Hello

I am desperate for some help or advice! My bf and I live together and he has been sent a notice of distress warrant for an unpaid magistrates fine...

firstly neither of us know what on earth this could be for, we haven't been asked to go to court yet have not paid a magistrates fine!!!

Neither of our cars are registered here, and the council tax is in both our names so it is strange they have address this letter directly to my bf,

Can bailiffs take your goods for an unpaid magistrates fine if we have not received an invitation to go to court???? It seems very strange!

The amount on the letter is £265 but when I log onto Phillips website it says £340!!

We are going mad here and no one is open (didn't get the letter til today as was out all yesterday)

x

And also.....

The letter demands payment within 7 days but neither the letter or the envelope is date stamped so how does this leave us??

Thank you, we are going to do that tomorrow. What I was hoping to find out is if it is possible for a bailiff to take on a non payment of magistrates fine, if we have never been summonsed to court?

It seems very unfair as to put it with the bailiff incurs all sorts of costs when we haven't been given the opportunity to pay it at court.

i know the stat dec will alleviate it from the bailiffs but I want to know if this is legally correct the way they have acted. x

The amount on the letter is £265 but when I log onto Phillips website it says £340!!

NEVER log on to a bailiffs website. They nab your fingerprints and record your IP address and they infer that as acknowledgement of the fine and fees.

Bailiffs cannot charge you "fees" for collecting an unpaid fine. http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex345.pdf On page 3 under Magistrates courts. It says bailiffs are not allowed to charge you more than the amount you are fined.

This is an official advisory says there is an agreed scale of fees which bailiffs can charge, however that is by way of a contract between HMCS and the bailiff. There is nothing in that contract that says it can be charged to the debtor, and in any event, there is no contract (or court order) obligating the debtor to pay any fees. The HMCS contract allows the bailiff to deduct the fee from the fine collected and the balance is paid to HMCS.

There are plenty of examples to backup this position:

This poster contacted the Magistrates court manager about a bailiff (Phillips) who charged her "fees" for collecing an unpaid fine - and miraculously, Phillips made the fees disappear,

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bailiffs-sheriff-officers/229873-help-philips.html#post2547500

And this poster recovered his fees from the bailiffs for a Bus Lane fine after filing a Form N1 in the county court naming the bailiffs as the defendant. The bailiffs refunded all the fees, but only on condition of no adverse publicity against them.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bailiffs-sheriff-officers/254610-n244-county-court-action-2.html

This confirms bailiffs do know the official position on charging fees on to the debtor, - and are aware of the criminal liability if they are caught. See Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 and Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970.

Hello

 

I am desperate for some help or advice! My bf and I live together and he has been sent a notice of distress warrant for an unpaid magistrates fine...

 

firstly neither of us know what on earth this could be for, we haven't been asked to go to court yet have not paid a magistrates fine!!!

 

Neither of our cars are registered here, and the council tax is in both our names so it is strange they have address this letter directly to my bf,

 

Can bailiffs take your goods for an unpaid magistrates fine if we have not received an invitation to go to court???? It seems very strange!

 

The amount on the letter is £265 but when I log onto Phillips website it says £340!!

 

We are going mad here and no one is open (didn't get the letter til today as was out all yesterday)

 

x

It is likely that a sumons had been sent to a previous address. Many of these unpaid court FINES are from years ago. You will need to find out which court issued the fine and if the information confirms that a summons had been sent which your b/f had not received then he can simply file a Statutory Declaration which will can cancel all enforcement.

PS: The difficult part with these fines is trying to establish the issuing court.

Thanks all

We found out what it was, someone used my boyfriend name EIGHT years ago to bunk a train. He now has to go to court to prove it wasn't him!

The whole thing has been put on hold for 28 days til it gets sorted, nightmare and so ****ed off that they just sent that threatening letter without trying to establish it was for the right person. He has a really common surname too, like discovering there is a joe bloggs on so and so street lets send them a distress warrant, bastards!!!

xxx