Hi all,

Thanks to anyone who would mind taking the time to read this and advise me if possible.

I received a 2 fines from the magistrates court.

1 for no tv license (fair enough) and

one for driving without insurance (although the car wasn't been driven it was just parked on my street as it was broken down and id transferred my insurance onto a new vehicle.

Taxed to be on the road but didn't realise it had to be insured as well,

my bad but I guess that's by the by).

In the midst of this I was granted a debt relief order and was granted £300 by the official receiver to cover the TV license fine

(strange as that fine was for £200) but left the insurance fine outstanding.

initially as I wasn't working deductions were been made from my benefits.

When I returned to work in January 2017 this stopped

I didn't make any payments as id lost my paperwork and expected to hear from them regarding payments and thought id pick it up from there.

In the meantime I got myself another fine.

( I know, I know but it was cheaper to be found guilty and pay £400 than pay a solicitor to find me not guilty)

I began making payments for this fine immediately.

In mid May I received a letter from the South Yorkshire Enforcement unit giving me one reference number to cover all my fines.

It showed the amount i'd paid and the balance.

(though there was no reference to the £300 that the insolvency officer had written off under the DRO).

Again I continued making payments and have regularly paid £50 a month every since.

In total since April I have paid £560 towards the fines.

Then I received a letter from collectica.

A notice of enforcement.

Showing the correct balance of £883.50 but they have also added on £75 for god knows what.

I rang them and explained to the guy who answered that I had made regular payments to my fines and had been doing since April.

I asked if I could continue making payments at the amount I had been - £50.00.

This was a big no no.

He wanted half the money up front before agreeing to a payment plan.

I explained to him that I had just been discharged from my DRO and that I was very careful with my budgeting.

I tried to explain to him that by paying him more that I could afford

the money would have to come from another pot

i'd be sorting one problem and creating another.

He told me his was a priority debt,

I explained I have no other debt anymore and that this was the only one outstanding

my payment history should clearly show that I am trying my best to clear it.

We went back and forth for about half an hour.

I stood my ground.

I refused to pay anymore than I could afford,

explained that i'm certainly no sat with a 50" T.V on my wall and that if they come to my house the only thing they will find of value is my sons PS4 which is about 3 years old. (and my car which my mum bought me for work, now been parked out of the way of my house.

His final offer was of an initial payment of £280 and a payment plan.

Otherwise I would be charged for bailiffs attendance and get more fees, worst case scenario been arrested.

I told him at this point id welcome a change to plead my case in court.

Although I suspect they would rather just add more fees onto the debt that I have been trying to clear.

I told him this was the most insane act of bullying ever.

They can clearly say I have been making regular and timely payments directly to the court,

now they want to eliminate all that money

I've struggled to pay by sticking it back on in fees meaning that it will take me even longer to pay.

How the hell is that even I thing?!!!!

I told him I may as well have kept all the money I paid so that when they wanted an initial payment I could have made it.

This makes absolutely no sense to me.

I have worked my ass off to get out of debt and despite paying on time they are determined to land me back in it.

I got off the phone and resolved nothing.

He told me I have another few days to agree to his terms before a bailiff will call at my house

(he'll be very disappointed by the nothing of value that I have )

its hassle I just don't need.

I got off the phone and made my due payment of £50 but again to the courts not to collectica.

Does anyone have any advise for me please?

This is infuriating for me that they can see I am not ignoring the fines

I am paying each month yet they seen hell bent on making the debt larger.

Also can anyone advise what to do regarding the £300 the DRO shows they have allowed towards these fines that is not showing on the letter I received from the courts.

Many Thanks

Magistrates fines cannot be included in dmp ivo or bankruptcy or dro.

No tv license is still, unfortunately a criminal offence.

Your payments taken from benefits rightly stop when you re start work for obvious reasons.

Its up to you to re start the payments not them chase you.

The amounts that you have paid have come off your total fines

but since you stopped payments the courts write to you, you have not replied.

They have issued a warrant of control.

This attracted a 75 compliance fee.

This is payable.

You cant get out of this.

They, collectica want the money and since its magistrates court fines they can force entry.

that does not sound great does it.

The courts however have never been in touch with me regarding non payment..

The only correspondence I received from them was to advise that the fines had been consolidated and to make future payments to a certain account number.

I had made 2 payments prior to that and never missed a payment since.

Ah well looks like I've fluffed it.

They were in touch when you made the arrangement to pay thru deductions.

The warnings and things you need to do if circumstances change are all in jere

But you ain't fluffed it.

Collectica do take payment arrangements but you need a good deposit down and get rid of all balance within 6 months of the warrant being issued.

Bear in mind it might of been issued 2 months ago already.

In rare cases arrest warrants are issued for non payments of mag fines but its rare and normally for those with thousands in fines and them sticking two fingers up to the courts so to speak

 

I received a 2 fines from the magistrates court.

1 for no tv license (fair enough) and one for driving without insurance.

 

In the midst of this I was granted a debt relief order and was granted £300 by the official receiver to cover the TV license fine (strange as that fine was for £200) but left the insurance fine outstanding.

 

initially as I wasn't working deductions were been made from my benefits. When I returned to work in January 2017 this stopped

I didn't make any payments as id lost my paperwork and expected to hear from them regarding payments and thought id pick it up from there.

 

In the meantime I got myself another fine.

 

I began making payments for this fine immediately.

 

In mid May I received a letter from the South Yorkshire Enforcement unit giving me one reference number to cover all my fines.

 

It showed the amount i'd paid and the balance, (though there was no reference to the £300 that the insolvency officer had written off under the DRO).

 

Again I continued making payments and have regularly paid £50 a month every since.

In total since April I have paid £560 towards the fines.

 

Also can anyone advise what to do regarding the £300 the DRO shows they have allowed towards these fines that is not showing on the letter I received from the courts.

 

Many Thanks

I will address the matter of Collectica shortly. In the meantime, can you confirm the following:

Are you sure that the Insolvency Service allowed the 'TV Licence' fine to be included in the DRO? This is very unusual as it is considered a court fine and as such, cannot be included in bankruptcy proceedings?

When you received notification from the court of the 3rd fine, did they agree the payment arrangement of £50 per month?

PS: What I am trying to establish was whether the payment arrangement was one that was agreed with the court?

Oh no

i'm genuinely not doing that,

I've learned the hard way that it will all crash down If you don't pay what you owe trust me.

When the deductions were taken I was in a pretty bad place

it all just pretty much got ignored up until me finally hauling my ass and sorting a DRO.

The letter from the official receiver shows the amount allocated towards the magistrates fine

I had no idea that it wouldn't make a difference.

I guess it is what it is.

I will let them in, they will see I have nothing of value,

i'll keep making my monthly payments,

my debt will go up a few hundred quid

I suppose I will have to go from there and just keep plugging away at it.

Bad times

I simply cannot put myself in a position where I offer more than I can afford as that's not going to help anyone.

anks for the advise though, at least now I know where I stand and what's coming next.

I am positive that the official receiver signed £300 to magistrates fines. I have the paperwork in front of me and it is showing in black and white.

The third offence was for £400.

An initial payment of £200 ( which was paid) then £50.00 per month.

That agreement was made in march.

In May I received the consolidation letter from the courts.

It didn't mention anything about payments,

just to make future payments to a new account number which I have been doing ever since at £50.00 per month.

The 3rd fine is the only one I was given a set amount to pay.

The previous ones were initially deducted from my benefits.

Ah applogies it seems I've made an error. (maybe).

On the paperwork submitted to the official receiver it is showing magistrates fine at £200.

(this is what I told step change I owed for the TV license),

however on the paperwork I received from the official receiver it shows £300 to South Yorkshire Police.

I have no idea what that's for as the only time I've had dealing with them is over the car insurance and that turned into a magistrates fine as well.

Seems I've confused myself.

All is not lost tho.

Go for arrangement.

Everything is sortable

Hi,

I've started a new thread due to confusion.

Here goes.....please don't judge I'm just looking for advice on what collectica can/cant do next.

I received 2 magistrate fines last year

- one for tv license and

one for thinking my broken down car only had to be taxed outside my house

(i'd swapped the insurance onto a new vehicle and was landed with the driving with no insurance fine even though it wasn't drivable).

At the time payment deductions were been deducted from my benefits.

I also managed to sort myself out and take out a DRO.

I'm now discharged and due to my paperwork from Step Change including the TV licence fine I thought that was included however I know now it can't have been.

In January after been out of work for 5 years I managed to get myself back into a good part time job.

Obviously my benefits stopped so too did the deductions for these fines.

I didn't have any paperwork and in all honestly pretty much forgot about the fines or stupidly figured they'd send me something to advise the deductions had stopped.

In March I was in court after a bouncer tried to grope me in a nightclub and I hit him.

The court hearing was set to the first day of a new job I was starting and they refused to change it.

Right or wrong I chose to go to work thinking that i'd be far more out of pocket if I lost my job

sent a letter into the court explaining what had happened and why I was not there.

I was found guilty in my absence and a warrant was issued I handed myself in.

I was fined £400.

I had never been in a courtroom before and did not qualify for legal aid at the time

I agreed to pay £200 at the end of the month and £200 the following month.

I literally just wanted to get out of there.

The first payment of £200 was made.

Then I phoned the court and explained i'd agreed to more than I could really afford due to panic and asked if I could pay £50.00 per month.

This was verbally agreed.

In May I received a letter from the South Yorkshire Enforcement Unit.

This was a notice of consolidation.

It listed all m fines and the balance and advised future payments be made to a new account number.

My payments continued.

I have made regular timely payments since March totalling £560.00.

That notice of consolidation was the last piece of correspondence I received from the courts

I had been regularly making the £50 per month payment with no idea they obviously didn't feel it was acceptable.

Last week I then received a notice of enforcement from a company called Collectica.

The balance of £883.50 has now jumped up £75 as I understand is correct for their fees,

although I can't really understand why it has been passed to them.

Straight away I called them up.

I explained I had been making regular payments for 6 months and asked if I could continue this.

This was refused.

He told me unless I paid half the amount I could not agree a payment plan.

I explained this was impossible and that since my DRO I live on a very carefully planned budget and only live within my means.

I also explained that fully understood the debt was mine to pay,

that I had no other debts

this was of course my priority

however I see no point in solving one problem to inevitably cause another because that's what got me in a mess in the first place.

I simply stood my ground.

He advised me that if I didn't pay the amount an enforcement agent would visit my house and take goods to the value.......

I told him this seemed ludicrous.

That would mean that the payments I had made every month would have been for nothing.

Had I not paid them and put them to one side I could almost have afforded the initial payment he was asking for hence leading to an agreement on a payment plan without incurring further charges.

At no point have I tried to dispute this debt is mine.

It is and I will pay it, I'm not trying to get out of it I simply cannot afford to pay what he is asking for.

I also doubt he could find the value of what I owe in goods in my house.

I have a super old lap top and my son has a 3 year old ps4 that he got for xmas.

My t.v's are certainly not new, large or modern.

I cannot afford luxuries at the moment.

All I have is the car my mum bought me so that I can take my kids to school and get to work on time.

I certainly do not want them to take this.

My biggest worry is that they will take my car or add further charges onto this debt.

That will just take me back to square one and I desperately don't want to go back there.

I'm starting to think i'd have been better off staying on benefits and what kind of thinking is that.

Can anyone please take the time to advise me of what would be the best thing to do.

What can/cant the enforcement agent do if he comes to my house.

Will they already know I have a car and the Reg so that they can look for it if I park it somewhere else?

Many Thanks

I am not at all sure that starting a new thread has made the position any clearer but anyway.....

Yesterday, in your earlier thread, I queried a payment made by the Insolvency Service of £300 under your DRO and I notice that you have now confirmed that the payment had been allocated to South Yorkshire Police and not as you initially thought....to cover the TV Licence fine.

From what I can see, (and I confess to still being confused), you had been up to date with payments to the court under your agreement reached in May this year. I therefore cannot understand why your account has been passed to Collectica.

I really do think that you need to speak with the court in the morning to find out what actually has happened in this case.

 

From what I can see, (and I confess to still being confused), you had been up to date with payments to the court under your agreement reached in May this year. I therefore cannot understand why your account has been passed to Collectica.

 

.

Because op states payments were being taken automatically from.benefits and then came off and didn't make any payments. So the op stopped paying an arrangement

Sorry for any confusion. The agreement of £50.00 per month was made in april in respect of the assault fine of £400.

Regarding the previous fine no arrangement was made following my benefits ending I just received a notice of consolidation and continued paying £50 per month so I assume this is why it has gone to collectica.

Any ideas what their next move will be and what they can and can't do?

Looks like I'm going to deal with them regardless and i'll continue payments no problem, its the addition of extra fees that is bothering me considering they can see I've been making payments since April in excess of what they would have deducted had I still been on benefits.

I now understand a bit better.

If there is still money owed under the 'assault' fine, then please make sure that you do not default with paying the court.

Clearly, you must come to an agreement with Collectica in relation to the other fines. I appreciate that you state that the enforcement agent could come into your home and that he would see for himself that you do not have any goods etc. Whilst many times I have suggested to clients that this route would assist them, the fact remains that in YOUR case, I would not be advising this route for two reasons:

Can you remind us agin what payment arrangement Collectica were willing to accept (and when by).

hello and thankyou for the reply.

I have paid £200 to the direct account number and then a further £360 since the consolidation letter came. The assault fine was £400. I have just continued paying the £50 monthly so that it can bring the balance of the other fines down.

Collectica requested half of the money in order to even consider a payment arrangement. I genuinely don't have it otherwise trust me i'd be paying it because the stress is awful.

I have written a joint email to the magistrates and collectica detailing my situation and practically begging them to allow me to continue at £50 a month and have offered a further £20 though I will scrape as much as possible away in addition to this to get it paid because the situation really is awful when you are offering all you can afford and it's refused and you're in danger of incurring even more fees.

I am literally trying my best. They don't care and I don't expect them to but I just really want to get this sorted and will continue to plug away at the debt.

I'm going to move my car somewhere else. Without it theres a good chance i'll end up back on benefits and that's not really going to help anyone. Are they likely to know what car I have and drive around specifically looking at it?

There should be no money owing in respect of the assault fine as far as I can see.

Whats confusing me about this is after paying the first instalment of £200 I received the consolidation letter so all the fines have been clubbed together under a new account number which is what I've been using to pay £50 per month.

Just talk to the courts. They pull the strings.

Unless a visit is made, collectica wont know if you have a car or not and only then if its on the drive or parked outside.

They cannot do a dvla check on a name and address to see if a vehicle matches. They can check a registration that they see at a property to see who its registered too

There should be no money owing in respect of the assault fine as far as I can see. Whats confusing me about this is after paying the first instalment of £200 I received the consolidation letter so all the fines have been clubbed together under a new account number which is what I've been using to pay £50 per month.

As I said earlier, I would suggest that you speak with the council in the morning in any event. You should not wait to receive a reply to your email as it is likely that your account may move from the present 'compliance stage' to 'enforcement stage' and the application of an enforcement fee of £235.

Another point that you must bear in mind is that if you pay the court direct after a warrant has been issued, then that payment will be automatically forwarded to Collectica (or Marston Holdings as the case may be). The following is a copy of a post that I made on this forum last year regarding a Parliamentary Question in the House of Commons on this very subject (paying the court direct.....minus bailiff fees).

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?463958-Government-Minister-s-statement-regarding-court-fines-bailiff-fees-pro-rata-distribution-and-paying-the-court-direct&p=4895624&viewfull=1#post4895624

OK so I need to cover the £75 costs also? I can just about stomach that. I'll phone the courts tomorrow and see if they can help. Thankyou so much for your advice x

Got a very similar problem, was paying through the courts lost my job and not receiving benefits they sent me a letter saying they will take from my pension but never did..

Got a fine with costs of £546 called Collectica to discuss payment to resolve issue....they demanded £165 upfront before they would discuss monthly payment scheme..

I only get £180 a month via private pension so offered them £50 per month which they refused I then spoke to CA who put me in touch with National Debtlinetwork who outlined a few things.

So last night somebody loaned me the money to pay £200 until my pension comes through which i paid last night, I called them back today to set up a plan only to be told because I hadn't paid it over the phone to them direct and done it via bank transfer..they could set up payment plan but first payment would be next week of £103...and not at the end of next month.

Is this right ?

The staff are very arrogant people and in his words they are not there to help, just to make sure they get payment as quick as possible my financial situation is of no concern to him.

It's either I agree his terms or face further action even though there is no way I can pay next week.

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