Hiya omg he sounds as if he is getting a bit desperate, I think you are being v brave (I just gave in and paid the £) if he really was going to do all that and it was legal then I am sure he would of done it. These guys are getting some commission (so I have been told) so they just want you to pay up. Their attitude changes completely when you do, oh so nice and helpful they are!! I think that you must speak to Court again, I would pester them until they agree to look at the failure to take notice of the financial form. If you could get it back into Court then the bailiffs are no longer involved. If you look at some of the info on this forum there i lots of helpful legal stuff with regard to possessions and what they can and cant take. Good Luck Kate

Hi Re daughters thing, apparently she enquired about a loan to pay the bubble payment at the end of her ex and hers car loan, but they could not find her one and that was back in March and the payment taken out last week, I think Nat West are on the case now An update about the court thing, today my partner went to Tameside Magistrates Court and they quashed the conviction for failing to provide driver identity and fined him £75 for speeding and 3 pts on license. However looks like getting the money we paid to bailiff back is going to be a long process. Greater Manchester Magistrates Court who take over enforcement of fines for Grtr Mcr are saying they have not received the funds from Marstons its been 2 weeks so surely that is bad on their part. They said that the funds will have to go bck to them and then we will have to wait for a cheque run and then it will only be the £625 for the fine, the bailiffs fees will have to be paid back by them. The bailiffs who attended lied then an said the court would refund the £900. Its a part success but more hassle now to get the money back to pay back my friends mum. I am very fed up as we do not have the £ to spare to pay her back a the moment and hoped it would be a simple refund process - they are so pro active getting the cash of the "debtor" not so good giving it back when its reversed. Thanks all of you for your advise and hope that some of this helps others who may be unfortunate enough to find themselves in this position.

Hi The very same thing has happened to us, however my partner had returned the parking fine notice. Today he has been back in court to quash the failure to identify driver which has happened today. Are they trying to remove things that belong to you? They are not allowed to do this as long as you can prove they are yours. I have a thread about this. Is there any option for your partner to go back to court to admit the speeding offence. My partner has been fined today for this, £75.00 and three penalty points however because I could not prove the things were mine in the 20 mins the bailiff was giving me a very kind mum of a friend paid the £900 they were asking for apparently ths will be refunded but looks like it could take forever. Its a nightmare this happening to you Marstons have got to be the worst of the bunch in my opinion. I think you should write to the court and ask for it to be reheard as a speeding offence if thats possible. My partner did not get any points for the original offence so why has yours? What offence was he convicted of? I hope it has gone ok for you today. I was also feeling ill about it, very scary guys the Manchester bailiffs and not adverse to lying to get their own way.

Hi, Just a quick update - my partner got a date for court which is next Monday its in Tameside which is quite a way away but he is going to have his say. His friend is a solicitor and he is looking into this from a legal point. Will update after this and let you all know what happens thanks again for your help. As another thing my daughter has just had £97.00 taken by a company called Cornwall Collections via a debit card transaction its being investigated by Nat West fraud but dont know if anyone else has ever had this happen. She does not know anything aboutthis company and there is not much on the internet.

Hi Initially to complain to Marstons directly about the behaviour of the bailiffs that visited and he gave me a couple of phone numbers ( association of civil enforcement agency 01924 350090 and for a particular bailiff 0203 3346355). I did not really think from reading all these different threads that there is much point in complaining to Marstons as they seem to be indifferent to peoples problems and feelings. But if I have to do that first before going down the other route then I will but am not expecting any sort of grovelling apology. The guy on the phone was helpful but get the feeling that they must hear this many times a day. I did not realise tho that the bailiffs were on commission! that is scandalous as surely it makes them behave the way they do employ all these underhand tactics. Interesting that they could not of taken the storage for the clothes am I right there. He wrote down on his list when he went into our bedroom an ikea chest of drawers that my older daughter gave me, it cost £15 when it was new and is probably worth about 50p now. But if I read the list of what they can and cant take correctly then its exempt. I know its all beside the point as it got paid and its up to partner to go to court now and get it back. How can these awful things happen to people who are just trying to get by and live their lives. In my experience most people just pay their bills and if they cant its not deliberate just because times are hard for them. This website is a godsend as you dont feel so alone but its depressing that its so commonplace... Think I need to stop reading for today as I am getting so mad!!! I feel like writing letters to newspapers and stuff just not me at all Thanks everyone for your help my family and me really appreciate it.

Hi Thanks to you all I have rung to get some info about complaining about these people, I think I knew at the back of my mind that they were there to get the money and do not care about the rights and wrongs of anything. My daughter said she heard one of them say on the phone to the office that they were going to get them to cough up so clearly that was their only intention. The fine is for witholding evidence from the police (very dramatic) but even the Court advisor does not understand that charge because all the papers have been addressed to my partner not me and I was the registered keeper of the vehicle and when he got the ticket and it came to me we let them know he was the driver!!! He just did not read the summons properly and pleaded guilty to the charge of witholding evidence thinking it was for speeding. This is were the complications have occurred. Hopefully he will get his day in Court and we will get the £ back less the £60 speeding fine. He was very upset that this happened as he was at work and could not get home only talk to us on the phone. I have read others stories and my heart goes out to others that have to deal with these bullies. I am a healthy clued up person who is not easily scared but they made me feel ill last night. Thanks for all your advise and we will be sure to follow it through to the bitter end. Somebody has to take these companies in hand surely.

Am posting this as a warning to anyone with a speeding offence Have had a dreadful day - my partner was driving the van which is registered to me and he was caught speeding in Manchester (we dont live there) on the way to a job he was doing. We filled the form in which came addressed to me with his details etc. He then received another form which he filled in and returned. Last year November he received a summons which he wrongly thought was for the speeding offence as he did not read it properly and he pleaded guilty unbeknowns to him and me to failing to produce evidence? bit confusing as everything was addressed to him so surely he had? Sent it off and he was fined £625 for doing a couple of miles over the speed limit so I called the mag court dealing with it and was told to send a letter asking for it to be reheard this was in Feb this year. Had no more contact until about a week ago, when a bailiffs letter comes through, spoke to Court (who said to resubmit letter which I did) and then Bailiff who said they would put it on hold until the court spoke to them. Well this lunchtime two turned up for my partner who is at work, they said they were going to seize good unless I paid them £900. I spoke to the court who said they would be opening post tomorrow and as I sent it on Friday they would not be able to deal with it til then,they asked the bailiffs to wait a day but not a chance they would not budge. The long and short of it is I have had to borrow the money and pay it as they were going to take my things, nothing to do with partner like sewing machines and my laptop and the dryer which I paid for. They said I was not like other **** they usually deal with, well obviously I am a different kind of **** then. They were bullies and came in through the front door which was open their manner was overbearing and confrontational until I paid then they changed they were "helpful and understanding" I have never been so scared in my life - they would not listen to the Courts both Tameside and G Manchester Magistrates just had an agenda they were working to. I am still going ahead with the appeal, and have faxed the info over just to be sure that he gets another date. Truly it feels to me like the motorist is penalized every which way if you ever have to deal with something like this then please make sure you send everything recorded delivery I did not so have no redress there. Seems like everything to do with motoring these days is weighed in favour of revenue collection. The Bailiffs have said if the court find in favour then we will get the money back I feel sorry for anyone else that has the misfortune to have to deal with these people the speeding fine system seems fraught with probs if you are not the driver of the vehicle, too much paperwork, even the court think this. Too many opportunity to make errors or be too slow responding apparently. apologies for going on but needed to vent a bit, by the way my daughter was there too and they showed no compassion for a young girls distress at the thought of them removing her xmas presents and birthday presents (laptop and digital camera) and her little sewing machine.

i dont know what would a regulated loan be?

Hi, I need some help because I was approached by a co who said that our loan with Blemain is possibly a missold one? I filled the form in and sent off the contract and today had a call from solicitors from The Claims Guys (thats the co that approached me) saying loan def missold and they were going to instruct a barrister and would need payment of £295 up front and if it turns out not to be missold then we get the £295 back. Well this sounds a bit strange because if its def missold then why do they need this £295 as they get 25% of any monies paid back. I am need advise about this whole misselling issue as if it is do we have to go through one of these companies. We are desperate to get away from Blemain and I would of paid it off last year with some money I got but the redemption put me off. However things have gone bad for my other half as he is a builder and its a struggle to afford this. Have just had a horrible situation with Blemain but thats a nother story. All this we can write the debt off and you get all your money back sounds far to good to be true. Help!!!!

hi When I worked for large insurance company, you could add a temporary additional vehicle for four weeks maximum and it had the same level of cover as the main car on policy.

well done kate

well done dj kate

Thanks mimi I know I dont know how they think they can get away with it. Thing is when they offer these silly amounts they dont qualify the amount with a breakdown of what charges they are refunding. I think that now the cheque has cleared I am going to write to them and ask for this breakdown so its in writing and then do whatever with the claim Your kind words are much appreciated cos did think was letting you all down. ta v much and good luck.. I am pressing on with the LLoyds tsb business claim cos that accounts shut and we are totally looking at that as a bonus. kate

hiya jansus and mimijane I have had conversations with both alliance & Leicester and Wragges about the paid items and the unauthorised overdraft £25 figures. They deducted this amount from the figure they offered me and then knocked £12 per item off. I queried it because like you my figures did not match up. I was told by Wragges that the A & L policy now is not to pay these amounts. I said that it seemed like moving the goal posts all the time because they had paid those amounts to claimants previously. For personal reasons I have accepted the settlement but I have got an email stating that the charges they are refunding are the unpaid items. The unauthorised overdraft and paid item charges are not included. I am very cross with them tho cos it has taken 6 days to clear the cheque when in other banks if you present a cheque from that bank it clear immediately I am going to amend my claim and send off new spreadsheets cos I feel I was a bit backed into a corner, we needed the money and I wont get a court date til about November. Also when I queried why it was taking the cheque so long to clear I was told all cheques take the same time. Apparently there is no "manual intervention" (is that what its called?) now the computer does it all. I believe the computer is capable of working out what makes the maximum amount of revenue for A & L. In that case then the charges are even more unfair cos no human being is looking at any transaction. I do feel I have been weak but sometimes circumstances dictate. Over the years A & L have bled my account dry at times. I am not sure of the legal side of changing my claim and I would gladly take any advise from anyone. Its taken me ages to post that I have accepted this settlement as I feel like I have let everyone down. Wragges have said to me that they are acting for A & L on all claims. Thanks to everyone who has helped me and I hope that your claims go better than mine and you get every last single penny I will be cheering you on.. Kate

oooo congratulations lent laptop to daughter very good news !!! congratulations dizzykate

on the t and c it describes them as charges for a long time and even with breakdown sent by solicitors shows them as charges. fees are only the things like the overdraft fee which you dont claim anyway.

hiya no you dont need to let the court know you are not accepting the offer, just keep copies and send it rec delivery kate

hiya scorpio, i too have probs with court date, round here it will be about November. Dont know whats happening to claim as not even gone to judge yet!! good luck with your claim

hiya you need to have the court bundle - what directions has the judge made what info has he asked for? If you have a look at mimijane thread its really good, she has really got it sussed. With the court date it will have what the judge wants from you and the defendant by a certain date. There are templates for the court bundle. Its quite a lot of information you need copies for court and the defendant and usually the judge gives an amount of days for this to be into the court and to the defendant. It should all be in the information with the date of the hearing. If you are unsure you could ring the court and ask what you will need. Def have a look at MimiJane thread tho very thorough.. kate

hiya they are saying that they will not refund charges that are for unauthorised overdraft £25.00 and paid item charges £25.00. the only ones they will refund the difference between £12 and chrge amount are on unpaid items i.e dd and cheques. Kate

I know daft isn't it. I know I remember thinking that it was very easy to open the account over the phone. Don't remember signing anything but then this could be one of the those blonde senior moments lol.. I dont know what the court will want cos its not even gone to judge yet but would think that if they ask for anything A & L cant produce then the judge wont be too happy.

hiya all I posted somewhere on here cant quite remember about the courts being overload and got an email off a reporter from bbc anyway he rang me to talk about court being backlogged and possibly not getttng a hearing til November. Hope I did the right thing think I did. He was going to call the court and talk to them. Dont know if they will though cos at work we never spoke to the press just refered them to media department. Kate

think it will be the t &c cos I opened my account over the phone in 1999 and did not sign anything that I can recall. Just received cheque book and debit card in the post Welcome to the Alliance & Leicester!!! yeah right.. kate

good luck mimi not long to go now kate

I rang the court today to find out progress on my claim. Allocation was due in on 17 May guy on the phone said that it was in box to go to district judge. He is looking at Allocation Questionnaires from 10 May and it will be about two weeks before he is up to my date. Last week lady at the court said the diary is full for court hearings until wait for it November!! I am so disheartened as there is no way that my bank are going to do anything until they get some sort of direction and what if they wait until just before the hearing to settle. Thing is they have already offered me just over half fees back. However this is the difference between charge and £12. and they aren't including unauthorised overdraft charge or paid item charge. So losing out on about £600.00 when they have previously settled claims for all the charges. I think something should be done about this blatent manipulation of the court system by the banks. I cannot blame solicitors its just a job to them and a pretty thankless one at that and the judges and clerical staff at the courts must be pretty fed up of it too!!