There is a possibility you could lose, given what I said earlier in post 15. Even if you paid Thwaites direct, you still paid less than the claim amount, so unless you filed a defence, they were still entitled to judgment. However, if they have admitted to you that they believe they are in the wrong, the solicitors for Thwaites may not have taken the point, and therefore you should write to them, and send a copy by fax, claiming costs, and see what response you get. Obviously, if you get a response of "we think your wrong, and we will fight it, but we offer to pull out on a no costs basis" then you should agree to pull out then (if you do, you must sign a "consent" order, which you should ask them to provide - they will do if you insist). If not, they may give you the court fee as it will cost them more than this to appoint an agent to attend the hearing to argue with it.

If you proceed to a hearing, i.e. don't agree with the solicitors, then the judge has power to award costs in your favour. This is your time spent dealing with the case at £9.25 per hour, plus travel costs (i.e. fares to court). This also includes any court fees. Therefore you should write to the other side's solicitors, and say that you will be seeking a costs order against Thwaites and inviting them to pay in advance rather than go to court. Make sure the offer is in writing, and confirm it was sent (e.g. send by fax as well as post). Then if necessary take it to the hearing.

What appears to have happenned here is that:- 1) Initial debt of thwaites was £400. 2) They take it to court. Fees and costs added on make debt £600 3) Thwaites instruct bailiffs. Further fees added on making it £650 4) Next day, cheque for initial **£400** paid. Debt is now £250. 5) Warrant of execution still valid. This is a county court matter, so there is no "bailiff company" involved. It is not like Council Tax matters, where bailiffs try it on and chance it. There has been a warrant of execution issued by the court, and no amount of writing letters will make any difference to anything, so the court's advice is correct. The methods of challenging these awards are set down in law, and there are proper procedures to follow. Complaints, subject access requests, or anything else won't matter. IF you can show you didn't receive the claim forms, and if you did, you would have paid the £400 earlier, you could apply to set the judgment aside. BUT you would still have incurred the court fees and solicitors costs, as these are added on at issue and are valid if the initial debt is valid. So even if you set it aside, the extra costs would still be valid, and the fact you paid £400 would still mean you hadn't cleared the debt in full, and the bailiffs charges would also be valid. My advice would be, I am sorry to say, you should pay it, and then take this as one of those things. Or you could simply not pay it, tell the bailiffs you have no money, and eventually they will give up and go away (as County Court bailiffs in most areas of the country are notoriously lax, and as they aren't getting paid by results like other bailiffs, will be happy to move on to the next job). HOWEVER, you should MAKE SURE you have confirmed to the County Court Bailiff in writing that the £400 was paid, so there is a record of this. You should also note that the problem was probably caused by you paying the court. Once bailiffs are instructed, you have to pay them, at the court. Before the bailiffs are instructed, all the court documents tell you to pay THE CREDITOR, Thwaites, directly. If you had done this, they probably wouldn't have bothered instructing the bailiffs for £85. By paying the court (incorrectly) this has led to delays which has made the steps taken valid.

No the rules are that bankruptcy is for the benefit of ALL creditors. Therefore if the "execution" as the bailiff action is called is COMPLETE by the time of the bankruptcy, then the person seizing the goods is entitled to retain the benefit. Otherwise they have to release the benefit of the execution to the Official Reciever (who in all likelihood won't pursue the matter because the costs usually outweigh the benefits). Execution by bailiffs is only complete when:- 1) The goods have been seized AND sold, or 2) Payment has been received AND ALSO 3) At least 14 days have passed before the bankruptcy order. For the above reason, bailiffs will hold on to any money they receive for at least 14 days before passing it on to the relevant creditor.