Is Consumer Action Group run by Marston Group? Apparently a Marc Gander was a founder of this site?

Hi, Help needed pls. I popped out the other day and my kids were home, and when i got back my kids are all upset, scared and distraught. The kids told me that someone was banging on the door , window and garage doors very loud and hard for about 20 mins. Obviously i was upset too, and not very happy that my kids felt terrorised in their own home. A enforcement agent from marstons had clamped my car which was on the drive, and also posted a letter. This is the first time they have called regarding this matter or sent any letters about this pcn. I was not the driver of the vehicle at the time when the parking ticket was issued , and neither was i aware of it! I have not received any letters from them regarding this matter previously, until they came the other day banging down the door. They are saying i need to pay in full 392.00, which consists of debt of 82, compliance stage fee of 75 and then an enforcement stage fee of 235.00. I did call the agent and he says i need to pay it all before he takes of the clamp. He want take any instalments. I told him that the car is on hp, and he is using it as leverage for me to pay it all, but he says i just need to pay it all before they take the clamp off. I spoke to the office to tell them i know nothing about it , they would not listen, and told me i need to pay it all . I told her that why have they clamped the car because they can't take it as it on hp, she told me that she has spoken to the hp company, and they are happy for then to take the car. Which is so untrue, as firstly she does not even know who the hp is with. She was very rude , and then hung up saying she is going to terminate this call. Are they allowed to clamp my car on my drive, and then leave a letter saying taking control of goods on a highway? Are they not supposed to give me any notice they are going to come, or the fine has been passed to them, and why are they adding compliance fee and enforcement stage fee at the same time. I was not the driver, i knew nothing about this ticket until last week. I have never had a parking ticket, and if i did know i would have paid it whilst you pay only half the amount. Please help, and advise greatly appreciated.

Had court fine while back never paid it all, paid small amounts coming out of jsa. now recently got a letter from marston saying i have to pay £155 in full i managed to pay £55 so the balance is now £100. i asked them can i clear the 100 next Friday when my wife gets paid. their response was this.(below) I am not happy because i won't be able to afford the charges they now add to the balance is there anything i can do. i have showed am willing to pay and the balance would be cleared next Friday. letter was dated 8th april dont i have so many days breathing space or something Thank you for your recent letter You will appreciate we are instructed to enforce warrants immediately and in full. We regret we are unable to enter into long-term payment arrangements and therefore the offer you have made and the time you require is not acceptable. An enforcement agent will now attend your premises to execute the warrant and verify your circumstances. This will incur additional charges and your goods may be at risk if the information you have supplied is inaccurate or payment is not made.

Hi, I received a 'Notice of Enforcement' from Marston today with regard to an unpaid parking fine dated 19/2/13 saying a warrant has been issued by Northampton County Court. This is the first time I have ever received a letter from them regarding this. The letter said I must pay the full amount or agree a payment arrangement by 17/4/14. I therefore phoned Marston to arrange a payment plan of £10.00 per month to be told that the minimum they can accept is £35.00 per week. I told them that this was too much and I only have £17.00 per month spare after paying off all my other debts but they would not accept it saying that they cannot accept anything less as it has already gone to court. I therefore asked them if they could confirm in writing that they would not accept my offer and they said they cannot unless I write to them requesting this. I then told them that I only had 4 days to do this which wasn't long enough so could they put my case on hold but they said they couldn't and I would have to email them. I then asked how long it takes them to reply to emails and he said it could take upto 7 days. Can they refuse my offer and if not do you have a template of a letter that I could send to them please. Thanks

Hi We have a court fine which sadly we could not afford to pay.when we were on JSA £5 a week was taken of the debt. Now my partner has been working for the last 3 months. Well 4 weeks ago i got a letter from court saying i still owe xxxx amount.i stupidly ignored this no excuse but i have other issues sadly my brother is very ill with cancer so i been seeing him alot. my wife lost our baby in the first 6 weeks aswell so had alot to deal with. Well anyway i rang the court about 1 week later to pay the amount owed but they said its been passed on to Marston,but if i hurry and call them before a letter comes out i could clear the amount. I rang Marston who said they have added £85 to the debt a charge or something. well anyway i sent them an email 2 weeks ago pleading with more time they emailed back and said i have till the 8th of april to clear the debt.but i simply cant afford to.now i have never had a letter from Marston just a email.so what will happen after the 8th april will someone come out will they break in what will happen i have a 3 year old son who play's in the front room its his play room we have the back room and i don't want him to be scared if the bailiffs knocks.. do they need to send a letter with final warning or what? what fees will be added now once they visit. i honestly dont know what to do.i read that there are new rules coming into play from april are they in affect now

Had a visit from Marston yesterday regarding speeding fine. I had a fine from police for being miles over the limit, argued with them and they offered 60 pounds 3 points. Decided to go to court, lost case 5 points 253 pound fine. Argued again no joy, letter from Marston Bailiff said after other visits and costs added total now 667 pounds. This was their first visit ? Have sent standard request for times, visits, Bailiff name etc. Any advice other than accept points and fine from police, don't argue you lose. Thank you

HI i had a court fine of £75 missed payment which was stupid .i then rang the court up to make a payment and was told its been passed on to Marston ,they advised to ring them up very quickly to set up payment plan .they said it was passed to them last Thursday ,also advised to ring them before they send a letter out as it would cost me. i rang marston up right away and they said my records are not with them yet .i rang again today and was told the same thing, so what will happen will i get the chance to spread this £75 out? will the amount rise? what steps will Marston usually take

Hi there, In November I recieved a fine from the courts for an IN10 offence. I didn't have the money to pay it, and stupidly stuck my head in the sand. After getting a new job in January, I started to sort out my finances. I wrote to the courts asking to make a payment plan and detailing my full finances to them. I received a letter back in the last couple of weeks saying that it was out of their hands. Today I received a letter from Marston Bailiffs saying that this is my final warning and I must contact them to pay £495, in full, immediately (the original fine was £110) or else they will send round the bailiffs with a locksmith to take my belongings. I cannot pay £495 in full, that's more than a months wages, but I really want to set up a payment plan. I know someone who had contact with Marston before and they wouldn't accept any talk of a payment plan, but there is no way I can get that kind of money together. What can I do here? Can they just come in and take things, even when I am more than willing to set up a plan with them? I live at home with my Mum and the majority of things here are hers, excluding my clothes etc, my phone and my old laptop, which I doubt they would get anything like £495 for! I'm looking for any advice on what to do next, thank you so much for reading this Beth

Hi, i was wondering if anyone can help me out, i have received a letter from marston enforcement officers. It is reguarding a water bill that i went to court for, i was ordered to pay £15 a week but have missed a few payments due to loosing my jon and i now have this letter. The letter says "This execution has not been settled and we now write to warn you that our enforcement officers will attend your premises with removal contractors to seize and remove goods to satisfy this writ. The affect of this writ is to bind your property in your hands from the time this writ is lodged until withdrawn (schedule 7 section 8(1) of courts act 2003 section 9 places duty on us to seize sufficient property to satisfy the judgement debt and related costs. What does this mean? what can i do? when i went to court the bill was for £600 now there saying the bill is £1,501.46. any advice would be great,

Hi I have received a letter from Marstons group saying I owe a sum of £516.40. I have tried to speak to them about arranging a payment but they are asking for half and I dont even have a £1 at the moment. I got a train fine last may but then moved address, and didnt hear anything since. I then have been sent this letter saying they are going to come to my address. The flat is not owned by me and I only just rent a room here, the landlord will go mad if anyone comes to this address, and If i even tell the landlord it will no doubt end in me being homeless. As a lost my job back in october, I have been on benefits since. I really dont know what to do, please can somebody help me.

First thing I'd like to be clear on is that this post is about a friend and not myself, meaning I can't necessarily answer questions or provide documentation. The facts I know are these.. A distress warrant has been issued by a magistrate (TV licence and insurance fines I believe, although in part disputed). The bailiff in question is Marstons. My friend is full time carer for a disabled partner and has three kids, two under 12, his only income is carers allowance. I know his partner gets some DLA but nothing about other finances. The debt total is some £1200, of which £300 is apparently fees - possibly added by the bailiff. CAB haven't been helpful apparently, merely confirming the bailiff can break in. The bailiff is apparently saying that if a payment of £200 - £300 is made he can refer it back to the court to set up a payment plan. The last point concerns me most, quite frankly I don't believe it. Can anyone offer help, advice or would be willing to direct me to somebody more helpful than CAB? As my friend is at the end of his tether and I'm 200 miles away and disabled myself its not easy to advise him because this really isn't my field. It is, however, quite desperate. Thanks in advance for any help

Hi everyone, I have a small inquiry and am losing sleep over the matter. I have recently received letters from marston regarding council tax debt which state I owe manchster council. I was a student when i lived in manchester and that was back in 2003 onwards. I moved away from manchester back to my home and now after 8+ years I receive a letter saying i owe about £500 pounds.... and that a bailiff was over at my house... I am confused as when i was a student i fax'd a council tax excemption certificate over to the manchester council and at that point i had already paid a bailiff £400 pounds. Once i spoke to the council back then they told me not to pay him and that it would be corrected even though i had already paid. He gave me a dodgy receipt back then too. I do not know what to do and am needing help please can anyone assist me asap ;;

Had a letter from the Magistrate Court telling me I owe £370 which was sent to me around November time. Did not have a clue what it was for so tried to call the number provided for 7 days straight and not once did I get through to anyone to query the letter. Left it that thinking maybe I'll receive more information soon. Then recieve a letter dated 2nd January 2014 from Marston High Court Enforcement Officers & Certificated Bailiffs which now said I owe £455 (370 fine + 85 fees) and this letter did give me the information that I could not get from the court. It was a ''speeding - exceed 30 mph on a restricted road on 04/02/2010''. If I would of ever been reminded I would of paid the original £60 or £90 whatever it was to save all this hassle. It told me I had 7 days to pay or bailiffs will attend to levy distress and remove goods for a public auction sale with a minimum further cost of £215. Did not get to this letter as I had been away working. I then get a phone call on my lunch break at work from a Marston Bailiff on Friday just gone. He introduced himself and told me he was outside my house (which is my mum's house & she is the only 1 listed on the tenancy agreement). He basically said I had to pay which I replied I cant afford to and I would be willing to pay in installments. The best he could offer me was 1 week to pay half which has now turned into £670 so £335 next week & £335 the following week which I can not afford. He said or the only other option is to get a locksmith out, enter the house and take goods up to the £670 ''owed''. I did mention to him that the only possesions I have at the house are basic needs, clothes, bed, wardrobe etc... no ''luxury goods'' but my mum does have luxury items which she has worked hard for ie. Big tv, stereo system etc... He then replied ''the courts dont care as long as they get their money back'' When I got home there was a big red hand posted letter ''FINAL NOTICE'' telling me I had literally this last chance or more costs will be added. He was ok over the phone but he was pretty stern in telling me its either this or locksmiths. My problems and concerns are can he enter the house with a locksmith even when nobody is in? If they do gain entry can they take my mums goods even though I have told them their not mine? Can they take my bed, clothes and other basic needs? Really stressed out over this as I cannot afford just to pay out £670. Is there any chance I could go to the courts with all my documents and kind of get the fine reduced or put back to its original cost. Really dont know what to do about this and I fear they'll enter the house and I'll come home from work and all my mothers items have been taken. Thanks in advance

Hi, I am new to this forum so please forgive me if I word this badly or get protocol wrong. Last year, I had a visit from a HCEO through Marstons for a debt to Anglian Water which originated when I was married. The bill was in my name but at the time everything was paid out of my ex's wages. When we split up, the account was in arrears already and to cut a long story short, I buried my head a bit and it culminated in the aforementioned visit. I refused to let the guy in and dealt with them on the phone. I have a payment plan in place and have stuck to it. I was informed at the time that there would be a 58p/day charge as I am not able to clear it in full. A 31 day month means that £17.98 is taken from my £100/mth payment. I have now paid £600 off the original debt which was £1853.95 including their £440 fees and even allowing for the daily rate charge they are claiming the outstanding balance to still be just over £1500!!! 6mths of £17.98 comes to approx. £107.88. That leaves at least £480 that should have come off the £1853. What I need to know is what do I do about it. The unpleasant woman I spoke to today is going to send me a statement out but if in their eyes if I have paid £600 already, why is my bill still at £1500+ The other question I have is, I have never received a copy this alleged High Court Writ and I wonder if it actually exists at all. Where would I find out that sort of information. And finally am I allowed to pay the money owed to Anglian Water directly rather than these greedy animals at Marstons? I would have the original debt cleared in 6mths at that rate if I were able to pay them directly. Any help would be massively appreciated. Thanks :o)

Hi i was fined for not having a tv licence a genuine oversight i thought we had paid for the year we hadnt i was fined in my absence as couldnt get to court it was 3 towns away where they wanted me to go . at the time partner was doing agency work we received no benefit help apart from child tax credits and child ben was struggling to pay and in the end we couldnt pay it the fine was £275 roll forward to september 2013 i was contacted by some one from the court who told me they had a warrant etc but as i had a child he wasnt going to take he told me to ring get an appointment etc so i did. went in front of a judge explained our financial state and was told to pay £185 in the october which we paid the day before my sons birthday partner had a new job so its fine . then he said to pay the £90 outstanding in the November which for one reason or another we have over looked and its not been paid on the 23rd of december i was out my partner was in and marstons turned up told him who he was etc and why he was there he didnt leave me any contact details or paper work as to who he was . i rang the office i found the number online might i add at this point how rude they was got his number rang him and he asked to come out the following day i agreed thinking i could set up some payment plan .but no he now wants £390 thats £300 charges he is coming back on the 10th of january and im worried sick i cant pay it i have no income my partner works but we just get enough to live off £390 is more or less our food budget for the month he was very nice with us we didnt let him in . he was trying to laugh and joke with us even wished us merry xmas ! Is there anything i can do ive now gone on to debt management but they said they cant do anything with the bailiff as its a court fine and a criminal matter as its tv licence . i rang cab who told us to ring the courts rang them explained we had no further steps notice if we had this £90 would have been paid it is a genuine oversight yes on our behalf but a genuine mistake . the bailiff in question still hasnt give me any paper work no nothing just quickly showed me a piece of paper saying it was a distress warrent ive checked the list of certified bailiffs he isnt on there . told the court there not interested at all is it worth me ringing marstons myself or will they not help i can pay the £90 but the £300 charges are so excessive . worried sick here as partner will be at work on friday when he comes back . i have a 6 year old aswell although he will be at school im so worried .everything in this house has been bought with partners cash obviously no proof as they say a receipt prooves nothing . The court that issued it was chester and merseyside it was originnally in wirral courts but when i attended i had to go to st helens what can i do to stop this if anything he said if we dont pay he will be coming through my door with police and locksmiths help anyone and thankyou for reading

i, This morning i got a call from my 16 year old daughter who was really upset crying telling me that we had a bailiff at the door. She said she loud banging on the door and then heard a woman shout through the letter box to open the door NOW. She looked through the bedroom window and without introducing her self she told my daughter to go and open the door. she finally said she was a bailiff after my daughter asked what she wanted. At first i thought it was a mistake as i will never let myself get into any sort of debts. I told her to not open the door and give her my phone number so she could speak to me (i was in work at the time). I spoke to the bailiff and i must say she was the rudest person i have ever spoken to. She was shouting saying she is going to ring a locksmith to come and break in. I told her my daughter was home alone. She said it doesn't matter. I then found out that the debt was for my wife for unpaid TV license. I do remember sometime last year my wife had changed bank and did not transfer the TV license so we went without one for 6 months without knowing. We thought it was strange that we didn't receive any correspondence! We had a man from TV license knock at the door and he told us we didn't have a license. We explained we totally forgot and he set us up a new one on the doorstep. He never took or asked for payment for the 6 months missed. Nor had we received anything since! I spoke to the bailiff again, who was still constantly hammering on the door demanding my daughter open it. She said the fine was for £630! I argued that it couldnt possibly be. its only 6 months we didn't have one! I refused to pay her and said we will have to sort it out with the court as i think there has been a mistake somewhere down the line. Well she didn't like that! she said ok i am calling the police and i am calling a locksmith. I didn't really believe her so i decided to call her bluff and wait it out to see what would happen. My daughter rang me 40 minutes later to say the police had turned up and was too demanding that she open the door! i rang the bailiff again who put me on the the police man. The police said that the bailiff could come into my property. I tried to argue that my daughter is home alone and he didn't care. I told him he had no right telling my daughter to open the door and his presence was just to keep the peace. He then passed the phone back onto the bailiff who said the fine has now gone up to £800 a nd when the locksmith comes it will be another £200. i decided enough was enough and i paid with my card over the phone. I asked if i could see the warrant before i paid and she said NO! she only has one copy. After i paid however she did post it through the letter box which i will scan on here for you. what i want to know is. Was this legal what happened? I really don't feel like i should of paid as i was not given a chance to pay the original debt and i really feel it was inappropriate the way she and the policeman spoke to my daughter. She was absolutely terrified. she sat on the floor under her bedroom window crying her eyes out while this big brut of a woman was hammering the door down.

Hello I need urgent advice before tomorow please Marston is coming with removal guys to an address. This adress is council property and my wife main tenant owner solely. me and 3 children live too. But house in wife name. I got court writ nearly 29,000 from a claim that was friend name. friend was man driver i was passsenger, we got hit and claimed. but court struck t off. now i need to pay court costs everything and not my friend. Why? but problem is everything in house my wife buyed. i buyed 2 bed only. Marston coming tomorow with removal guys. what should do? if Marston take anything, my marriage finish

Good evening CAG My friend has recently received a letter from Marston High Court Enforcement Officers & Certificated Bailiffs. This is regarding a Magistrates Fine of £525 for failing to disclose who was driving a speeding vehicle. The fine was issued in 2010 My friend had moved out of their address in 2007 but did not notify the DVLA of an address change due to a spate of temporary accomodation and travelling around. I haven't pushed them for the personal details too much. In Februrary 2013 they were pulled over for having a rear brake light out. This is where they found out they didn't have any form of driving license. Their license was revoked shortly after the 2010 speeding fine for having 6 points of which I must stress they had no knowledge of! The Police Officer believed my friend had made a genuine mistake and had no prior knowledge of this, vehicle was naturally impounded under the rules of which they made no objection. They recently reapplied for their license which was reinstated with a correct address on their license. This is when letter from Marston turned up. Claiming to owe £710.00 The letter also states that they have the right to use a locksmith to gain entry. On the fees table at the back, it details the following fees: Potential fees: 1) Compliance Fee of £85.00 which the letter states is added to every case (So makes a complete hypocrisy of potential fee then... ) and 2) Attendance fee of £215.00 Isn't there a First Visit Fee of a maximum of £24.50 or is this for Council Tax Bailiffs and Civil Cases only? Is it worth reporting this bunch to Trading Standards and the OFT as they also list the following charges of: Dishonoured Cheque Fee - £37.00 Credit Card Handling - 3% Debit Card Handling - £1 To me that seems unreasonable. 3% on a credit card is similar to the Interest Rate for a Cash Advance. £37.00 Bounced cheque would not cost them anything, but your bank may apply a penalty charge. So hit twice with a penalty! And how the hell could they charge £1 for a Debit Card which probably costs them about 20p to process if that! Suggesting a credit card is also hinting at pushing yourself further into debt am I right too?! So my query is, how is it best to proceed with this one? They are currently unemployed so have next to no disposable income. it is perhaps worth asking the court if they could make a payment arrangement of up to £20 per month. Or is it worth challenging the whole fine in general as they were not even aware, and had it not been for the brake light fault would still be unaware of the original fine to the current date! Or is it worth attempting to Set Aside? They are more than willing to pay the fine, but not with extortionate and quite frankly unreasonable fees and penalties applied to the Original Fine. They do not wish to avoid payment, but they want to matter dealt with without any unnecessary aggravation. Warm Regards, NuclearShark

I need to respond to Marston HCE who are trying to charge one thousand pounds of fees on a debt which has been paid in full in terms of the original invoice. I remember reading a reference guide listing statutory/ reasonable fees and wondered if someone can point me to that. I hope we can then pay them based upon the guidelines as they have applied enforcement fees of £700 when we had already paid the supplier the original amount of £1800. Any help or guidance would be appreciated. We have paid the provider directly not the HCE agent who we have never met and who schedules to attend a premises which we no longer occupy.

Hi I had a visit from a bailiff on Tuesday morning at 8am from Marstons. He was attending in relation to an unpaid fine. The fine is legit, I have had a horrendous few months and had completely forgotten that I had arranged to pay £50 a month to clear it. It was, from memory around £280. I had not recieved any letters from Marstons. The bailiff told me he was there to collect £550. I told him there was no way I could pay that amount in full. He asked what i could afford that day and i told him a maximum of £200. He said that if i paid that on Tuesday I would then have until Friday 6pm to pay the remainder otherwise first thing Saturday morning 2 men would arrive and take my goods. It was pretty scary. He didnt show me any paper work. I can only assume that the rest of the £550 is made up of charges that they have applied which seems extortionate. He left me an A5 sized card which he wrote his number on. He didnt put his full name instead in the box he just put his first name. The card says they believed i was wilfully trying to evade payment and that they would return and obtain access by force using a locksmith without further notice. As i was working i told him i would pay £200 and would have to try and see what I can do but there is no way i can find another £350 by tomorrow evening. Afterwards when I was thinking more clearly and calmed down I realised I didnt have any info of which court had issued the fine but that I should probably have paid the amount of the fine directly to the court instead of the bailiff?? I have emailed Marstons requesting a breakdown of how the figure has arrived at £550. Is there anything else I should do? I can pay the remainder of the actual fine tomorrow at a push, i.e £80 odd pounds, should I find out which court it is and do this directly to them? Can Marstons tell me which court? sorry to ask so many questions but I am in a flap and any help or advice would be brilliant. Thank you in advance.

Hello, I hope someone can help because i'm at my wit's end. I got home last night to find a hand delivered letter from Marston's bailiffs delivered on 1st October. It says REMOVAL NOTICE in big red letters and the offence is for a distress warrant. They are asking for the tune of £947. I'm very alarmed at this as I have not received any letters or notifications about this until now. It states client as "HMCTS Hampshire and IOW" and contains a reference number. I've called the Fixed Penalty Office who were able to give me a police reference number and tell me it relates to a fixed penalty notice ocurred on 27th October 2007. I've called the police and they say it relates to when an office stopped me and I failed to produce a licence, so I was given a fixed penalty notice of £60 that went unpaid. I've been stopped a few times in my time and caught for speeding, but in all honesty I do not remember this happening. Now i'm at a bit of a dead end. I feel it's massively unfair that I have to pay £947 (money I don't even have) for an offence I don't even recall happening. I've also moved house in that time and I regularly work abroad for months at a time. Still, I check my post regularly and i've never received anything warning me to this debt. Does anyone know where I can go from here? Can I file a statutory declaration? The police said the court is SE Hampshire Magistrates but I can't find a number of anyone willing to talk to me. I'm worried that at any moment, bailiffs are going to break into my house and take my stuff.

Hello, Firstly thanks for anyone taking the time to read this and offer any advice. About half an hour ago, a bailiff from Marston turned up at my door and handed a letter to my uncle, addressed to me. My uncle told them that I was not in. The letter is a removal notice, stating that they want 633.30 or they will come to my address and remove my goods. The debt is for an unpaid magistrates court fine for an unpaid train fare (Yes, I am a complete idiot). I have no idea what to do about this. The house belongs to my parents and I live here with my brother, mum and dad. My parents are on holiday at the moment and will return on Saturday. I can't get to the citizens advice bureau until Monday. Are they allowed to come in and take the things that do not belong to me? All I own is a computer and a TV. I'm very very scared right now and don't know what to do. If anyone could guide me in the general direction of the best course of action, I will highly appreciate it.

Hi all, This is my first post of this nature. I have done some reading on the internet for help and from what I can see this forum offers some excellent advice, of which I hope to receive. I have several debts outstanding from the last few years, of which I do really want to resolve to clear things from my credit profile etc as I hope to maybe start a family in the next year or two and look to buy my own home. I do not dispute the majority of these debts, just the way I am being chased on them, I am not going to say that I know nothing about them, I just want to be honest to receive some solid advice, even if it's not what I want to hear. My main concern at the moment is with Marstons. They are chasing me on an ourstanding Council Tax bill from last year. I simply couldn't afford the bill and struggled on the monthly payments through one reason or another. It was passed to Marstons. They told me several months ago my outstanding balance was £894 approx. I informed them I would struggle making the monthly payments but they said I must make these or my debt would increase. To the best of my knowledge (waiting on bank statements to confirm) I have paid £500 of this debt. Their agent has phoned me a couple of times in the last 2 weeks but due to me not currently having any money I avoided answering his calls. Now I've manned up and want to sort the matter out. He left me a voice message yesterday saying if I did not pay a further £250 they would visit my home which would incur an additonal fee of £140 for the visit, whether I am in or not. So I have messaged him this morning via text as I now want records of my dealings with their agent. I explained that currently I am struggling financially and do not have £250 to pay. He messaged saying that if a payment of £125 is made before 2pm tomorrow (1/04) he will hold proceedings and set a new arranging for me, at £133 per month and that he can do no more than this. He also said my remaining balance is £524. I asked him to clarify why my balance is £524 as I believe I have paid £500 so the remaining would be £394 or there abouts. He replied this is due to "further fees for late payments over the last 3 months" and that further attendance would incur further charges. I have asked how much are the late fees and where I can see these, I said to him that whilst he has told me about the £140 fee for visiting my home, I've no record of late fees being mentions and I've asked him for a breakdown of them. He replied: Mr XXXXX - The balance of hte information I have to hand. I will confirm and come back to you. It is important payment is made this week. I advised him that i would make a payment if I was financially able this week and that I would require a breakdown of these fees. Is there anything further I can be doing to avoid any further fees and to set a more manageable payment plan? - To my knowledge they have only visited my home once, when they put through the first letter to which I contacted them and made the subsequent payments, 1 of £200 and another of £300. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated. I am concerned that if I am unable to pay the £125 he is demanding by tomorrow I will incur further charges including £140 to just visit my home... which I see as a little excessive, but this may be standard? Please note I have no experience of dealing with baliffs or debt collectors despite they contacting me. I do have other things I may need assistance with but I appreicate that people offer their advice on their own time and I do not want to clog up the board with all my issues, as this is the most pressing issue I will wait until I have resovled this before seeking further help. I am just glad for any assistance. Thank you for your time.

Friend of a Friend asked me the other day if a bailiff can charge a levy and attendance to remove fee on the same visit for a PCN so I said not up on fees for PCNs but they cant for council tax and from what I've read I believe they cant for PCNs either because until they have a levy on goods their are no goods to remove I told them to have a Google (did point them here as you do ) and that most fees were set by legislation and England and wales were the same told them their was also detailed assessment against Marston's bailiffs that explains it and Google should pick it up anyway my friend sent me a link to Marston's web site are we reading this wrong it looks to me as if they do charge both fees on same day (first visit ) Am I reading it wrong because I'm not getting this the judge in the Anthony culligan case says no you cant and I understand this is not legislation but he does say as a matter of Law can someone explain what if anything legislation states about this ATR fee being charged the same day as levy fee Its a bit confusing when going by what's on Marston's web site it can be charged Fees and charges Schedule of TMA fees and charges Traffic Management Act 2004 The process On receiving a warrant, we send a letter to the debtor explaining that the debt has been passed to Marston for collection and inviting payment with seven days. The fee for sending this letter (£11.20 + VAT) is added to the debt outstanding to be paid by the debtor. If no payment is received or contact made, the case is assigned to an enforcement agent (bailiff) who, in order to execute the warrant, will Attend the property to Remove Goods (Attendance to Remove – ATR) to the value of the debt and outstanding fees and charges. This action will incur a levy(visit) fee and ATR charge - whether goods are removed or not Central London County Court - Case No 8CL51015 - Anthony Culligan (Claimant) v 1. Jason Simkin & 2. Marstons (Defendants 2. The Fee Regulations provide for a distinction between the levying of distress and removal of goods. There is a gap between the two stages. The purpose of this "gap" is to allow the debtor to make payment of what is due after the first stage. DJ Avent says at paragraph 50 of his Judgment:- "Accordingly, in my judgment the bailiff should not and, as a matter of law cannot take any steps to remove goods until he has given the debtor a reasonable opportunity to pay what is due at the time of seizure. This being so I cannot see that Form 7 can or should include any costs of removal. Mr. Simkin included on the Form 7 he produced for Mr. Culligan the sum of £100 in respect of the immobilisation device. If, as the Defendants now argue, that was part of the removal expenses, it should never have been included in Form 7".

today I received a call from my very distressed partner a letter had been posted through the letterbox from Marston stating that a final notice had been issued on behalf of HMCTS Gtr Manchester and that they will be returning this afternoon to remove goods for sale at public auction. They were asking for £485.00. He contacted the number at the bottom of the letter which was for the 'enforcement agent' who simply advised that unless he paid that amount today the HCEO would come round along with a locksmith and the police to force entry into our home and remove goods to the value. Now, the house which this letter has been posted is mine (I am a private tenant) and my boyfriend moved into the property with me in March 2013. The amount relates to a failure to provide information as requested by the council in relation to a council tax liability order for his old address. He lost his job in September 2012, couldn't pay council tax and buried his head in the sand. The court then issued a fine which has gone unpaid and then Marston have added on their own astronomical fees. I came home from work early as I was obviously scared about some random men breaking into my home. I contacted the local police, debt advice service and the enforcement agent who all stated as that they can force entry and its tough (the police were nice about it however). I contacted the enforcement agent later on and offered to pay the amount requested, she then gave us 1hrs grace to make the payment which I have now done and all action has been stopped. What I want to know is... 1) Could they have broken into my home to collect on his debt despite that fact that it is only me named on the tenancy? 2) Can I claim any of the amount I paid back? The EO stated that £185.00 was the fine amount, £85.00 admin & £215.00 'Attendance Fee' - no one attended. 3) All of the previous correspondence would have gone to his previous address. They must have traced him at my address but no notice was provided to allow us to come up with the requested amount - it was a hand delivered notice & that they will come back later. I am so shaken by this experience, how is this legal? it's only money at the end of the day!