I had been recovering from a breakdown and just came off ESA as i found employment. i had to go abroad with work. I wrote to the magistrates explaining the situation and asked if i could have the judgement set aside so i could present my case. After some back/forth letters they wrote to me asking me to get in touch with the court. This was at the end of August. Unfortunately, i had some terrible news about my 94 year old aunt to whom i am extremely close and i had a relapse. i was not able to contact the court On Friday 26 Sept. I had a visit from Collectica with a warrant to enter my house and seize goods. I did not let the guy in but explained to him about my health and showed him a letter from my doctor. He left a letter which said i had to pay £ 640 or they will force entry and seize goods. This actually added to my depression and totally messed me up. I was unable to do anything and doubled up on my anti depressants. Its not until today that I could write this post on CAG. Please help me and advise what i can do next. i have written to the court and explained my condition and situation in detail and sent them copies of all my medical certificates. thank you CAG Wrecked.

Hi, I'm a small landlord of a shop. The shop tenant returned the keys to me Sat 5th July and told me the elec was up to date. Shop had a clear 'To Let' notice on it with my phone number. I've received no letters or any other clue something was amiss. Today, I missed a call, picked up the voicemail after work, a guy purporting to be from Opus saying they have a Warrant of Entry and they will breaking in in the next 5-10mins. I frantically called back thinking they have caused damage to my shop. They used a locksmith to get in and replace the meter with a smart meter - without my consent or knowledge. They now say I'm liable and their standing charge is a down right criminal 95p a day!!! The shop is empty and I'm advertising for new tenants. Can they just break in like that now that the shop is back with me and not the previous tenant. They have left no paperwork. They could clearly see the shop was now empty (was a sandwich shop with displays/fridge etc). I've a witness who tried to call me several times to alert me to someone trying to break into the shop. She was yelling at them to call me - she pointed them to the sign saying the shop is for 'To Let' and previous owner has ceased trading last week. She said they didn't care and only after her yelling at them did they bother to call me. Any help with this. Thanks,

Hi All, I have had an issue with Npower regarding my gas as I believe they have been charging me for a period of 1 month before they should have (tenancy started after the initial billing period on their bill This has been going on for a while and they passed the info over to PDP Management Services to chase me for the outstanding balance. I advised them that I have a dispute with Npower and have been paying the current bills and its the first quarter bill that I have a dispute with. A couple of months passed and I get a letter from PDP to advise that they are applying for a warrant to enter my home to have a prepayment meter fitted, I advised them that I have 2 disabled children at home and that when I am away with work my wife is generally house bound and a prepayment meter would be an issue. They turned up on Friday just gone (13/06/14) with a lock smith and 2 gas engineers to fit a prepayment meter, I explained that this was not fair as I am still in dispute, the chap from PDP just said that he had a signed court warrant to enter which I checked and it all seemed fine with a signature. I had to pay or he was going to call the police to attend. I paid and he left, the issue I have is that the warrant was signed on the 11th June 14 as this is when they went to court however the letter they sent me advised the court date was the 13/06/14 and that I could attend to give my side of the story. It seem that they send out a letter with one day and then go to court before that day which gives me no way to defend myself. Is there anything I can do or can these people just do as they want, I spoke to Npower as they chose PDP to act on their behalf and they just said that its not their problem... Sorry for the long message but all help appreciated. Thnks

hey guys just received a letter off regal credit stating owe Northumbrian water £774 for an address I have not lived in for 4 years letter states with a CCJ already against you we propose to take legal action without further notice we will apply for a warrant of execution ect ect ends with to prevent legal action it is vital you pay in full immediately . ..I don't aknowledge this bill I don't owe this money and have told the waterboard I have not lived at this address for years when I did live there my bill was paid by deductions from my DSS. .i have a very serious medical condition, (so serious thet even the police cannot speak to me without an appropriate adult present) now if a bailiff turns up at my home it would cause me such stress t hat I would have to be hospitalised any advice on this matter would be very helpful.

I paid a fine after the first steps notice as I was only back in work then (March). I had received a bailiff letter saying in February saying if the fine wasn't paid in 7 days they would pay me a visit and charge more fees, when I paid the fine they still hadn't attended. The bailiff finally arrived on my doorstep 6 weeks later claiming I hadn't paid the fine but since I had proof he then changed this to his fees claiming I owe £320, he then paid me a further visit last week leaving paperwork in my letterbox (I didn't take the paper from him) stating he would be back in 6 days to take the vehicle and sell it at auction. Is the warrant of execution valid since I paid the fine a couple of months ago, what are my rights?

Since March I have been receiving letters from Scottish Power telling me I owe £2000 for a flat I have never lived in. These letters have been delivered to my mother's address, rather than my own. At first I did not take the letter seriously as I knew I owed them nothing. After the initial letter I received three duplicate letters telling me to pay up or face court action. I called Scottish Power who told me that the letters were not sent from them and that I should contact the police which I then did. I then received another letter saying court action has been taken and that they have obtained a warrant of entry. The letter states that they will enter my mother's property with or without permission to either cut off supply or install a prepayment metre. My mum isn't even with Scottish Power. I called again after receiving this letter to make sure they were not sent from SP, only to be told that they were in fact from SP. I was apologised to on the phone and told it was a mistake, that the false account would be deleted, however I was given no assurance that my mum's house would not be visited (the letter states this will be next week). I am very much concerned that someone from Scottish Power will arrive at my mother's and that I have nothing in writing to show them that they are wrong. I have emailed Scottish Power twice now with no reply. The only reassurance I received on the phone was that I would receive no more letters! What can I do to make sure my mother's house is not broken in to by SP??

Account with British Gas for Gas, currently in credit and have been for some time. Bill is always estimated. They want to check the meter for so called safety reasons, no problem with that. However, they come out, nobody is at home, they leave a card saying when they'll be back and then don't come back at the time they say they will, this has happened several times over the years and as the occupant is registered disabled, getting to the door sometimes can be a task and by the time they do the gas person has gone. Last week they received a letter from face2face naming them or the occupier( reminds me of InterimJustica for some reason) Letter is headed British Gas & Face2face no signature at the bottom. It gives the details of the account number and dated the last week in April It goes on URGENT: WE ARE GETTING A WARRANT TO INSPECT YOUR METER Dear Customer. We are working on behalf of BRITISH GAS British Gas is required by law to inspect your meter every so often, and your meter is due for inspection. We've made a number of attempts to gain access to your property without success. We have also written to you on several occasions asking you to make an appointment for us to enter your property and inspect your gas meter. We are now serving notice in writing of our intention to make an application for a Warrant of Entry. This is in accordance with the Rights of Entry ( Gas and Electricity Boards ) act 1954, Section 2 ( Amended 1995) from .......INSERT COURT ADDRESS HERE) You may attend this application The purpose of our court attendance will be to apply for a warrant to enter your premises so we can inspect the meter in accordance with our rights under paragraph 23(2) of schedule 2B of the gas Act 1986 You should be made aware that if we are granted the warrant we have the right to enter your property, if necessary by force. If we do have to do this we will make sure your property is secure when we leave. ---It goes on to say: If we do not hear from you the warrant will be executed within 28 days of the application' who is to say they will be granted it? All very vague. Yours Faithfully Face2face Contact L-mited Authorised Officer of British Gas ----- Ordinarily the person named on the letter (they are NOT the owner) would have made an appoinment to let BG in but as BG don't seem to stick to their info on the card stating when they are coming back but then dont...then the occupier is pretty upset they've now got the faceless wonders face2face issuing threats and are reluctant to enter into any dialogue with them given it's British Gas who they are with. The letter seems wrong on several points, maybe it's just me but its sort of unclear who is wanting to enter, it quotes British Gas have to inspect your meter every so often...which im sure they do ( they dont say how often though? ) but then says 'we've made a number of attempts to gain access....but who? British Gas or face2face ? This is the first they're heard from face2face? It goes on to say they're also written? who has? face2face has not written previous from what I can gather. At the same time as this it is not clear if Face2face are authorised to check the meter? There is nothing on their website to say they're 'GasSafe' , what authority do they have? If it were me dealing with face2face I would make things as difficult for them as I could, no other letter has been received from them and the first contact and they send then above, useless articles they are. Any pointers/advice is welcome (other than to contact face2face which isnt going to happen) Thankyou!

Hi all, My partner had a run in with a Basiliff from Marstons just over a month ago regarding an unpaid Court fine issued to her in 2011. She had moved away and unfortunately forgot about the fines existance until the Bailiff showed up, Bringing the original £120 fine up to £420. As My partner lives with me and the majority of the goods in the house belong to me our baby and older children, the Bailiff couldnt seize the goods and we are in no financial position to pay the bailiff in full, he said he was referring this back to court. From what I understand the Court can issue an arrest warrant for my partner, and she is under the assumption that she need do nothing until a new date is set for court. Surely she can just ring the Court and pay this outstanding £120 in full to avoid any further action??? Is there anyone out there willing to fill me in on the process please? as i do not fancy her getting arrested and possibly end up in the chokey for a month or 6. Any help would be greatly received. thanks JaY

i have been in dispute with engery company that supplies electric to my business . as some months eels very high even thou my use does not go up. the tenancy I am on is tenant at will. my daughter took over running the business in march due to my ill health i have asked for our landord to change the TAW to my daughter but they taken forever to come up with it while all the license and bank account have now been changed to my daughters. my energy company said they won't exempt my daughter as the new person responsible for the supply of electric. even thou i told them i do not run the business or reside at the property, my daughter does. I asked them to send me all the details of the account as during my time with them they put there rates i was paying up without informing me. i have asked them to also send me a finical means form so i can make offer of repayment… today at the business address a letter arrives human right legislation saying that despite correspondence and an arranged visit.(which there hasn't been one) they will make an application to the court to disconnect the electric. this letter was not addressed to myself just had the business name on it.. Now i am confused as what i am to do. surly if they are saying they won't accept that am not responsible then the notice should be addressed to myself. and how do i go about getting them to accept that my daughter who has telephoned them whats to get the bills reagrds

I have recieved one from a company i have never heard of "Me Lii Limited" and have had no corrispondance (sic) it just came out of the blue I have a charging order against me taken out by restons this is the same court that the warrant of execution was issued from Can a debt be trannsfered from a charging order to my goods How can i find out the finer details of this debt to see the original owner Thanking you in advance

Hi I have been absent from my property for a while. I normally just pay £50 ad hoc on-line in to Edf account to ensure there is a regular payment and the account is being serviced so no huge debt surprises. Turns out they had sent a larger bill than normal and I owed £250, followed by red letters and then a Warrant of Execution to gain entry, remove the normal meter and fit a key meter. Without knowing this I continued to pay ad hoc £50's so that actually by the time of the allocated court hearing for the Warrant - this week - there was only £50 owing to Edf. Of course - I am today paying this final £50 so there is no outstanding current debt to Edf. Can they still obtain a valid Warrant to gain "legal" entry and change the meter ? There was only £50 outstanding on the court date, money was being paid regularly, and the debt will have been cleared before anyone appears at the front door to change the meter. Where do I stand on this, please ?

The bills in my flatmates name, but they don't live at the property anymore, and npower has sent that they are considering getting a warrant of entry, however we requested a payment card in november and this still hasn't come. what can we do?

I have just had a bailiff at my door with a distress warrant for a motoring offense in 2003 which i do not recall he told my husband that if we didn't pay 750 they can force entry to our house with the police i fell sick to my stomack please can anyone advise me with this thanks linda lou1

I am in the process of buying a business. The current owner (the seller) has allowed me to begin trading at the business until the paperwork has been complete. I have been there for a month and the lease is nearly complete A company named Face 2 Face (authorized officers of British Gas) have issued me with a warrant notification stating they will be applying for a warrant to enter the business and disconnecting the supply. They have given me details on where the court is etc and the time of hearing. Is there any way I can stop this from happening? I'm currently in the business, waiting for the lease to be finalized. The current owner owes British Gas money but I will be the new owner of the business soon. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated

Tomorrow Scottish Power will be visiting to install a pre payment meter. i have just found out about this from my flat mate as he hasnt been paying bill! the warrant has been accepted. he now owes £1411. Is there anything i can do e.g setup a payment plan or is this too late? If it is too late, what actually happens tomorrow? i will be in, will they activate meter straight away? will the cut gas but not electricity? any scottish power representatives that can help me out? if i could pay it all off i would, unfortunately i could only afford £75 a week (weekly pay) thanks in advance Steve.

Hi, i recieved a letter from Collectica marked "Distress Warrant" for a speeding offence. However the person who committed the offence was the previous owner of this house. I contacted Collectica to tell them the person no longer lives here but they have asked me to "prove that" otherwise they will continue with sending Baliffs. They asked me to send them a copy of my Council Tax bill to prove who I am and that I live here. First question - am I obliged to respond to this? I see no reason why I have to prove to a Debt Collection Agency who I am and that I am the owner of the house. It should be up to them to prove I am not. Second quesiton - Can they, without warning, send Baliffs round to force entry into my house? They have been informed that the offender no longer owns the house but they refuse to accept that. I am scared they turn up and break in while I am out. Thanks for advice.

Warrant of Execution - After Final return of your claim was received I rececied a noice from MCOL - 'A final return for your warrant against Mr XXX was received on 06/11/2013', I am not sure what it means and why I suppose to do next. Few months ago, I started a claim that a guy own me £3000. He was my 'londlord', I paid one years rent but I only live there for 6 months, now he cut himself off from facebook, phone, email, ect. From my other resourse he might move out the house cause he was not a 'landlord', he rent it from someone else. I fear that court can not trace him and help me get the money back. What happen if court could not find this person from the address I provided? Feeling helpless in this case. Many thanks for anyone who answer my question.