Bailiffs turning up with no previous notice of CCJ

[thecornflake]

I heard this second-hand from my wife so some facts may be missing, but I need some adice on what notice should have been given at what stages.

 

My brother-in-law was apparently pulled over a while ago for having those chavvy blue lights on his car. The police said they would let him off this time, not to do it again etc...(no other witnesses in the car I believe)

 

So yesterday bailiffs turn up at his house (he lives with his mum and he was out at work) asking for about £350. They had a court judgement and it sounds like the police did prosecute and enforced the fine. The bailiffs turning up was the first notice he'd had since the pulling over (he says anyway).

They got hold of mis mobile number from someone at the house and calle dhim at work asking for payment. He said he didn't have the money available and anyway he was at work.

His mum eventually paid the fine as she knows that bailiffs add charges for every visit etc.

 

Now I think, ignoring what the police said when they pulled him over, he should have at least had -

 

A notice of impending court action with an option to defend

Notice of the (presumably) default judgement

Notice from the bailiffs before they attend (I checked the law - it's 7 days)

An option to pay back in installments when they attended (not sure if this was offered though.

 

Can anyone confirm any of this? I'm frankly dubious about the police letting him off, and to be fair I don't know for certain that he didn't recieve any notification - he has a habit of ignoring debts. But I promised his mum I'd look into it so any advice is welcome.

[alanfromderby]

I would tend to go along with your gut feelings in this - the story certainly does not hold together.

 

One thing that does seriously worry me is that a bailiff would call over a police/criminal matter. In the case of non-payment of a fine, the police would be calling to arrest the individual - not a bailiff!

[BotB]

If the police had prosecuted, your brother in law would have had a conviction and a fine, not a county court judgement. Non-payment of fines are dealt with by issuing warrants to arrest the non-payer. There's no bailiff involvement.

 

It sounds to me as though this is something else completely - maybe a parking ticket penalty?

[Movingon]

Sounds to me like a [problem] artist - i.e. a criminal offence...

[thecornflake]

Sounds to me like a [problem] artist - i.e. a criminal offence...

 

That was my first thought, but then how did they know about the incident with the lights on the car??? And they apparently had a pice of paper from the court although that could have easily been fake.

[thecornflake]

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