Marston Group Bailiff - Distress Warrant, Locksmith and Police!

[helpme23]

Can anyone advise on this one?

 

I was visited a number of weeks ago by Marston Group foran unpaid court fine amounting to £175. Marston added on to this another £300in fees and charges, they posted a letter through my door in my absence. Ispoke to the court at the time and offered them payment but they refused toaccept because it was with the bailiffs but I was told by the court that theBailiffs would hand it back to them if they did not receive payment (DistressWarrant), so paid nothing and waited for it to be handed back as at this pointthe bailiffs fees would be removed.

 

This morning, I had three bailiffs arrive with alocksmith - the locksmith continued to try and pick locks both at the front andback of the house, so I called the police who arrived quite quickly - thebailiff had called the police himself before his visit to warn them he would bebreaking in to the property (they had not entered the property previously).

 

The policeman spoke firstly with the bailiffs and then came over to me and said"Pay them or I will arrest you", when asked why I would be arrestedhe answered "Breach of the Peace" - now I hadn't threatened anyone orraised my voice at all throughout the whole time. I have read on-line conflicting views as towhether a bailiff can force entry to a property for a unpaid court fine(Driving offence), but both the bailiff and the police said they could and thepolice said that once I had been arrested the bailiffs would enter in myabsence and I would be spending the day in the cells. It really did feel as thoughthe police had only attended to encourage me to pay, so I did, with the view Iwould fight this later - at which point Marston Group increased the debt by afurther £140 to cover the locksmith.

 

I have spoke to both the court and the police again todaywho have both stated that the bailiff did have power to force entry on theoriginal warrant, so I have the following questions:-

 

· Can the Bailiffs force entry on a distresswarrant without returning it to court and applying for a separate warrantallowing them to force entry?

 

· Could/Should the policeman have threatened mewith arrest and was he correct in acting the way he did?

 

· Should the court of accepted payment when Icalled them to offer it to them?

 

Okay, i'm not blameless, I should have paid at the time Iwas fined, but life is not always that simple and I did have good reason forlate payment, I had to borrow the money to pay this morning! I believed fromnumerous forums/etc. on-line that bailiffs could not enter my premises but thismorning, if the bailiffs and police are correct, this obviously is not thecase!

[sgtbush]

Bailiffs have different powers according to the debt or fine. things like council tax etc are civil debt, yours however is a fine, not a debt from the magistrates courts

 

 

in short to your questions

1. Yes, the magistrates court act and the DVCV act allows this

2. there is more than your saying here, but if this is excatly what happened no, but they are their to prevent a breach of the peace

3. they can accept a payment thru the automatic payment line but the admin fee is patable (£85) this is in statute law and the £215 attandance fee is recoverable under reasonable costs of keeping and enforcing the warrant. that is in the command from the judge.. ie i hearby command you and all officers of Marstons etc

 

you pay all reasonable costs of any additional work needed, ie locksmiths, this is commanded in the warrant.

 

and in answer to your question that the warrant would of been returned to court if you did not pay, it is only returned to court if their are vunrability issues, if they cannot find you or its returned nulla bona ( no assets), this seems not to be the case here and even if it was, the court could then issue a warrant of commital for you which may lead to a custodial sentence for non payment of a magistrates court fine.

 

so your only gripe is with what the police officer said to you really, but you would have to make a complaint to the police about this, not the court or bailiffs

[tomtubby]

I will respond when I get home but in the meantime would you mind posting back to let us know the following:

 

Did you make any payment at all the court in relation to the court fine?

 

After receiving the initial visit did you WRITE to Marston Group maybe to complain at the fees charged?

 

Since receiving the initial visit have you made any contact at all with either the Court or Marston Group (either by letter or phone)?

 

Did you send a letter to the court maybe to complain etc?

 

Final question......when you spoke to the court today did they confirm that they had told you NOT to pay and wait for the warrant to be returned.

[tomtubby]

Also, how much did you pay today?

[helpme23]

Thank you.... notes below:-

 

Yes, the original debt was near £2000, the rest was paid directly to the court BEFORE Marstons became involved.

 

No I didn't write to Marstons, I was advised by the court that if I didn't answer the door they would return it to the court.

 

I contacted the court the day after the first visit to offer payment, they refused and said I needed to speak to Marstons IF I wanted to pay. The court confirmed today they had that call on their records. I did also write to the court at the same time, but they have denied receiving (Should have sent recorded I know!)

 

They didn't confirm they told me NOT to pay today, only that I had called to make payment.

 

I paid the full O/S balance today £635

[helpme23]

Bailiffs have different powers according to the debt or fine. things like council tax etc are civil debt, yours however is a fine, not a debt from the magistrates courts

 

 

in short to your questions

1. Yes, the magistrates court act and the DVCV act allows this

2. there is more than your saying here, but if this is excatly what happened no, but they are their to prevent a breach of the peace

3. they can accept a payment thru the automatic payment line but the admin fee is patable (£85) this is in statute law and the £215 attandance fee is recoverable under reasonable costs of keeping and enforcing the warrant. that is in the command from the judge.. ie i hearby command you and all officers of Marstons etc

 

you pay all reasonable costs of any additional work needed, ie locksmiths, this is commanded in the warrant.

 

and in answer to your question that the warrant would of been returned to court if you did not pay, it is only returned to court if their are vunrability issues, if they cannot find you or its returned nulla bona ( no assets), this seems not to be the case here and even if it was, the court could then issue a warrant of commital for you which may lead to a custodial sentence for non payment of a magistrates court fine.

 

so your only gripe is with what the police officer said to you really, but you would have to make a complaint to the police about this, not the court or bailiffs

 

That is exactly what happened, the Police Officer said he wasn't interested in anything I had to say, he knew the law, the bailiffs were a professional outfit and not a bunch of cowboys and he would arrest me if I didn't pay them or let them in to remove goods as I would be breaching the peace - I spoke to them again after the bailiffs left and he repeated the above (2 officers attended, 1 hardly spoke).

[sgtbush]

then you should make a complaint to the police then

[tomtubby]

What I am trying to establish is WHY the bailiff company sent THREE bailiffs to the property TOGETHER with a locksmiths AND the police after simply making ONE initial visit (when you were not at home) and where there has been no contact at all with you since that time !!

 

If this is the case then I have to be honest and say to you that this is VERY serious indeed and is very worrying for ALL other debtors.

 

You say that you wrote to the court and that they are saying that they have not received your letter. What was the basis of your letter and did you complain at the fees etc etc.

[helpme23]

What I am trying to establish is WHY the bailiff company sent THREE bailiffs to the property TOGETHER with a locksmiths AND the police after simply making ONE initial visit (when you were not at home) and where there has been no contact at all with you since that time !!

 

If this is the case then I have to be honest and say to you that this is VERY serious indeed and is very worrying for ALL other debtors.

 

You say that you wrote to the court and that they are saying that they have not received your letter. What was the basis of your letter and did you complain at the fees etc etc.

 

That is what happened, unfortunately I have had dealings with Marstons in the past (about 4 months ago), and complained to them when they clamped a Hire Car and refused to remove it for 2 hours, it was a different bailiff - but strangely they both had the same name! So unless they have just decided to bring in the heavies because of that?? It was just a complaint, never progressed to a Form 4...

 

The complaint to the court was based around charges and the involvement of the bailiffs in the first place (as I had made payments and offered payment to clear the balance).

 

Just to note - I called the police in, not them - but when I did I found out they had already called them to log a visit.

[danmcr]

It's a bit strange that 3 bailiffs would attend, Marstons would no do this without cause as it costs them to do this and none of the Bailiffs will make a penny in commision if it's split three ways.

[helpme23]

It was OTT, I haven't been aggressive towards them in the past, haven't called threatening them - literally didn't speak to them at all! The only things I can think that may have caused such a response is if the court handed my letter across to them, or I really p****d them off with the last complaint?

[tomtubby]

The only things I can think that may have caused such a response is if the court handed my letter across to them, or I really p****d them off with the last complaint?

.

 

.

 

 

When sending your letter to the court did you by any chance copy information from another forum?

 

When complaining about the fees did you state that the fees were "fraudulant" or that the warrant was "fake"?

[helpme23]

No, I know the fees are genuine, I questioned why they were required when I had already offered payment and the warrant could not of been fake as I had already spoke to the court and had not seen a copy of it.

 

Either way the court are denying receiving that letter, so if the action today was because of it - that would be fairly corrupt of the court?

[tomtubby]

Thank you for your answer.

 

Just so that there are no mistake........

 

You had a large court fine which had mostly been paid to the court and I would assume that you had defaulted and the Fines Officer then issued a Distress Warrant to Marston Group. You haven't mentioned receiving an initial letter but in your first post stated that a personal visit had been made when you were not at home and that a letter had been left.

 

In post number 11 you state that you have "literally" haven's spoken to Marston"

 

Next you wrote to the court and the only complaint made was that the fees should not be applied as you had offered to make payment to the court.

 

The court in any event have told you that they have not received a letter.

 

Since receiving the personal visit at your home a few weeks ago there has been no contact made at all either with Marston Group OR the Court.

 

And then 2 days ago 3 bailiffs attended WITH a locksmith and starting picking the locks ( and before arriving had called the police to advise them of their intended action).

 

If the above is correct then there can be little doubt that this is very serious indeed for all other fine defaulters.

 

On the matter of whether another warrant is required or the actions of the police....I will address this in a separate post.

[helpme23]

Thank you for your answer.

 

Just so that there are no mistake........

 

You had a large court fine which had mostly been paid to the court and I would assume that you had defaulted and the Fines Officer then issued a Distress Warrant to Marston Group. You haven't mentioned receiving an initial letter but in your first post stated that a personal visit had been made when you were not at home and that a letter had been left.

 

In post number 11 you state that you have "literally" haven's spoken to Marston"

 

Next you wrote to the court and the only complaint made was that the fees should not be applied as you had offered to make payment to the court.

 

The court in any event have told you that they have not received a letter.

 

Since receiving the personal visit at your home a few weeks ago there has been no contact made at all either with Marston Group OR the Court.

 

And then 2 days ago 3 bailiffs attended WITH a locksmith and starting picking the locks ( and before arriving had called the police to advise them of their intended action).

 

If the above is correct then there can be little doubt that this is very serious indeed for all other fine defaulters.

 

On the matter of whether another warrant is required or the actions of the police....I will address this in a separate post.

 

That's all correct apart from the bailiffs arrived yesterday