Marston at my door for 7yrs old Court fine

[Kingies]

I heard chains rattling at 0630 this am

there was a guy at my car

 

went to the door he said I had unpaid debt of 470 and had to pay or was taking my car and further goods from inside.

 

I'm currently unemployed and can't recall the debt its few added together from 2007.

 

 

I asked je for a copy of the warrant which was headed marston(even though he said Hmcs)

 

 

I then asked for copy of entry

 

 

with that he got shirty and backed off.

 

 

He said he was recording it all, he also pretended to ring Southend court and

 

 

a lady said yes you can remove goods??..

 

 

. That could of been his wife.

 

 

He eventually left as he couldn't give me evidence

 

 

he clamped my car ( which woke me up) and

 

 

left a card saying he had called and said he will re attend with locksmith

Can anyone advise me please

[unclebulgaria67]

So do you have a Magistrates court fine outstanding ? This would be the only reason they should talk about forcing entry to your house. It is only for outstanding criminal fines and after Magistrates consent, that they can force entry.

 

You should have had notice given to you beforehand, giving you 7 days, before they attended. What have you received from Marstons previously ?

[Sparks_]

So do you have a Magistrates court fine outstanding ? This would be the only reason they should talk about forcing entry to your house. It is only for outstanding criminal fines and after Magistrates consent, that they can force entry.

 

You should have had notice given to you beforehand, giving you 7 days, before they attended. What have you received from Marstons previously ?

 

Can they do this 7 years after the fine was given?

[unclebulgaria67]

Can they do this 7 years after the fine was given?

 

Yes if it is a court fine that was not paid.

[Kingies]

Don't recall any letter he is now sat outside my house with a locksmith he says and has been driving up and down for 30 minutes I rang the court I owe 162 from an old debt

[Kingies]

He's very intimerdating has shown me no papered to say he can enter he now says he waiting for tow truck and police

[unclebulgaria67]

Don't recall any letter he is now sat outside my house with a locksmith he says and has been driving up and down for 30 minutes I rang the court I owe 162 from an old debt

 

You can go to the magistrates to make a declaration that you have not received any notice of enforcement for any fine outstanding and that you will settle the court fine. As for any fees that may be due to Marstons, ask Magistrates to clarify, if they accept your declaration and payment of the outstanding fine.

[Kingies]

The police turned up said he was legit. Even though no paperwork given to me bill increased to 592 as he standing their as they were going to enter house so I had to give him my rent money offered 200 he refused offered 300 he refised... Gutted!!! What horrible people

[dx100uk]

why did you not pay YOUR fine when you should have?

 

 

dx

[josephbloggs]

The police turned up said he was legit. Even though no paperwork given to me bill increased to 592 as he standing their as they were going to enter house so I had to give him my rent money offered 200 he refused offered 300 he refised... Gutted!!! What horrible people

 

just to make you aware kingies,

the enforcement agent doesnt need to carry the warrant with him,

only the details sufficient to enforce the warrant.

 

the warrant of control allows for forced entry,

this is defined in the HMCTS Forced Entry Protocol.

 

as you have seen for yourself today,

marstons acting on behalf of the magistrates can force entry by using a locksmith

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

Yes, its not a nice position to be in but YOU had an unpaid criminal fine that needed to be collected. You either had to pay it or he would remove goods. It doesn't make him a horrible person, just a normal person doing a horrible job. A job that someone has to do.

 

The end all of it is that if you had paid your fine, you wouldn't have had this problem.

You would have had letters sent from the court telling you about this.

You would have had letters sent from the bailiff firm yelling you about this.

Then his attendance where he later withdrew to let you have some space and time to sort the matter. You failed to do so, so he continued to execute the warrant as the courts ask he does.

[lookinforinfo]

As I understand the Act, if the alleged debtor is not at home , then a forced entry cannot be made. In addition, the bailiff appears to have waited

until such time as the Court officials had gone home so that he did not need to have permission from the Court to force entry.

 

It would have helped if the OP had answered the first question put to them as to whether or when they had received a Notice of Enforcement

which requires 7 days clear notice from receipt of that letter before enforcement can take place.

If no notice was given then the EA should not have visited regardless of whatever the OP did or didn't do.

 

Kingies, did you receive a Notice OF Enforcement several day before the EA called? If so, what was the date of the letter and when did you receive it?

If you have changed address in the last seven years, check with the Court to see what address they have been sending your correspondence to.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

As I understand the Act, if the alleged debtor is not at home , then a forced entry cannot be made. In addition, the bailiff appears to have waited

 

until such time as the Court officials had gone home so that he did not need to have permission from the Court to force entry.

 

 

 

It would have helped if the OP had answered the first question put to them as to whether or when they had received a Notice of Enforcement

 

which requires 7 days clear notice from receipt of that letter before enforcement can take place.

 

If no notice was given then the EA should not have visited regardless of whatever the OP did or didn't do.

 

 

 

Kingies, did you receive a Notice OF Enforcement several day before the EA called? If so, what was the date of the letter and when did you receive it?

 

If you have changed address in the last seven years, check with the Court to see what address they have been sending your correspondence to.

He attended at 0630 and then came back at midday....how is that leaving it until no one was in the courts?

 

The debtor was in as the debtor has stated so forced entry was fine on that respect.

 

Yes, enforcement should not have started if a noe had not been sent. However, the ea just has to show that one was sent by the office more than 7 clear days before enforcement started. He does not have to prove its been given/delivered.

[Bailiff Advice]

What needs to be taken on board is that according to HMCTS there are nearly one million criminal court fines outstanding and the government want this money collected. A lot of these fines go back quite a few years.

 

With a court fine a summons would have been sent and whether the debtor appeared at the hearing or not,the sequence of events would be as follows:

 

The court would send a Notice of Fine/ Collection Order outlining the fine that had been set, any costs and Victims Surcharge and details of when payment must be made by.

 

If payment is not made the Fines Officer must by law send a final letter entitled 'Further Steps Notice' warning that unless contact is made within a period of 10 working days that he will authorise any one or more of the 'further steps'....one of which is to issue a Warrant of Control. If no contact is forthcoming from the debtor then the warrant is sent electronically to the enforcement company.

 

Next, the enforcement company must send a Notice of Enforcement to the debtor giving them a period of 14 days (agreed with HMCTS) to make payment proposal.

 

If there is no response to this letter as well the debt is passed to an enforcement agent and his role is to "take control of goods". Given that the debtor would have failed to address all previous letters it is considered by the courts that the debtor has little intention of paying so the enforcement agent is instructed to recover the entire debt and bailiff fees.

 

PS: I am sorry if the above appears harsh but I am merely outlining the facts. The courts are really putting pressure on getting criminal fines paid quickly. As I have said many times, it is so important to tackle bailiff enforcement at the earliest stage possible which should be on receipt of the Notice of Enforcement.

[lookinforinfo]

He attended at 0630 and then came back at midday....how is that leaving it until no one was in the courts?

 

Yes, enforcement should not have started if a noe had not been sent. However, the ea just has to show that one was sent by the office more than 7 clear days before enforcement started. He does not have to prove its been given/delivered.

 

The EA did not attempt to enter the house until 6.30pm.

We do not know if he did have permission from the Court to force entry

but if so there will be a record to that effect.

 

 

If there is no permission it would beg the question as to why it wasn't asked for after all the EA had all day to make the call.

 

One could conjecture that permission would not be given perhaps because of a defective or no NOE;

the address of the warrant was different from the OP's current address; another reason-who knows.

 

In view of the far higher fees available to bailiff companies it is about time that they used a recorded.tracked,signed form of post

instead of using some of these mickey mouse services that take several days to deliver a letter

even assuming that the date on the letter was also the date it was posted.

 

 

Of course tracking the NOE would get in the way of some EAs who do not want the alleged debtor to have any notice at all

[mikeymack2002]

Since there has been a substantial amount of time on this fine have you applied for a means hearing? If not you may be able to ask the Court to hear your current financial standing, they may either allow you time to pay or remit some or all of the debt.

 

 

When was the last time you completed the MC100 form (financial statement of your ability to pay your fine) see attachment

 

 

You should be able to ask the Bench to recall the debt back to the Court, because your ability to pay the fine has most probably changed in this period of time, plus the amount of time that has passed as well could go in your favour.

 

 

Did you receive the further steps notice from the fines officer? could this have gone to the wrong address if you had moved in this time.

 

 

Personally a visit to the Court TODAY is your best option and discuss this account with the Fines Officer. Then tell them how long the time frame has been, then ask to go in font of a Magistrate to view your new MC100 form

 

 

Have you informed the EA that you are on benefits yet? This is covered under the new regs on vulnerable people see here

 

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/debt_w/debt_action_your_creditor_can_take_e/bailiffs_e/complaining_about_bailiffs_e/bailiffs_and_vulnerable_people_e.htm

 

 

or here

 

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bailiffs-and-enforcement-agents-national-standards

[Kingies]

I've never filled in a means form the debt was from a parking bay in 2007 Ive moved twice since then so can only presume ts gone to an old address, just can't see how a 167 fine can go to 592 its ludicrous.yea I understand its a job someone has to do but people commit crimes and get less fines. Anyway fine paid debt collector happy!!!

[unclebulgaria67]

I've never filled in a means form the debt was from a parking bay in 2007 Ive moved twice since then so can only presume ts gone to an old address, just can't see how a 167 fine can go to 592 its ludicrous.yea I understand its a job someone has to do but people commit crimes and get less fines. Anyway fine paid debt collector happy!!!

 

That does not make any sense for a parking bay issue, unless it went to court and you ignored a court order.

 

Marstons could never force entry for something that was not a criminal matter and therefore you would have the right to complain.

 

It is up to you what you do now. But it does not sound like the person from Marstons acted properly and you may be able to get the fees back.

[Bailiff Advice]

I've never filled in a means form the debt was from a parking bay in 2007 Ive moved twice since then so can only presume ts gone to an old address, just can't see how a 167 fine can go to 592 its ludicrous.yea I understand its a job someone has to do but people commit crimes and get less fines. Anyway fine paid debt collector happy!!!

 

I can only assume that you lived in an area of the country that had not at that time opted to decriminalise parking enforcement. Did you receive a Notice of Enforcement from Marston's?