think thats what im goping to do then! i have sent a letter t the bailiffscand the court.ill let you know what their response is! thanks again for all your help

I was also thinking of sending the bailiffs a cheque for the £250 fine only.I am thinking that would leave only the bailiffs £310 fees outstanding.Would the bailiff be within his rights to take my stuff away to cover the fees or are they non enforceable? This would be a nice result but obviously i need to know where i stans if i take this approach,can anyone help?

Nintendo.Many thanks again for your continued support with this. That sounds good then.They basically cannot add charges without a costs order? I definitely do not want to pay the charges.My only worry is that my wife signed the Inventory and agreed to pay it over 6 weeks inclusive of the costs,this was because after his continued bullying and harrassment,she just wanted him to leave.She did try to write signed under duress on the form but he snatched it back before she could do so. I want to build an understanding of where i stand before sending a letter of complaint to Swift in an attempt to get the charges removed so we can simply pay the original fine. I just dont want to send a letter containing lots of inaccuracies which make me look stupid.Thats why im double checking everything with you. Should i send a copy of the letter of complaint to the Issuing court also? My biggest fear is that nothing happens before the 6 weeks are up and he bailiff returns to take away the items, leaving us without tv, table and chairs etc..over Christmas.

Nintendo, many thansk for your much valued advice. However, i have referred to Page 3 of the EX345 form and find much to the contrary. It in fact states that Certificated Bailiffs are entitled to charge fees and add them to the money you owe. It only refers to Civilian Enforcement Officers as not being allowed to charge more than the amount fined. Looks like im stuffed then??

But he is not acting for the TV licensing.He is a certified bailiff acting for the magistrates court.Does that not therefore give him the right to add charges? My issue is, he didnt tell us about the extra charges before going ahead and carrying out the walking possession. Once he had done that, my wife noticed the extra charge on the sheet.He then said that he was going to tell her about it at the end.I then said i didnt want to pay the extra amount and no longer wanted the payment plan and offered him payment in full for the original fine which he declined to take.surely his primary role is to recover the money for the Court fine and not to add on cash to make himself and his company extra? I think i have got him on the fact that he added it on without our knowledge and that he kept stating the costs are agreed with the court.This to me adds to a false representation which equals Fraud?

Back in July, my wife answered the door to a tv licensing guy and admitted we had not yet set up a tv licence in our new(ish) house.This despite reminders.He cautioned her and the case went to court.She didnt turn up, choosing to bury her head in the sand and hid the ensuing letters.The first i knew of it was when a Bailiff attended at our home tonight.My wife foolishly invited him in.He then informed us the fine was £250, a letter sent from the bailiffs had cost an extra £50 and his visit was another £50 bringing the total owed to £350.He asked my wife to pay on the spot.She did not refuse but asked what the options were.He then offered a payment plan which was swiftly agreed to by my wife.He told her it would be a 12 week plan and then made a phone call.He then informed her it could only be over 6 weeks.My wife agreed.He then informed her that he would be taking an inventory of goods in the house which would be taken away if the agreement was defaulted upon.He proceeded to do this and at the end, my wife saw on the piece of paper a "seizure charge" of £210.She challenged him about this and he said it was an agreed charge with the court and that he had effectively seized the goods in a walking possesison.I said, if you had told us it woudl cost an extra £210 for a payment plan, i woudl have gone to the bank and ithdrawn the money from our Christmas savings to cover the initial required amount.I then said, forget the payment plan, ill go and get you the money you originaly came for.He then said, i have entered the deal in my PDA and the full amount of £510 is now what you owe.You have 6 weeks to pay this in the form of £85 per week or your goods will be taken away and sold.He then gave the document to my wife to sign who refused as this was not what she agreed to prior to him wriitng it out.He told her in that case the time decreases to 6 days before i take your goods away.She then agreed to sign provided she could write the words"signed under duress".He wouldnt allow this and again insisted on her signature only on the form so she could have he 6 weeks to pay the £510 otherwise with no signature its 6 days.I once again tried to reason with him and offered the original amount in full which he refused again.I presume he is a certified bailiff although he didnt show a certificate and we never requested one.He works for swift credit services.Surely this £210 is not leagl? as it was added without out knowledge or agreement, he basically bullied my wife into signing it which she eventually did as she was so upset and scared at this stage.I found the following information and am seeking clarification on its authenticity: The law (Section 92 of the Courts Act 2003) only provides for HM Court Service to tender a contract with a fee agreement for collecting unpaid fines, bailiff companies then tender-bid for these contracts. This allows a bailiff to deduct his fee at the agreed rate out of fine paid. A fine is not the same as a debt, and bailiffs cannot lawfully increase a fine by adding fees. The contract is not legally binding on any convict or defendant unless a magistrate has made a Cost Order against the convict (very Rare!) I have also been informed that its possible the bailiff has committed an offence under Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 by maiking a false representation by adding fees on to the original fine to benefit himself/his company. I would be grateful for advice on how i go about paying the original fine but not the bailiffs extortionate demands especialy as in my opinion no goods were actually "seized" but just a walking possession conducted.What can i do?are his actions justified and legal? especially as i eventually offered payment in full of the orginal amount?

Can Anyone Help?

Back in July, my wife answered the door to a tv licensing guy and admitted we had not yet set up a tv licence in our new(ish) house.This despite reminders.He cautioned her and the case went to court.She didnt turn up, choosing to bury her head in the sand and hid the ensuing letters.The first i knew of it was when a Bailiff attended at our home tonight.My wife foolishly invited him in.He then informed us the fine was £250, a letter sent from the bailiffs had cost an extra £50 and his visit was another £50 bringing the total owed to £350.He asked my wife to pay on the spot.She did not refuse but asked what the options were.He then offered a payment plan which was swiftly agreed to by my wife.He told her it would be a 12 week plan and then made a phone call.He then informed her it could only be over 6 weeks.My wife agreed.He then informed her that he would be taking an inventory of goods in the house which would be taken away if the agreement was defaulted upon.He proceeded to do this and at the end, my wife saw on the piece of paper a "seizure charge" of £210.She challenged him about this and he said it was an agreed charge with the court and that he had effectively seized the goods in a walking possesison.I said, if you had told us it woudl cost an extra £210 for a payment plan, i woudl have gone to the bank and ithdrawn the money from our Christmas savings to cover the initial required amount.I then said, forget the payment plan, ill go and get you the money you originaly came for.He then said, i have entered the deal in my PDA and the full amount of £510 is now what you owe.You have 6 weeks to pay this in the form of £85 per week or your goods will be taken away and sold.He then gave the document to my wife to sign who refused as this was not what she agreed to prior to him wriitng it out.He told her in that case the time decreases to 6 days before i take your goods away.She then agreed to sign provided she could write the words"signed under duress".He wouldnt allow this and again insisted on her signature only on the form so she could have he 6 weeks to pay the £510 otherwise with no signature its 6 days.I once again tried to reason with him and offered the original amount in full which he refused again.I presume he is a certified bailiff although he didnt show a certificate and we never requested one.He works for swift credit services.Surely this £210 is not leagl? as it was added without out knowledge or agreement, he basically bullied my wife into signing it which she eventually did as she was so upset and scared at this stage.I found the following information and am seeking clarification on its authenticity: The law (Section 92 of the Courts Act 2003) only provides for HM Court Service to tender a contract with a fee agreement for collecting unpaid fines, bailiff companies then tender-bid for these contracts. This allows a bailiff to deduct his fee at the agreed rate out of fine paid. A fine is not the same as a debt, and bailiffs cannot lawfully increase a fine by adding fees. The contract is not legally binding on any convict or defendant unless a magistrate has made a Cost Order against the convict (very Rare!) I have also been informed that its possible the bailiff has committed an offence [ under Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 by maiking a false representation by adding fees on to the original fine to benefit himself/his company I would be grateful for advice on how i go about paying the original fine but not the bailiffs extortionate demands especialy as in my opinion no goods were actually "seized" but just a walking possession conducted.What can i do?are his actions justified and legal? especially as i eventually offered payment in full of the orginal amount?

Dear all, to cut a very long story short, i thought i could take on my ex landlord at court but lost the case and now owe £1600.I contacted the court to say, i accepted their decision but said i couldnt afford to pay it one go.They advised me to write to the landlord directly with an offer of payment.I wrote to him and offered him £35 a month which i know is low but it is realistically all i can afford.He declined and said he would only be willing to accept £100 per month and no less.I contacted the court again and told them he declined it.They advised me to fill in a n245 (application for variation of an order) form and submit it to them.I am now filling in this form and after listing my incomings and outgoings, it leaves me with £40 per month.My question is this.The form says to offer an affordable amount, for me this is £40.The landlord said he wont accept any less than £100.What happens if he knocks the offer of £40 a month back? Do the court decide on a fair amount or is it up to the landlord to accept an offer?.......Stressed!!!!

Can anyone help me?

Thanks Derek, I am fully aware of the possible repurcussions and fully intend on paying whatever is decided upon at court.I am just seeking a fairer amount. I truly believe the landlord is also fully aware that i could face action from my force with a CCJ and think this is the only reason he has chosen this option as the first port of call purely to get me in to trouble at work. My main question is if anyone Agrees with me that he has breached the data protection act by revealing my debt to my employers even though they did not provide a personal reference for me?

I rented a property which was a joint tenancy with my wife.We have two children aged 8 and 4.Upon entering the property it was pointed out that there was a large stain on one of the bedroom walls and ripped wallpaper on another, this was documented in the tenancy agreement. After the first 6 months despite us being assured that it would be a long term let, the landlord decided to sell the property.He contacted me and apologised but said as way of recompense, he would knock 2 weeks rent of our final balance in return for us allowing prospective buyers to look around the property whilst we were still there to which i agreed, in fact on two occasions i returned from work to show them round as the agent had no one available. I was frantically trying to sort out a mortgage as this was the second time in succesion we faced losing our home after 6 months for the same reason and dint want to put my family through it again.I managed to get a mortgage on a property that needed serious renovation to make it habitable for my children. This all came through quickly and i now faced having to pay the mortgage on top of the rent in addition to getting alot of work done on the new house to enable us to move in. Unfortunately, it left me being unable to pay the last 2 months rent on the rented property.I decided that i would let the landlord have the deposit of £950 towards the outstanding balance and this accompanied with the 2 week reduction would leave me owing just £225 in rent which i was going to pay in one sum to leave the premises straight. It came to the last day and the letting agent arrived, i was there with my young son and intended on spending the whole day cleaning.I had arranged the hire of a professional carpet cleaner and i still had a tumble dryer, a bed, a freezer and some bedside cabinets i was going to move out on the day.The agent arrived, took a look around the property and started saying "are you going to clean this, that and the other and we are going to be keeping your deposit and she was extremely rude.My 4 year old son was with me, i didnt want to become involved in an argument in front of him so i placed the keys in her hand and said,"Goodbye" and i promptly left the property leaving my belongings behind.She asked me what i proposed to do about the outstanding rent and i explained that i couldnt afford it and gave her my works address to write to so it could be resolved. The ripped wallpaper had been made worse by my children, a mirror on a wardrobe had been broken by my son due to it not sliding properly and a shelf had fallen off the bathroom wall due to it being affixed to tiles using only bathroom adhesive. I should now mention the fact that i am employed as a Police Officer.I arrived at work a few days later and was called into the office by my Sergeant who told me that they had received a complaint of Criminal Damage against me from the landlord and that the Sergeant had been round to my property.Fortunately they decided that there was no evidence of wilful damage and it was filed as a landlord tenant dispute.The landlord however, decided to disclose to my Sergeant that i owed him 2 months Rent.The landlord twice then contacted my employers demanding a forwarding home address despite the fact that i had left my station address with the agent. The landlord also stated that he only offered the 2 week reduction in Rent on the proviso that the property sold which it didnt, and is completely untrue! I received a letter from my landlord through a works address stating he was keeping the deposit of £950 for the following reasons and that he had commenced court proceedings to claim the two months rent. *Complete redecoration of both bedrooms *cleaning of the property including carpets *Removal of my belongings *repair of the mirror *repair of the bathroom shelf I returned a letter giving him permission to do this and also arranging to pay the full two months rent by instalments . I agreed to this simply because i felt intimidated and harassed by the fact that he had approached my employers,attempting to have me arrested and also embarrassed me at work.I also agreed to it as the threat of a court appearance could have landed me in hot water with the Police which i think the landlord was relying on.I noted that he never once approached my wife's employers despite it being a joint tenancy and would question would he have taken this course of action had i been employed in a different field.I feel he only approached the Police in an effort to embarras me and smear my reputation in my career. I stated that i would pay the first instalment asap. In the meantime, i thought about it more and decided that despite the possible repurcussions, i should stand up for myself. Only a few weeks later,i received a letter from the court issuing me a CCJ in default for the full 2 months rent.Apparently what had happened was the court forms had been sent to the Police Federation who forwarded it to my home address without paying the proper postage which deemed it undeliverable.I do remember getting a red form from the postie saying they were unable to deliver an item due to incorrect postage and to claim it i had to o to the local post office and pay postage.Not knowing what this was, i never bothered to go and get it. anyway, i went to the court with an application to have the CCJ set aside and paid the extortionate £75 fee.I have now had a letter stating the application hearing is in a few weeks time. I feel i have a case for the following: * HARRASMENT from the landlord in approaching my employers on 3 occasions attempting to have me arrested for Criminal Damage without approaching me first and also where it was clear wilful damage was not caused in addition to contacting them demanding my new home address which they rightly refused. *Breach of Data Protection Act by informing my employers (who had not provided a personal reference) of my outstanding debt * Having some of the deposit returned as the bedrooms needed redecorating before my tenancy started and should the walls have ben required in pristine conditon upon exitin, they should have been so upon our entering the property and tenancy law states that the landlord should not end up in a materialistically better way at the end of the tenacy than at the beginnning.Also, i was never given the opportunity to collect my belongings which total almost £500 and i never went back to et them of my own accord for fear of him reporting me to the Police aain, possible for Theft this time.I never had the opportunity to arrane professioanl cleaning retrospectively, which i could have had done at a much cheaper rate as i have friends in the business. My question is this, do i risk going to court including risking my career? Do i have a case for harassment and breach of data protection? Is the Judge likely to award the landlord the whole deposit and also order me to pay the 2 months rent in full? I am looking for an outcome of the promised 2 week reduction being applied in addition to the return of at least half of the deposit leaving me £700 to pay in outstanind rent.I think this is fair.Although some people have pushed me to go for a withdrawal from the defendant on the basis that i wont pursue an Harassment and breach of Data Protection Act case against him. What do i do?