Cheers, yes I will do. I will get him to contact the HDT for that paperwork, then.

Thank you! Interesting reading. Yes, I couldn't imagine they'd be so innocent as to never risk a little false submission here and there of the paperwork.

Well, as he has chronic fatigue syndrome and is very ill, I think I'd rather help him. Quite frankly, I don't give a toss if "TV licence payers" dislike those who don't pay the stat fee, that is irrelevant and not a very helpful comment..

Thank you very much also for your help and replies! The debt had already gone to the enforcement agency, being Marstons, yes. I keep asking my partner did he sign a form, and he is saying over and over that he did not. Would we be able to ask the court to produce that form, if it exists? In the Freedom of Information Act, potentially?

No, when he paid the first instalment in early September, he agreed a payment plan WITH Marstons on the phone. They gave him seven days from after his next payday (25 Sept) to pay the final instalment. He paid this in full within those seven days. There was nothing owing, he has paid according to the plan he had agreed with them. With the visit on Sunday, they were trying to tell my partner that he had not paid the second instalment. He showed them his online bank statement as proof.

Yes sorrry - as per other other post, the original fine was actually £340 - so then the second letter with the £415 fee would have been correct with £75 added. He made a payment to them in early September of around £135, then after his next pay day at the end of September he paid them the final amount (he actually overpaid by £10 by accident!). These payments were to Marston's, not the court.

No one. He did not sign a form. He said something to the guy along the lines of "why would I pay for a licence to watch and support the likes of Jimmy Saville?" And then told him to do one. The form was not produced. So, unless the guy actually signed it unlawfully himself?? Or the court went ahead without that form?

Thanks for this very helpful response. Yes, he was very genuinely unaware of the conviction. He told me he does remember the visit from the officer before he moved addresses, but he absolutely did not sign any form. He just told him to "do one", in a nutshell. Definitely no form signing. He contacted the historic debt team after the second Marston's letter, which was the beginning of September this year. I'm aware we're out of the 21 day limit for a statutory declaration, but my partner was also diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome by a specialist this summer, as well as having recent extended time off work with stress for other reasons, so there are mitigating factors for extending the limit (I hope). The original fine (with costs and 'victim surcharge') was £340, and the court statement from the HDT says the case was "proved in absence". The statement says that on 04/11/2013 he used a TV without a licence at the address. His last rent payment to that address was in December 2013. The "proved in absence" date was 19/04/2014. Thanks for any further help.

Thank you BankFodder for your response. "Are you sure that this isn't a second separate matter?" Absolutely sure. They informed my boyfriend of the full debt (£415) and told him that he had set up a 'payment plan' with them, but had only paid half it. They informed of the same amount of money that they thought he owed, that he had actually paid in the second instalment (actually, he had paid Marston £10 more by accident, so they in fact owe him £10 back, in the least!). This is only the one 'debt' and yes, I am pretty sure Marstons don't care if it was never a debt he should have had in the first place. The only correspondence received were the two letters of enforcement, showing the £350 and then the £415.

But isn't the issue more that if he wasn't at the address to receive the court order, then if a fine is imposed for something that the person did not know about, it is invalid? So essentially, he shouldn't have to prove anything other than that he had moved out of that address, and therefore never knew about the fine? This information below is from another website: "Court fines, HMCTS Historic Debt team. You received an unexpected demand about an old court fine. HM Court Service introduced a policy in 2017 reviving old unpaid court fines and started tracing debtors to recover them. If you received an unexpected demand about a fine you knew nothing about, the law says the proceedings are invalid. Section 14 of the Magistrates Courts Act 1980 states: 14 Proceedings invalid where accused did not know of them. (1)Where a summons has been issued under section 1 above and a magistrates’ court has begun to try the information to which the summons relates, then, if— (a)the accused, at any time during or after the trial, makes a statutory declaration that he did not know of the summons or the proceedings until a date specified in the declaration, being a date after the court has begun to try the information; and (b)within 21 days of that date the declaration is served on the designated officer for the court, without prejudice to the validity of the information, the summons and all subsequent proceedings shall be void. (2)For the purposes of subsection (1) above a statutory declaration shall be deemed to be duly served on the designated officer if it is delivered to him, or left at his office, or is sent in a registered letter or by the recorded delivery service addressed to him at his office. (3)If on the application of the accused it appears to a magistrates’ court (which for this purpose may be composed of a single justice) that it was not reasonable to expect the accused to serve such a statutory declaration as is mentioned in subsection (1) above within the period allowed by that subsection, the court may accept service of such a declaration by the accused after that period has expired; and a statutory declaration accepted under this subsection shall be deemed to have been served as required by that subsection."

In a nutshell, we ended up forking out £415 to Marstons for a 'debt' that wasn't owed, out of fear of it escalating and not being able to prove otherwise. After a recent visit from the bailiffs - even though my boyfriend paid up - we are now wondering if there is a way to get the money back? My boyfriend received a letter of enforcement to my house (where he now lives) about 3 months ago, saying he owed £350 for a debt that he had no idea about. He ignored it (unknown to me at the time), then he got another letter with the fee up to £415, I told him to deal with it, out of fear of bailiffs knocking on my door. He called them up and they told him to contact the historic debt office. It appeared he was fined in 2013 for nonpayment of a TV licence, as a court decision (he had left the property) was made in his absence and fined him. As we didn't know how he could have proved he didn't have a TV, and had no idea that we could have appealed this, to get them off our backs and to stop the charges going up, my boyfriend just paid the fine. He did it in two installments as we don't have much money. We thought that it was over, then yesterday we got a knock at 10am on Sunday morning from Marston bailiffs, saying he still owed money, and they were putting even more charges on top. He showed them the bank statement of the final payment, and they said they would check it out and went away. It has made me really angry that even after paying money that wasn't owed, they still came round harassing us. I have no idea if they will be back, but I have since found out that the fine was invalid anyway. I am wondering what we can do about this? I want to fight them now, it is so unfair that this is happening and they got money out of us that they shouldn't have done, just because we were scared. Thanks for any help/advice.

Thanks for your reply Mr Shed. I don't have the actual title deeds in my possession as they are with the mortgage company, I believe. Can I find this information from the Title register available from the Land Registry's online service?

Hello there, I'm new here and not entirely sure I'm posting this query in the right place, but I'm guessing/hoping someone might be able to help here due to the nature of my query. I bought my terraced home in Nov 1999 and only upon completion (since the solicitor had omitted to inform me of this) did I realise that I was responsible for not only paying my own ground rent, but for collecting and paying the rents of the other additional 7 properties on my street. I have done this until now thinking I had no choice, and not even considering taking action against my solicitor for negligence, but I have really come to the end of my tether with it and am hoping for a way out. Sometimes I don't manage to collect all the ground rents, and I end up paying them myself because it is just easier than keep knocking on the doors! Also, the management agent issues the demand for the ground rents haphazardly, meaning often the bill is for around 3 years worth of ground rent, for all 8 homes including mine. It still isn't vast sums of money, but I don't see why I should end up paying for those who don't pay. And ultimately, I'm finding my 'unpaid job' a little tiresome when there are so many other things going on that provide enough stress in life! I have had enough of knocking on the doors of all my neighbours to collect monies I don't always receive, and have a current bill waiting to be paid. I know I should have gone down the negligence route on the solicitor's part years ago and that time is passed - but wondering if anyone has any idea of what might be a possible way out for me?