^ thankyou! my phone was off this morning, i was reminded in court to turn it off lol! i later found out the fine was for road tax being out of date, if i get a summons for it then fair cop... just glad the bailiff didnt get anything. i wonder if they can get any sort of payment for his visit and note even though it's going back to court? doubt it and i hope not. im able to leave the front door open/unlocked at mums again now... since his visit its been like fort knox lol! Happy Contrails i read on a .gov website that last year there were less than 10 forced entries in england and wales so its very rare (i cant find the original link to the page) and as you say its only under very specific circumstances, thankfully. of course bailiffs will threaten you with anything, the one who came to my mothers said he was phoning the police after i stood my ground and shut the door on him. it did make me think for a few seconds that i'd done something wrong, like obstruction, but of course it was a bluff, no police came, i did nothing wrong. The experience has left on an impression on me, you just dont expect someone to try and force their way in. However am pleased i didnt let him force his way in. Thanks for the help everyone, especially tomtubby .

tomtubby, sorry i missed your call last night, i've been to the magistrates this morning. i was in and out in 10 mins after reading out my stat dec to them.... the court actually provided me with a stat dec, dead easy! the usher said they *may* serve me with another summons! it was over 4 years ago so maybe they won't. either way, i won't be paying extortionate bailiffs fee's and i can pay it in an affordable way. i feel like phoning the bailiff up to chastise him... childish yes but he was the one who tried to push past me standing in the doorway of my mothers home, was shouting and giving me the bird. i remained calmed throughout but was distressed by it later. moral of the story: DO NOT let them bully you on your doorstep. I am not big and scary looking but i stood my ground. Stand your ground and refuse entry. I did this and it gave me time to declare a stat dec to get it back to court. The stat dec process in court took about 3mins. Bailiffs do a job that is tough, fair enough, but being rude and abusive when i was not was uncalled for. edit to add: i've also learnt that the powers they have when recoving HMCS fines ie roadtax, driving offences allows them to ultimately force entry. county courts judgements for things like cc's, loans etc do not allow forced entry. so pay your magistrates fines imho!

^ quick update: I realised that filling in a stat dec would need court dates, fines, etc but i had no idea what they were so ive just been into the court (deduced what court it was by the bailiff leaving HMCS Cheshire Div 1 on the correspondence he left) and the lady at court told me what the fines related to, i replied i'd had no correspondence relating to this as i do not live at the address they were sent to. She gave me a stat dec form, im in court tomorrow morning, all being well the bailiff & costs will be off my back.... so result really ... i think lol! Thanks tomtubby for putting me onto a stat dec. Citizens Advice Bureau were a bit poor, the chap i spoke to y'day as they were closing was great, said a complaint should be made, said 'get it back to court'... however the person i spoke to today (he was not an advisor, a 'gateway assessor'.. in his words similar to a triage nurse, was very poor imo). Happy Contrails, thats very interesting as i found out today my fine was due to my road tax being out of date (nothing to do with speeding fines as i thought). I very much doubt the original fine at court was £497 so the bailiffs must have added much of that on.. even though no goods have been moved. They didn't manage to [problem] me y'day with his heavy threatening tactics but unfortunately i bet theres plenty of other people who would've fell foul to it. Good job i stood my ground. Will update how i get on in court tomorrow morning. Thanks all

Hi tomtubby, have emailed you, thanks. CAB weren't that helpful i'm afraid, they suggested I make an offer £150 cash now and the rest in installments, the total is £497. However I couldn't even offer a tenner right now. I explained the circumstances but they never mentioned a stat dec, I did, the chap then suggested i get all evidence of my financial dire straits then go back on tuesday to see a 'legal advisor'.... thats fine as long as the bailiffs havent forced entry by then... it'll be 1 week next wednesday since they threatened to come back and force entry within 7 days so it will be cutting it fine. If they do force entry im puzzled as to what they will get; i dont live at my mothers address and nothing their belongs to me. Could they just randomly pick her tv and say its mine? It's obvious she lives alone i.e. 1 bed. What would happen if they got in? They couldnt take my mums stuff surely.

Thanks tomtubby, pm on it's way. I've done quite alot of reading up, im still unclear as to whether they can force entry as this note he left states. They can attempt peaceful entry. However the bailiff yesterday was not peaceful, he tried to barge past me, shouted to open the door and later stuck a middle finger up. Going to CAB in 20 mins who are going to help me make a complaint. If, and its a big if, they can force entry, then im shocked at how a citizens rights have dwindled. I know that at (atleast in the past) even police could not force entry into a home over fines. And nowadays we are allowing another, often uncertified/qualified citizen force entry? I hope that is just bailiff myth.... he stopped yesterday after i resisted his forced entry.

Hi I hope you are all well. Earlier this afternoon a CEO/Bailiff (I recall him saying he was a Bailiff) knocked at my mothers address. He asked for myself. I said I wasn't in. He asked me to prove my identity, to that I said I couldn’t but I wasn't who he said I was and that I didn't live at this address (the latter IS the truth). He asked to see tenancy agreements to prove this, bit hard as my mother owns the property. She wasn't home, thankgod, she is elderly with a heart condition. His demeanor to this point was ok. I'm standing directly in the doorway with no room for another person to pass. He moves to come inside I can only assume expecting me to move out of the way, which I didn’t. I'm taken aback by this as he's heading to make contact with me so I put my hands out to stop this halting his forward motion and quickly shut the door. He tries the door handle (I assume to try and get in) which also prevented me from locking the door. He shouts open the door, I do not, he says he's calling the police, I say go on then, after about 30 secs of stalemate he lets go of the door handle and I lock the door. He goes out to his van and sits inside it. After about 5 mins I leave my mothers premises and walk past his view, I look to him and he sticks a middle finger up to me, nice! Very professional. He leaves a card hanging out of my mothers door, in no envelope (breach of data protection act) stating amongst other things he will back within 7 days with a locksmith to gain entry by force. I genuinely do not live at my mothers address although at the time of the speeding fines this distress warrant relates to I probably did (several years ago). I told him I do not live there and I have no goods there. I've phoned CAB who have asked me to go into the office in the morning to make a complaint about the bailiffs behaviour and to get the fines 'back to court'. I don’t recall seeing summons relating to these fines... I haven’t lived at my mothers for several years. I intend to deal and pay this debt, i think its related to me committing the ungodly acts of 38 mph and 42 mph in 30 zones. The 42 was late at night/empty road. But I'm a bit worried about my dear old mum having her door forced, so my questions is, if I may: 1. Can they come back and "force entry using locksmiths" at my mothers address? PS puzzles me why they haven’t been to where I actually live although im not complaining. Theoretically as they dont know where i live, would they find me? I'm not on the voters roll, phone book etc. Edited to add: I can't pay the fine outright due to losing my job last friday, missed out on redundancy, been there less than a year.