Hi all,

I have just received two letters from Philips stating Notice of Distress Warrant too.

They allege that they are in receipt of a Distress warrant for non-payment of a Magistrates' Fine and they have been instructed by South East London.

Both letters have the same Philips Reference Number, but both are for different amounts (£370.00 and £445.00).

Neither letter has any date on it.

As far as I am aware I have no Magistrates' fines.

I have only ever once had a fine and that was back in about 2000 and was paid off in full.

It was so long ago that I really doubt that I have any evidence that it was paid in full.

I have had absolutely no correspondance before recieving these letters about any fines or Distress Warrent.

What do I do next?

Should I contact Philips?

I'm wary of doing this as I really don't want them to have my telephone number and the calls cost 5 pence per minute!

How do I get the details of any Distress Warrant?

Can I then make a Statutory Declaration at any court?

How long have I got before a bailiff will break into my property?

Can I prevent them from doing this?

Please help.

Many thanks in advance.

Ps. Having just checked Her Majesty's Courts Services Website there doesn't even seem to be a court called South East London! How do I know where this warrant was issued from?

"How long have I got before a bailiff will break into my property?"

Somewhere between a long way off and never. No need to worry if you are in communication with the court / bailiff. Ignore his threats to the contrary. I believe the lattest figures were approx 30 forced entries per year for £1.5 Billion in outstanding fines.

Do not waste your time talking to them on the phone. They will subsequently deny anything that is said in your favor, and make things up like you offered an amount by a certain date etc...

Recorded delivery and e-mail only.

BTW - They can't call on Sundays so relax.

I'm not confident re. fines enforcement, but i believe you are on the right track with the stat. dec. route. Someone who knows better will be along.

These letters are of serious concern and I am aware that there have recently been complaints made to the Office of Fair Trading.

It cannot be right for a company representing HMCS to be allowed to send UNDATED letters with little of no information to identify the supposed debt.

Also, there is NO such court as South East.

I do have a contact number for the relevant office and can post if here late tomorrow/Monday morning.

Please send me a pm if I forget.

Hi Tomhubby,

just read your reply (above) to a similar post to mine.

My undated and uninformative threat letters refer to 'North West London'

Would you have any idea who I should be phoning on Monday morning?

Thanks for your suggestions!

Hi all, I have just recieved two letters from Philips stating Notice of Distress Warrant too. They allege that they are in receipt of a Distress warrant for non-payment of a Magistrates' Fine and they have been instructed by South East London. Both letters have the same Philips Reference Number, but both are for different amounts (£370.00 and £445.00). Neither letter has any date on it.

That suggests they are not genuine.

As far as I am aware I have no Magistrates' fines. I have only ever once had a fine and that was back in about 2000 and was paid off in full. It was so long ago that I really doubt that I have any evidence that it was paid in full. I have had absolutely no correspondance before recieving these letters about any fines or Distress Warrent. What do I do next?

Phone the original court from 2000 and ask if they can shed light.

Should I contact Philips?

In a word - NO, never TELEPHONE A BAILIFF.

I'm wary of doing this as I really don't want them to have my telephone number and the calls cost 5 pence per minute! How do I get the details of any Distress Warrant? Can I then make a Statutory Declaration at any court?

If you can locate the originating court.

How long have I got before a bailiff will break into my property? Can I prevent them from doing this?

Wont happen, and magistrates rarely give permission anyway. Khazanchi & Anor v Faircharm Investments Ltd & Ors [1998] EWCA Civ 471 : On 17 March 1998 Lord Justice Morritt in the High Court ruled that bailiffs having a Walking Possessions Agreement cannot remove anything whilst the debtor is absent unless it is pre-arranged by appointment and with an Order signed by a Judge. The Judge also said in his conclusion,

However it should be noted that in cases such as these there may be a sanction pursuant to Section 1 of the Criminal Damage Act l971. In other cases the provisions of Section 6 of the Criminal Law Act may apply also.

Source: http://vlex.co.uk/vid/ur-judge-cox-52584219

Please help.

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Ps. Having just checked Her Majesty's Courts Services Website there doesn't even seem to be a court called South East London! How do I know where this warrant was issued from?

No such court. the document might be falsified - see Section 40(1)© of the Administration of Justuce Act 1970.

Ok, have tried to get the details of this without contacting the Bailiffs but the courts are saying that they can't help me and that I have to contact the bailiffs to get any information regarding this. All help would be much appreciated as I really don't want to contact the bailiffs by telephone.

Thanks

Hi,

I'm in a very similar boat to you. Here's where I'm at:

Called Enforcement Office for North West London which is at Uxbridge magistrates court

Not sure which area you're under but locating the enforcement office should be easy. They liaise between court and bailiff

They have given me a 21 day reprieve from the bailiffs.

Now I've got enough time to chase the original court for details - however, I had the phone ringing for 3 hours yesterday and they didn't pick up.

I've written my request for info in a letter which will go special delivery tomorrow.

I got a fax number for the court listing office from the enforcement office so I'll also fax it tomorrow.

I will ask to make a Stat Dec and go to court to sort it out.

Spoken to three solicitors - first one said just pay it and be done with it (obviously £600 is peanuts to him)

Another said you'll probably still be held responsible so don't bother.

The last said get a stat dec and go to court or try negotiating for a reduction with bailiffs on basis that if they don't reduce it you'll get a stat dec.

All good fun.....

oh forgot to say -

sent a prove it letter to bailiffs yesterday

Others will know more but that may well ensure they revisit and attempt a levy whether they have the right "J Smith" or not imho, so batten down the hatches in case, and do not answer the door to them if they do, and move any car in use away from the property.

Thought it was best to offer this advice to everyone concerned as my husband has also been through exactly the same thing:

1. Contact your local magistrate office, and go and make a statutory declaration (it's free!!!). Be very nice to whoever you speak to. They are usually sympathetic and can give you a little more information about what the fine is for. In our case, it wasn't right at all.

2. Send a letter of complaint to the named person below:

Vicky Savage Philips Collection Services (Bailiffs)

Faverdale industrial estate

Darlington Co Durham

DL3 0PH

3. Make copies of documents the statutory declaration & complaint letter in 2 above, as well as the letter s received from the bailiffs and send it to the Central Accounting Office of the court in question, along with a letter explaining the situation.

4. You can search on google for the name of the court by typing in south west london magistrate court, or north east london magistrate court etc.

Hope this helps?

PS: I REALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS COMPANY ARE STILL IN OPERATION, GIVEN THAT THEIR PROCESSES ARE 'DODGY'

Hi,

I also have two distress warrants from Phillips regards non-payment of a fine from North West Courts (Uxbridge), both for the same matter, both of them not dated..!!

The mad thing here is that I was paying this fine at £5 per week with one of those 'allpay' payment cards, I admit my payments were a little erratic, though I was £5 in advance where I contacted the Central Accounting Office. What a joke that is nearly one and a half days of trying to contact them, in the end I phoned around to different departments and got another number.!

I got though to someone and informed the person that the fine was being paid and that it was currently in advance, though they informed me that there was this 24 hour default payment system in force and that a distress warrant had been issued due to my arrange payments being in default..!

This was the first time I had heard of this new rule, as I had recently finished paying another fine exactly the same way using the 'allpay' card and my payments were erratic, though the whole fine was paid off on time without any distress warrant issued. So I feel annoyed that this has happened as it seams like another little deceptive trick to catch you out in getting you to paying more money..!!

I have unfortunately contacted the Bailiff's as the person at the Central Accounting Office told me to do so and have begrudgingly agreed to pay a stated amount (non-negotiable) in monthly instalments..!

I saw else where that these distress warrants run out in 180 day and get returned to the courts, which goes back to the original fine amount without the Bailiff's charges on top, is that true..? If it is, could I go back on my word as I never excepted there terms and refuse to pay them and wait for it to go back to the courts..!!

I live in a flat with a security door down stairs and my car is parked on private land, which as I understand they can't touch, the worst that they can do is a clamping order so if they do clamp it I can go out and cut it off..!!

Any advise on this would be grateful..

Thanks..

How were you able to contact the Central Accounting Office? Do you have details?

Here where I am at.

I recently received a letter from Phillips Bailiffs and it is clear that they deliberately send 'Distress Warrants' with scant information so that you cannot make statutory declarations.

I received a distress warrant from Phillips saying that owed £418 from an initial fine of £118. the only other information was that their client was HMRC. After contacting them by letter several times asking for clarification they send the bailiffs around and posted a letter through my door.

I didn't call them. YOU MUST NEVER CALL THEM! I emailed them with a complaint - This is the email.

Dear Sirs,

I have previously written to you to request details of a debt that you are enforcing. Your letter merely states HMCS. This is wholly insufficient and does not provide me with any means in which to make enquiries concerning this alledged debt.

I wish to once again make the point very clear that to you that to the best of my knowledge I do not have an unpaid court fine.

This afternoon I have contacted a Bailiff on-line site and they have advised me that if your company refuse to provide the required details that they will provide the contact details for the relevant HMCS Contract Manager with responsibility to dealing with complaint within the London Area.

Given the seriousness of this matter unless I have a suitable response from your company within 2 days of this email I will be making a formal complaint to the Contracts Manager without any further reference to you. I hope that this will not be necessary.

Yours sincerely

As they don't want to receive a complaint against them it took them ten days to respond with more information. The original fine was in 2004, but the first I knew of it was in 2012. The only other information they gave though was that their client was NW Magistrates. I knew I had to make a stat dec, but when I looked on line there was no NW Magistrates. This thread led me to Uxbridge Magistrates and I arrived bright and early one Monday morning and the kind officials let me make a stat dec that morning. With Phillips off my back I can now buy some time to get to the bottom of the original fine.

Phillips deliberately don't want you to go to court that's why they provide scant information on their letters/warrants. They want to scare you into paying up (mostly their inflated bailiff fees) and it must work with enough to keep them still in business. DON'T FALL FOR THEIR BULLY BOY TACTICS.

I hope this helps someone.

Lisa...thank for posting this information. I had forgotten that I had provided this advice to you !!!!

Good to hear that you have managed to file a Statutory Declaration.