Collectica Bailiffs, old paid speeding fine, visit turned nasty! - for their FEES only - help please

[ws71]

Hi everyone, this is my first post but felt I had to come on here to get help and share my experience.

 

I was pounced upon on monday but two bully boy bailiffs from Collectica while home on my lunch break.

I originally told my Wife to tell them I wasnt in as I needed to leave to return to work,

but when they wouldnt divulge info to my Wife about what it was about that they were here,

my Wife said they were not coming in and tried to close the door.

 

Both bailiff stuck their boots in the door and tried to force there way in.

 

I then ran to help to be met with patronising comments "oh what a surprise. .! Mr Swift is in after all"

I continued to hold the door and the force of the two bullies resulted in breaking the door frame.

The didnt care that my daughter and Wife were in tears, and threatened to tow my car if I didnt pay £300 cash straight away.

 

I kept telling them that I didnt owe money as id paid the speeding fine last year.

They said I still owed their own charges and I said "how? When I paid the debt in full"

 

They kept saying "tough, you owe the money"

They kept trying to intimidate me by saying they were videoing me, and I said carry on! Ive done nothing wrong.

Luckily, my Wife has videod them!

 

Repeatedly violently pushing the door and breaking it, despite my Wife and Daughter being upset.

 

They said they COULD force entry as it was a "magistrates warrant" and I told them that I knew how bailiffs worked and they had no powers.

This made them more angry and they apparently made a call to come and tow my car which I need for work-

 

. We eventually had to scrape the money together just to get rid if them and we are now in debt.

 

Ive since spoken to ghe court and they confirmed that Collectics SHOULD NOT BE CHASING MONEY as I do not owe anything.

 

They are refunding the money god knows when, by cheque which will take time to clear,

and ive lost half a days pay at work and have a broken door to boot plus the stress!

 

I want compensation from these ******s. Any advice please?

[renegadeimp]

You need to make FULL complaints and you really should have called the police. Putting their foot in your door is a very big mistake.

[tomtubby]

I would suggest that TODAY you speak with the court to ascertain the following:

 

What date did they receive payment from you?

 

What date was a Distress Warrant issued?

 

What date was the warrant passed to Collectica Ltd?

 

 

The above questions are to ascertain WHO is at fault....the Magistrate Court or Collecita Ltd.

 

 

With this debt do you remember receiving any letters from Collectica Ltd and if so, did you speak with them?

 

Did you pay the debt AFTER receiving a letter from Collectica?

 

Can you post back after you have spoken with the court.

[toofiegap]

call the police and show them your wifes video evidence and get them arrested for criminal damage (door) and demanding money with menaces, I would

[ws71]

You need to make FULL complaints and you really should have called the police. Putting their foot in your door is a very big mistake.

That was another thing! I think they double bluffed me. I threatened to call the police and they kept saying "carry on. You don't have a leg to stand on" I didn't really know whether calling the Police would have made it worse or not. I'd love it if I could demand the two bailiffs to return and pay me the cash. Acj so I could laugh in their faces!

[BankFodder]

You must report it to the police - but firstly make more than one copy of the video and store the original somewhere safe - and don't let anyone have the original - not even the police. If anyone insists that you let them have the original, you must refuse but say that you will be happy to produce it in court under oath.

 

If you decide at some point to instruct a lawyer then you can let them have the original but you want a proper written receipt for it.

 

After that use one of your copies as a master copy and supply copies of that to police or anyone else who needs one.

 

I suggest that you send an SAR to Collectica. You really need to get all the paperwork on the case to see whether any proper authority had been granted to them to do the collection at all.

 

Do you know the names of the bailiffs? Complain to the court about them - in writing and also to whichever court has certificated them.

 

Take photos of all damage and get your self and your wife to write independent detailed statements of what happened. Keep the originals of these and store them in the same way as the video.

 

It sounds serious enough to go directly for a form 4 - but I would advise against this and instead go for a trespass action against them. Once you have your judgment, then if the judge's comments are scathing enough you will be able to begin a form 4 application to have their certificates removed without any fear of losing.

 

These bailiffs are likely to be slippery and it might be better for you to sue Collectiva directly - or even the court if it can be shown that they were legitimately acting for the court. That would cause a crisis of confidence between Collectiva and their client which is what is needed in order to produce higher standards and great accountability.

 

Any chance you could email us a copy of the video?

[BankFodder]

Also, you should get two independent quotes for the repairs.

 

From what you say it was a shocking situation. If you sue for trespass, I would suggest a claim for the cost of repairs, damages for the trespass and the distress caused up to £5000 and aggravated/punitive damages in the discretion of the court.

[brassnecked]

Agree with BF, you must archive the video, and keep the original, if it is on a phone copy it to a hard drive , on your PC, and also to a couple of USB sticks, it will be small enough to burn to a CD as a datafile also, depending what it was filmed with. Above all do NOT edit or otherwise enhance the footage, it will have a Time/date encoded into the file showing when it was recorded, . if you edit it the output file will show that you have edited it in it's properties.

[ws71]

Thanks to all so far for the replies,

I'll endeavor to answer all individually tonight,

 

however I'm very angry at collectica's response to my phone call this morning.

 

I had to put in a random account number to even get to speak to anyone as my own account gave an automated response that account was paid in full and I then got cut off!

 

They are also telling me that I will get a refund by cheque (yet more inconvenience) and it won't be till the end of the month!

Which is more inconvenience as we will now be late with our rent payments!

Can they do this?!

 

I was also told I couldn't speak to a manager, booked could request a call back within 24 hours but will only confirm the same things.

I need my money back NOW in CASH! they don't seem bothered or concerned about our treatment

[BankFodder]

Did you record the call? If not then that is mistake no.1

 

You must record all calls or else don't bother to do anything on the phone.

 

In any event you must write to them. tell them that their bailiffs trespassed on your home, caused damage and that you have a video recording of the entire incident.

 

Tell them that you require the names of the two bailiffs and details of their certification court involved and that in any event you will be suing them for the trespass to your property and for the damage.

Tell them also that you are making a complaint of criminal damage to the police.

Tell them that if they will not give you the information you require that you will complain to the MOJ - but actually do that anyway.

 

Once again, any chance that you can send us a copy of the video. You can contact us on our admin email address

[BankFodder]

They will get away with everything unless you stand your ground, play hard-ball and do everything quickly and respond quickly.

[ws71]

They will get away with everything unless you stand your ground, play hard-ball and do everything quickly and respond quickly.

 

What about personal vendettas afterwards? These blokes were nasty peices of work?

[tomtubby]

I would suggest that TODAY you speak with the court to ascertain the following:

 

What date did they receive payment from you?

 

What date was a Distress Warrant issued?

 

What date was the warrant passed to Collectica Ltd?

 

 

The above questions are to ascertain WHO is at fault....the Magistrate Court or Collecita Ltd.

 

 

With this debt do you remember receiving any letters from Collectica Ltd and if so, did you speak with them?

 

Did you pay the debt AFTER receiving a letter from Collectica?

 

Can you post back after you have spoken with the court.

 

.

 

 

I look forward to receiving your responses to the above questions later today...

[brassnecked]

What about personal vendettas afterwards? These blokes were nasty peices of work?

They could end up in jail

[BankFodder]

I don't expect that you need to worry about that. If you take firm official action you will be fine.

It would be too obvious and too serious for them to come back and start causing trouble. It would be a shame if you gave in to this kind of treatment because they will just hand it out to others

[ws71]

.

 

 

I look forward to receiving your responses to the above questions later today...

 

I dont have exact dates, I just know that I paid three monthly installments.

 

First two on time, the last one teo weeks late because it was Christmas.

 

I called and explained to the CFU and they said it was fine and accepted the final payment.

 

I only had a call a month later from Collectica asking for "their charges" so

I told them there shouldnt be any charges as the fine was paid in full and accepted by the court.

They were adamant, and I said I wouldnt be paying anything.

I had a final notice 2 weeks later which I ignored and then nothing for over a month- then the bailiffs turned up on Monday.

 

The court seem to think it was an error on their part as the warrant shouldnt hsve been issued

 

I paid the account well before I heard from Collectica

[ws71]

On another note, cant I demand the money back straight away? Im in debt and shouldnt have to wait another two weeks for my money!

[Peterbard]

I understand this is a distressing experience for you, but you really should have contacted the court today as the very first priority.

 

Please ensure you contact the court FIRST THING tomorrow morning to ascertain the exact date your payment was received,

when a distress warraqnt was issued and when this warrant was passed to Collectica.

 

To be honest, if you were in the process of paying the fine, and you got a letter or other form of contact from a bailiff company,

it is not the sort of thing you would forget.

 

Can you remember this happening?

 

Equally, as I think TomTubby may have said, did you pay the fine to start with because you had been contacted by the bailiffs?

 

These are very important questions.

[ws71]

Hi, no, I paid the fine on time as agreed with the Central Finance Unit at the court. I had no contact from the collection agency until after I had paid the final installment. I'm pretty sure about that

[brassnecked]

Looks like the court messed up then, wrongly putting your case out to bailiffs, you may need to complain to the court manager, or even the Area Courts manager.

[ws71]

So am I not able to demand my cash back straight away? Also, would it be possible to be compensated for loss of half a days work, damage to door, and countless phone calls to various places?

[BankFodder]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?397229-bailiff-visit-turned-nasty!-help-please&p=4289242&viewfull=1#post4289242

[unclebulgaria67]

So am I not able to demand my cash back straight away? Also, would it be possible to be compensated for loss of half a days work, damage to door, and countless phone calls to various places?

 

You can demand it back straight away, but it is a question of what is going to make them jump. Think you need to make a complaint to the courts enforcement manager who instructed these people to visit. Threaten to issue a court claim against the HMCS if this is not resolved quickly.

[Peterbard]

Do you mind me asking which court it was?

[seanamarts]

Please please go to the police and report this. If they take no action then get in touch with the inspector.

 

What these bullies have done is totally against the law and should be treated as such.

 

Get all the info on this as you can and start writing complaints.

 

Please come back if you need any help with this.