Thank you tomtubby

Just another quick point guys

The bailiff was presented with a V5 document showing that the registered owner and keeper of the vehicle was not my brother but he advised that he could not accept that as proof of ownership. He also stated that they could seize anything that they "Deemed" to belong to my brother whether it was the vehicle or anything in my parents' property. Is this correct?

Ok thanks so much for your help so far guys.

So from what yo have stated so far i have 2 options.

a) contact the CAB and pursue the matter with their assistance

b) Pursue the matter personally

If a take the latter option the am I correct in saying that i should contact the magistrates court (in writing of course) and explain the problems i had yesterday evening in detail. Also am i right in saying that some of the difference between the original £30 fine and the £300 odd pound i paid yesterday is recoverable? Should i make this claim in the same letter of complaint or do a seperate letter?

Are there any templates i could use or should i just make the complaint and possibly someone with a little knowledge on here could just check it over for me?

Many thanks again

ps is it possible to request all the information from Marstons by way of a SAR? Thanks

Hi guys just hoping for a little help and guidance here. The post will be a little long as it's been quite a distressing evening for my family and i want to be able to get everything in.

I got a phonecall from my sister at about 6:30pm today stating that there were some bailiffs here at my parent's house and that they had attacked my brother. I immediately drove home to find a crowd of about 10 people. My father was extremely distressed as was my sister and i asked my brother what had happened. He stated that the bailiffs chased him and pinned him to the floor. I approached the two bailiffs in question one of whom was already on the phone to the police and the other who was standing by his car. Apparently (according to them) my brother had attacked them and they had responded in self defence. In the process my father and sister were both also hurt as a result of physical violence by the two in question.

The cause of all this was an unpaid seatbelt fine. Marstons had visited 3 different properties to try to find my brother with no luck and then visited my parents' house where they found the car in which the offence had been committed. They proceeded to clamp the vehicle (which belongs to my sister and never ever belonged to my brother - V5 document confirms this). At this point my sister and father both objected but the bailiffs informed them that they had the power to do this as they were in posession of a distress warrant.

However, prior to this ( earlier on in the day) my brother had already spoken with one of the bailiffs who were present and it had been agreed that they would meet tomorrow morning to try to settle the debt. The bailiff agreed that the conversation had taken place but they visited the address to try and settle the debt despite the conversation.

They refused to remove the clamp despite being shown the V5 document. They requested an "official" receipt from a garage but we were unable to produce one as the vehicle had bought by my sister from my father. Neither the police or the bailiffs were willing to entertain any evidence provided to show that the vehicle did not belong to my brother. The bailiffs stated that unless the fine was paid they would be forcing entry to my parents house (my brother does not reside there). This worried me a little so i called a solicitor to the scene where we produced a statutory declaration. The bailiffs refused to recognise this as a valid document and proceeded to make threats.

The police were in full support of the bailiffs despite me querying their knowledge on the subject of debt (which was non existent). I felt helpless as my brother had already been arrested and my father was extremely disturbed by all of this (he suffers from diabetes and is partially sighted). I paid the debt on my brother's behalf to end the matter. The clamp was taken off the vehicle and the bailiffs left along with some smug police officers who escorted them off.

When i asked the bailiffs to produce any documentation they had they showed me a sheet with my brother's details and any known addresses etc. When i asked to see the warrant the showed me a sheet which stated "Distress Warrant". The bailiff stated this was from the court but there was no court stamp on it.

I feel really really helpless in all this as i know both the police and the bailiffs were bang out of order. The police were willing to help the bailiffs to force entry. I don't know where to go from here and i apologise for the long winded post. ANY help whatsoever would be appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

Ok. Thank you once again all for your help.

You can dispute the fees and pay the council direct minus trhe fees. If the council refuses, then pay the bailiff with a credit card along with his fees, then reclaim it from the council in the small claims track - and add your costs plus statutory interest.

 

PM sent.

I think you may have misunderstood my original post. It's actually a seatbelt fine being enforced by the magistrates court... not a council debt.

Would i still use the same procedure?

Also does the following hold any importance or truth?

The Courts usually give six months grace on the certification of a bailiff where court fines are concerned so it's not really relevant.

Thanks

Phone the public register on 0207 210 0516. If he was not certificated on the date of enforcement, reclaim the fees from the authority that issued the PCN. Do not name Drakes as a joint defendant.

I have already checked with them and they state that the named bailiff does not appear on their register. However i don't know where i stand now with the following:

Today 10:19John McKennaThe Courts usually give six months grace on the certification of a bailiff where court fines are concerned so it's not really relevant.

Your next course of action?

Pay the fine on the 31st before the fees increase on the 2nd Jan.

Should i pay the bailiffs the outstanding amount and then challenge them thru the small claims process or do it now and possibly incurr further fees which will also need to be challenged???

Confused

OK thankyou all for your advice.

I openly admit my neglect on the matter but should the bailiff not be certificated? If a bailiff is not certificated then what is my course of action? Who do i need to contact?

From what little knowledge i have of this matter i was in a similar situation a few years ago with a tv from Comet.

As far as i know the law states that any goods must last a reasonable amount of time (anything up to 5 or 6 years - can't remember which one it is). The place where you purchased the goods from will remain responsible for any repairs or claims and they cannot force the matter onto a third party. It is up to them to deal with the matter and resolve the issue to your satisfaction.

I'm sure someone else can advise you better of this and all the relevant legislation pertaining to it, but if you persist with them and state your position with all the relevant legislation to back you up then they will have no choice but to repair/replace your goods (can be a long process though)

Hope this helps

I'm in the North West (Burnley Area)

Are they not allowed to charge up to £50 for the first letter?

Also the vehicle i was in was a hire vehicle i was using at the time. I'm in the process of writing to them to inform them of this but not too sure what to put in the letter.

Thanks for your help

Wow wasn't expecting such a quick reply.

Thanks for your help mate.

Hi guys

On 190907 this year i was stopped and given a fixed penalty charge of £30.00 for not wearing a seatbelt.

Due to some ignorance and some neglect i failed to pay the fine. The fine went up to £45.00 and again I was too lazy to deal with it.

I have now received a letter from Drakes demanding £95.00 within 7 days. No arguments up until now... I'm willing to pay the £95.00 and called them today to make the payment.

The problem is I have been away and only opened the Drakes letter on Saturday. The date on the letter is 28/11/07. I called them to pay the £95.00 but the lady i spoke to stated that the matter had been referred to one of their bailiffs and she wasn't sure if he had visited the property yet. If he had then there would be further charges. She put me through to the bailiff to whom i spoke to personally. He advised that 3 visits had been made at various times by a bailiff alraedy to my address and the fine had been increased by a further £150.00.

I advised him that the only notification I had received from them was the original warning letter of 28/11/07. There had been no other letters suggesting that a visit had been attempted (i'm sure they're supposed to leave a notice of some sort at every visit if there's no answer???)

Upon advising him of the above he became pretty agitated and said he would check his papers again. After faffing with his papers he then advised that I owe the £95.00 plus a charge of £100.00 as i had left it later than the 7 days on the warning notice of 28/11/07. A total of £195.00.

I arranged to call him personally next Monday to make a payment but didn't say how much.

My question is that even after explaining to him that I had been away and couldn't get their warning in time... can they STILL charge a further £100.00 despite them NOT having visited my property and taken no further action apart from the original letter of 28/11/07?

I realise it's my own stupidity that got me into the mess but am willing to pay the £95.00 without any question. It's just the further charges they are placing that are bothering me.

Any advice would be helpful.

Many thanks in advance.

PS i'm sorry if the thread is in the wrong place. I started in what i thought was the most appropriate section.

Hi again guys

I run a local car hire company and one of the cars i hired out a number of months ago recieved a parking ticket (Parkwise). The ticket obviously wasn't paid by the hirer and i received a PCN. I duly replied with the hirers name and a copy of the hire agreement.

However, It turns out that we actually sent the incorrect hire agreement to Parkwise. We only realised this when the person whom the hire agreement relates to turned up in our offices with a letter from DRAKES BAILIFFS and informed us that she did not have the hire car at the time of the ticket and that Drakes were due to attend her property shortly to remove goods..

We wrote to parkwise and informed them of the error and sent them the correct hire agreement wit details of the hirer at the time.

The problem is Drakes are still trying to enforce removal of goods on the lady who DIDN'T have the vehicle. Parkwise have not got back to us with any details yet. We have called Drakes on the client's behalf but the refuse to let go of the matter.

What's the best course of action as the lady in question is very worried as a result of our admin error.

Many thanks for any replies.

Thanks for the quick reply

Birchalls are enforcing the unpaid council tax debt and Rossendales are enforcing the "cleanup" debt.

Basically theere was no gate at the back of the property and as it happens as soon a s i sold the property it became empty. People started to dump rubbish in the back yard. The council saw this and sent a letter to me stating that as i own the property i need to clean it all up and repair or replace the gate to the back yard. I met with the council and advised them of the sale of the property and they agreed to pursue it with the new owner. I never received any written confirmation and didn't think i needed any. I took their word for it (i know better now).

Is there ANY circumstance where they might gain entry as my brothers freaking out at me for letting it get out of hand.

Hi guys

I used to own a property other than the one i live in (own this one too). I sold the property last year.

However, the council sent me a bill for unpaid council tax which i disputed and thought was resolved to my satisfaction. They also sent a bill for a "cleanup" they had to do on the property which again i disputed as it took place AFTER i had sold the property.

The matters have not been resolved as i thought and now i have received bailiff letters. One is from rossendales and the other from Birchalls for the respective debts. The one from Birchalls relates to a liability order granted on 25/01/07 and advises that they called today with a van. As no one was in they have advised that they will be calling again WITH A LOCKSMITH AND POLICE IN ATTENDANCE!

This has really worried me now as my brother also lives at this address with his 2 kids. I don't usually live at this address but do often stay. He has two kids and i have very few posessions in the house that belong to me. He runs a business form the address and the nature of the business means that he holds sensitive records of the people he has dealings with (sensitive of a medical nature).

Can the bailiffs take any of the posessions or even gain forced entry in such a way. I am going to the council myself later on but just wanted to know what damage the bailiffs can do.

Many thanks