Marston Group....has anyone dealt with them? worried...

[angry cat]

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 13 Magistrates Court Fines

[unclebulgaria67]

Sorry, am I being thick here. How can you be taken to a magistrates court over an unpaid hotel bill. This would surely be a civil matter dealt with by the small claims court process.

 

Magistrates courts mainly only get involved with criminal matters, plus road traffic offences and non payment of TV Licence, council tax.

 

If I am wrong, please explain.

[Guest Cartaphilus]

Actually, you bring up a good point there because that's what I was mostly reading about earlier but wasn't sure whether to mention it (?). Re it being a criminal offense. But would a court fine and non-payment be classed as such?

 

Edit - though I am purely looking at it from a layperson's pov; looked over insolvency, directgov, cab, a few others and all appeared to draw from the same source material.

Edited May 17, 2010 by Cartaphilus

[unclebulgaria67]

If this was handled by the Small claims court as a civil matter, then Marstons have very few powers.

 

This is a link to one the best advice sites for dealing with Bailiff companies.

 

Dealing with bailiffs - Consumer and money problems - Advicenow guides - Advicenow

[Guest Cartaphilus]

Yep, they were probably the first place I looked.

[cerberusalert]

I've edited it for you.

 

[angry cat]

I think tha the OP, needs to clarify whether this issue relates to a Mag. Fine or, not!

 

If it relates to a County Court fine, then the Bailiffs cannot force entry!

 

But, I note that Marstons imply that a Warrant has already been served.

[setubal]

None payment of a hotel bill is classed as taking percuniary advantage, therefore it's a criminal offence and dealt with in a magistrates court. Hope this helps.

[dx100uk]

there are THREE threads running on this

 

i'll get them merged.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

BTW:

lots of IF's or But's in that letter

 

unpaid hotel bill???

 

something funny here

 

dx

[Rooster-UK]

Three threads merged.

 

To get the maximum response from other users, please keep to one thread.

 

Regards, Rooster.

[Guest Cartaphilus]

I think maybe we also need to see the first letter? OP said

 

Basicaly i have had 2 letters from these guys - saying i oew 500 pounds from a court ( i have no idea what its for) and they will attend my address to remove goods at action and even if the house is emplty, they can get locksmiths to gain entry...

As they're merged, only just seen that post. Unless that's it in the image (looking at the date and so on?)

 

as taking percuniary advantage

Yes, thanks, makes more sense now.

 

Also, does this also complicate things for the OP at all?

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/payday-loans/259493-hi-all-i-really.html

Edited May 17, 2010 by Cartaphilus

[unclebulgaria67]

I understand the percuniary advantage offence was repealed in 2006, when the Fraud act was enacted. Perhaps this is why so many of our MP's managed to get away with their transgressions.

 

Anyway the OP's conviction was prior to this, so still stands.

 

Having thought about this, my advice to Spikey_Ben would be to contact the magistrates court concerned (Barnet?). They should be able to help him with this, maybe allowing him to come to an arrangement to pay the relevant sum by instalments.

 

What Spikey_Ben should not do, is ignore this and hope it goes away. It won't, now they know where you live. If you want information about Bailiff powers, read the Advice Now link contained in earlier post. They are apparently really helpful.

[angry cat]

As stated prior, the OP needs to contact the Court in question, immediately;

find out exactly where he/she stands!

 

If it is a Mag. fine, then it should be possible to sort out with the fines office?