Hi, I've got an odd problem here, hope I can get some advice.

3 years ago the crown court ordered me to pay £500 towards court fees, I agreed to pay and they gave me a telephone number to phone to make payment. At the time I was receiving J.S.A whilst looking for work (benefit payments while unemployed.)

When I phoned the number they told me that seen as I was on J.S.A they will only deduct £100 a month from my J.S.A every month effective from my next payment. I agreed and that was the end of that, or so I thought.

6 months went by and I was offered a job abroad teaching English, I agreed to take it and got ready to leave and seen as I was moving I canceled my benefit payments etc.

I moved right away however a good year after the move I got a phone call from a friend who had gone around to my old flat to pick up my mail telling me I had received a bunch of bailiff letters stating that I ow well over £2,000 pounds to some bailiff company due to non-payment of the £500 to the court.

Now I know I agreed for the £500 to be deduced from my J.S.A whilst I was there and I know I was on J.S.A long enough (6 months) for the full payments to have been deducted but clearly something went wrong so I checked my online bank statements and the full J.S.A payments where paid into my account with no deductions.

Now I don't mind simply paying the £500 right away, I was just going to phone the court house and give them my credit card details to deduct the £500 however I found out by doing some basic googling that because the bailiff company has taken over I will have to pay them the full amount, and only after the bailiffs fees are paid the courts fees will be paid, which I refuse to do.

I haven't phoned the bailiff company or the court just yet, I thought I'd ask here first just to make sure I take the right steps at tackling this as I know bailiffs are very crafty with wording and I wouldn't want to deal with them incorrectly.

Any suggestions on how to go about this? I really don't want to owe any money to the courts I'm pretty sure that's a serious offense.

Thanks!

you need to prove it was their error that the deductions from JSa didn't take place

then you should not, IMHO, be responsible for any bailiff action or resultant 'fees'

dx

you need to prove it was their error that the deductions from JSa didn't take place

then you should not, IMHO, be responsible for any bailiff action or resultant 'fees'

 

 

dx

However I am half way across the world How do I do the above? Also thinking about it, it was only a phone call that probably lasted 5 minutes, how do I prove what was said? I just went through the folder I kept all the paperwork in and I couldn't find any letters in there regarding an agreement for the £100 monthly repayments.

I may actually come back for a few weeks later next month to visit friends and family etc, how would I go about this whilst I'm there? I doubt I can sort it out that quick.

Plus wouldn't that just give the bailiffs an excuse to chase me around?

Thanks!

I would want to know how they have turned this into so much. Be well worth asking for a breakdown. Sounds the sort of thing Rossendales may try.

I would want to know how they have turned this into so much. Be well worth asking for a breakdown. Sounds the sort of thing Rossendales may try.

Is it a good idea to contact the bailiff company? I thought I'd avoid them at all costs but from what I read on the internet if I even paid the court directly, the money gets sent to the bailiff company first.

Hmm.

email?

"From:

My Name

My Address

.

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

.

Ref: Account No: 123456

.

Dear Sir

.

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

.

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were certificated .

e - the date of the Certification.

.

This is not a Subject access request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

.

I require this information within 14 days.

.

Yours faithfully

.

Ripped off customer"

Thanks DX,

Can I not ignore the bailiffs all together for a few more years then contact the court after the 6 year period? I'm sure by then I won't be forced to pay them anything and that way I can just pay the 500 owed straight to the court?

Thanks again!

Thanks DX,

 

Can I not ignore the bailiffs all together for a few more years then contact the court after the 6 year period? I'm sure by then I won't be forced to pay them anything and that way I can just pay the 500 owed straight to the court?

 

Thanks again!

I don't think a Court Fine "vanishes" after 6 years, like civil debt.

If you live abroad, then presumably you don't have any levyable goods in the UK, ie TV's and so on, so there is not a huge amount the Bailiff can do, except with permission of the Court try and make you bankrupt. Otherwise as the situation stands, they will have to return the debt to the Court as Null Bono.

It might be worth contacting the Court and seeing if they will allow you to pay the original fine - with you outside the UK there is nothing the bailiff's can do, except try and make you bankrupt (if they know you own your flat - do you?)