Okay, the saga continues: I filed a Statutory Declaration on Thursday 13th and was lead to believe by the magistrate that the case is now closed, and that I'd only hear more about it if the DVLA decided to open a new case. Yesterday, however, a new letter arrived from the bailiff (Philips) informing me of their intention to enter & search my premises if I don't pay the full amount, £400. Seeing as the letter was dated 17th, I assumed they hadn't got the message from the courts when it was sent, so have just phoned them to make sure. The person I spoke to informed me that the magistrates court had contacted them about the stat dec, and that my fine had been reduced. I explained my understanding that the case was closed, she "checked with her supervisor" then told me that because it was two fines, they'd got a stat dec for one but I still owed for the other. I explained that I had filed two stat decs - one for each case - so I shouldn't owe anything. She insisted I still owe their client £120-odd, and they would continue to pursue this amount, plus I'd incur a £200 cost if they have to attend the property. I closed the conversation saying I would check with the magistrates on Monday to confirm, because this is obviously contrary to my understanding. Argh. Any ideas? -- and yes, yet again, the letter arrives on a Friday! Is this a deliberate tactic?

Yeah, I can't imagine a bailiff being particularly sympathetic. Thanks for the advice, guys, it's very much appreciated! Paul.

Thanks, Martin. The first I heard of it was a letter from London Collection and Compliance Centre, which arrived on 9th September - so actually 4 weeks today. The bailiff letter arrived today. I note that the SD post says it must be made within 21 days. Am I out of luck? The bailiff is Philips.

Hi all, hope there's someone able to shed a little light on this. A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from London South West Courts informing me that I owe £325, no other details. After a few phonecalls I discovered that the fine relates to a court case in January 2006, which (I think) had a second hearing in August 2006. I'm assuming it had a second hearing because I failed to respond to the first hearing, because I'd moved from where they thought I lived in September 2005. The fine, they say, is for keeping a vehicle without a valid license, however they've yet to give me any further details about the case - you know, important details like which vehicle. I owned two around that time; a scooter which was stolen and never recovered, and a car which was never without tax. I've spent about 15 hours over the last few weeks trying to navigate the courts' telephone system, holding, forwarding to another extension, holding, forwarding... and am starting to wonder if I'll ever see the end of this. I did manage to speak to someone from another court, who mentioned that I could make a statutory declaration regarding my lack of knowledge about the original court case(s), but I can't see how I can take this further if I can't even speak to anyone who has knowledge of the case. In fact, the chap I spoke to said it's possible there might not be any paperwork from the case, as it's so long ago. In the time I've taken trying to track down details of the case, this has been passed to a bailiff. So, where do I stand? I suppose there are a couple of questions: 1. Can they get in touch out of the blue and say, "oh, by the way, there was this court case 5+ years ago and you owe us money, but we can't tell you exactly what for"? 2. If it turns out that it relates to the stolen vehicle, am I even liable for it? Thanks in advance for any advice anyone is able to provide. I'm tearing my hair out over this one, and I don't have that much to spare! Paul. p.s: why do these "you have to pay within 7 days" letters always turn up on Fridays, giving you the weekend to stew over it before you can do anything about it?? Most frustrating!!