Hi I hope someone can advise for my friend as I don't want to give the wrong information. My friend had an outstanding debt with collectica for £770 for an unpaid fine. She tried to agree a repayment plan but the bailiff wouldn't agree and gave her a week to pay. This morning they turned up, she said she would pay them the £770 but the bailiff said it had gone up by £110 and was now £880, she paid this after borrowing the money. Should the bailiff have charged the £110, when he never removed goods or has NEVER been into her home, she has never signed a controlled goods agreement.

Ive just had a weird conversation with a collectica representative. I think he was lying but... Just after moving into my new place about a month ago, I had a letter through the door addressed to the brother of the last tenant "notice of intention to search..." for outstanding fines HMCTS I rang the "enforcement agent in charge" and explained that the person they were after had left a few months before (there was also best part of 2 months while the flat was renovated after the state it had been left in). The guy seemed pretty reasonable, he took my name and said he would send a form for me to fill in stating that I was the new tenant and that would be the end of it. Well I never received the form but today I got "removal visit". I was in at the time and there was no knock, I heard the letter box and that was it. A couple of hours later as I was leaving for work (late shift) I picked up the letter and thought "oh sh*t" so I phoned the new "enforcement agent". I told him who I was and why I was ringing and that was when it got weird. First he said that he knew that the person he was after still lived at the address. I said he was mistaken. He said that the person he was after must live with me. I said I lived alone. He said that the person lives at the address with his sister and gave the correct name of the last tenant. I said that he was mistaken and that I lived at the address alone , not with the guys sister. He said that what I was telling him was suspicious as he had just ended a phone call with the person he was after; that the person had told him he still lived at the address with his sister , and that he was going to meet the person at the address in the next 30 mins. I said great, ill be waiting for you here. I called my boss and explained the situation. My boss is a diamond and said that I should take the time off to get it sorted. I waited 45 mins but no show, so I called the "agent" again who said he was 5 mins away. I suppose you realize he never turned up. Ok so Ive read a few threads and think I need to get a statement 1: can this be done in a magistrates court? I work next door to the local one. 2) but really, why should I spend £10! Can I contact the bailiff firm and tell them to stop harassing me? will this do any good? oh and BTW if this was a "removal visit" shouldn't they have knocked the door? And what about the time Ive lost from work? finally, as this is a matter of court fines I assume that the bailiffs will be able to force entry, although this is unlikely is it only by paying the £10 for a statement that I can stop this? Finally finally, isn't it a bit of a sh*t that you have to pay the legislature to stop the legislature illegally breaking in and taking money from you? Isn't that what the mafia do? Thanks for your help

Hi There i was wondering if i can get some good advice on my problem i have had a letter hand delivered by by an enforcement agent and it says on there its a REMOVAL VISIT payment due in full, i did only owe £175 with them as i was meant to pay two payments of £137.50 but i could only afford £100 at the time and payed on my card! i still had £175 remaing and was gona pay the rest the next month but i lost my job and could not afford it. now ive had this letter saying i owe collectica £410 now!! i am currently claiming ESA on my partners claim as i have no job.i did phone up the enforement officers number on the leeter to tell them my circumstances they didnt not care to be honest and gave me till the end of the month to pay it and they stated they was going back to the court to put that exstension until the end of the month. i basicly got forced into saying i would pay it and i dont know what to do now as i cant afford it being on benefits plus i dont knoe if they can enter my property and take my goods like they said!! can they remove my goods even if im not in and also can i not take it back to court because i lost my job as its not my fault i broke the payment plan and advice and help would be great thank you

Hi urgent help needed please I gave my car to my son so he could use it. The car was insured under his name only. He then bought a new car and transferred his insurance to that car. A friend of his was going to buy my car and I was going to give that money to my son as my contribution towards the cost of his new car. His friend could not come up with the money. my car was not purchased. Of course, i was not fully aware of the last final piece of information. So the DVLA fined me for not having insurance on my car. Unfortunately, at that time i was abroad. I had been recovering from a breakdown and just came off ESA as i found employment. i had to go abroad with work. I wrote to the magistrates explaining the situation and asked if i could have the judgement set aside so i could present my case. After some back/forth letters they wrote to me asking me to get in touch with the court. This was at the end of August. Unfortunately, i had some terrible news about my 94 year old aunt to whom i am extremely close and i had a relapse. i was not able to contact the court On Friday 26 Sept. I had a visit from Collectica with a warrant to enter my house and seize goods. I did not let the guy in but explained to him about my health and showed him a letter from my doctor. He left a letter which said i had to pay £ 640 or they will force entry and seize goods. This actually added to my depression and totally messed me up. I was unable to do anything and doubled up on my anti depressants. Its not until today that I could write this post on CAG. Please help me and advise what i can do next. i have written to the court and explained my condition and situation in detail and sent them copies of all my medical certificates. thank you CAG Wrecked.

Hi could someone please advise me as to where I go next with Collectica? . Had a visit back in Jan from them regarding council tax arrears from the last property I lived in (wasn't aware i owed it and when i did contact them the council wouldn't take the debt back) . I started making random payments as when i spoke to collectica they would not accept a payment plan so just thought i would pay what i could when i could which was around £20 per fortnight never heard from them so assumed that its was getting paid and i wouldn't hear from them ... . Then got another visit in May , 2 blokes from collectica saying i haven't made any payments told him i had been paying a £20 per fortnight no set dates just when i was paid but made sure i got 2 X £20 payments in within the month after looking slightly confused and phoning head office he told us the law had changed mumbled on about people on low income didn't really understand what he was talking about if i'm honest and told us to pay £40 a month no dates just to carry on as we were as long as i got 2 payments to them within the month and if any other debt collectors came from collectica tell the we are vulnerable and to p**s off (his words) he also left no paperwork other than something to say he was going to take our car and told us to ignore it and he would change the paperwork . So since Mr H**** came to see us we have paid £40 every month always within the end of the month but and here's the but .. .i have been paying it into their account using the client ref and not their ref so had a lovely gentleman (not) on the phone this afternoon telling me we haven't made a payment since July !!! what !! got my online banking on and reeled off the dates i had paid it in always with the same standing order details i have been using since jan and now they are telling me i have defaulted on the agreement and now want £100 a month . I think it is rotten that for 8 month i have been paying it using the wrong ref and they have only just let me know and now they are saying that i have to pay £100 a month and thats that. Is there anyway i can get the original agreement reinstated as £100 is just too much , struggle to get the £40 together each month never mind £100, told him this on the phone and he said the original one at £40 should never have been set up anyway so thats the best your gonna get and hung up on me ! Im sooo angry any advice would very much be appreciated , Many Thanks

My friend in his younger days was a silly boy and travelled on the train without paying his fare, he got caught and taken to court and fined. He has been paying back the fine (it was stopped out of his benefit money automatically). earlier this year there was a problem with his benefit and it got stopped for a couple of weeks, obviously during this time the fine stopped being paid. When he got his benefits sorted out he asked for the fine to start being paid againand was told that it would be. By this time the fine had been paid all but £45. Yesterday a representative of Collectica turned up at his door and hand delivered a letter. When he was given it he phoned Collectica and was told that if he didn't pay the £345 he now owed he would be arrested. After explaining he was on benefits and proving he didn't have £345 in his bank they told him he has to pay £40 every 2 weeks otherwise he will be arrested. He asked why it had gone from £45 to £345 and was told that it was court charges, they had taken him to court within the last month and the charges were assigned to him. He received no court date, no court letters, no paperwork whatsoever. They wont even tell him the date that they took him to court. He was going to try setting up a payment where it is taken from his benefit but Collectica has said that needs to be done through the court so he phoned the court who would just say that it in the hands of Collectica. Any help you can give is much appreciated

Hi, I need some urgent advice. I have been burying my head in the sand for a while and now this issue has come back with a bite. In January I bought a tax disc, subsequently the cheque bounced. I then purchased a new tax disc. Unfortunately I failed to respond in time to a letter requesting that we return the previous tax disc. it was in my partners car ready to be returned however my mum mistakenly put it in my partners tax disc holder (She had a valid tax disc in the car) I was driving my partners car and was pulled over by the police and the looked round and saw the wrong tax disc, I explained the situation and they saw the car was rightfully taxed and insured but confiscated the tax disc. I then received a letter advising that it was due to go to court. I mislaid the letter and ultimately forgot about it. Then I received a notification that I was being fined £324 for failure to return the tax disc, I was unable to pay this and it has now gone to Collectica bailiffs. The fine has increased to £600+ and they afre threatening to enter my home and remove things even if we are not there. I am at a total loss at what to do. I realise I am completely at fault in terms of failing to respond but was wondering whether there was any way I can appeal this and reduce the fine in anyway. I am desperate and would be grateful for any advice. Thank you. (This is my first time posting, if you need further information on this query or I need to make it clearer please let me know. Thank you in advance for you help!

Hello. My 23yr old daughter has received a letter from collectica bailiffs saying they intend to visit to collect the money she owes, if not the money then goods. The letter says we will be liable for locksmiths fees etc. the 1st letter dated 29/8/14 says £1325, she arranged a weekly payment but forgot to pay it, the letter received today says £1225. When she phoned them today she was told they will take mine and my husbands property and we will have to apply to the court to get them back. I've done abit of research and I don't think they can take our things, she had not received a notice of enforcement. I gave managed to get the money together and they are coming back tomorrow for it I need to know I'm paying the right people the right amount. Any advice please? The original fine was from magistrates court for £945 and she hadn't paid any of it since receiving it in June 2014 ( arrrggghhhh!!) Thankyou

Hi folks, just after some help if anyone is kind enough to give it: my wife was caught on ANPR a few months ago driving with out road tax (she forgot to renew, was only 3 weeks out of date!) and was sent a fine of £145. As we are on a low income at present we made an agreement with the court to pay £5 a week back to pay the fine and costs etc which she did. Got to around half way and our son was called into hospital for a vital operation and she consequently forgot to pay the fine on the weeks she was in hospital. We then, rather quickly got a letter from the court telling us that the fine was now in the hands of "collectica" and that they would take over the fine from us. My wife pleaded with the court to allow her to pay the balance off (we'd loaned some money from relatives £85.12) but they refused, saying that Collectica would soon be in touch. Weeks have gone by and no contact from them at all, I realise that my wife should have contacted them but there you go! Out of the blue, however, we have received a visit from the Bailiff and the fine has now gone from £85 to £385!! As it happens my wife was at work at the time and I answered the door, I told him that she would ring him when she returned. She rang him and told him that she didn't get paid till the end of the month and that she'd have to discuss things then. Now, at the end of the month she rang him, he wanted the total amount, or he would visit again and take the value out of the house, no compromises or otherwise! My wife and I can neither afford or are willing to pay this new, inflated sum! I have since spoken to both Collectica and the court and neither are willing to help, enve spoke to the fines officer at the court and she has told me to write to Collectica about it. we are on a very restricted budget and simply cannot afford this, what can we do? any replies would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

A bit of background for this, 2 years a go I had a joint tenancy agreement that a friend of mine took the 'lead' for. With this, he took the bills in his name - This included the Council Tax. Unknowingly to me, he moved out and I discovered that despite me sending him the money, the bills had not been paid. Most of them stopped chasing me because his name was solely on the accounts and had nothing to do with me. Since he moved, I subsequently opened a new account with the Council that started a fresh payment plan for the property. I was contacted a while after saying I had missed payments on my new plan - This confused me and it had turned out that my direct debit was incorrectly setup by the council to the OLD account that my friend was paying for (my name was not on this). I subsequently had all the payment from the last several months moved to the correct account and I haven't heard from anyone since. Since then, I have heard nothing from the Council that would indicate I am in any danger of debt. Today, I found a letter from a Collectica Enforcement agency stating they wanted to come into the property and take items that would pay for the 'Outstanding Council Tax' debt. Since its a Saturday I am limited to who I can talk to in hopes of getting this sorted. In preparation for this, can anyone help educate me on what can be done with this? As far as I'm aware, I never signed or agreed to have my name on the council tax. My name would only ever be on the account from the moment the council set up the direct debit against the wrong account against this property.

My son has recently returned to live with us. It transpires that he has a court fine which he has not paid. We found out about this when he collected a "Removal Visit" letter from Collectica at his old address. He rang Collectica and offered to pay £100 (which I offered to lend him) and then further instalments. This was declined, and he was told that he needs to pay the entire amount by tomorrow morning. I told him to email Collectica to put the offer in writing - which he did. I've been reading this site for information, and it seems that collection agencies/bailiffs have different "powers" when collecting unpaid fines. I'm a little uncertain about giving them his new (our) address. Also, I have no idea what happens next. Any suggestions regarding what can be done would be gratefully received. It goes without saying that I have issued a severe verbal beating to my son, who is now motivated to deal with the situation and has hopefully learned a lesson. How can we deal with this? We can't afford the full amount of £475.00 (which includes nearly £300 of fees) at present. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hi All, I have red though several of the threads but still I need some clear advice. Today I received a Removal Visit letter from Collectica in regards to a Unpaid Magistrates Fine, with the client name simply as HMCTS London NW. Now I have no idea what this fine could be for since I don't drive, don't own a car, have a valid TV license and nothing outstanding as such. Now I live on the South Coast so also confused as to the HMCTS London being involved. The amount they are after is £984 sound exceptionally high for a court fine, but I may be wrong... Now my real question is how do I discover the source of this fine so that I can resolve it. Or at least start the process of getting it resolved. The letter from Collectica "states" that it is a final notice and that no further arrangements are acceptable. I am stressed over this as I don't know what it relates to. But they have my name right (most get it wrong!) as well as the address. If you can help point me in the right direction I will appreciate it.

Hi All I have just received a 'Notice of Enforcement' from Collectica Enforcement Services (CES). I got it in today's post but notice it's issued 2nd of May? Anyway, apparently, I owe £10 to HMCTS. CES have now added a £75 'Compliance Stage Fee' thus raising the 'debt' to £85 now due for payment. The Notice states I have until May 15th to 'pay or agree a payment arrangement' with CES. I am OK to pay the £10 but DO NOT agree with having to pay the £75 and would like to challenge it. THIS notice from CES is the first time I am being made aware of this shortfall. The £10 debt is nothing but a shortfall from a court fine from July 2013. I had setup an instalment payment arrangement by DD with the HMCTS payments company to pay the fine in monthly instalments which I 'd been doing up until about Jan/Feb when the full amount was cleared (or so I thought). HMCTS setup the monthly payment arrangement AMOUNTS to clear the debt, not me. I assumed they knew what they were doing and that payments would be taken until the debt amount was cleared in full. Around March/April (have to check not sure), I stopped the DD payment setup on my Online Banking as I had waited until they stopped taking the payments for about 2 months - assuming that the balance had been cleared in full. I originally owed £400, and paid £100 July 2013 and £50pcm from August - January to clear the balance. I am now minded to send a £10 cheque to Collectiva (or direct to the court??) for the O/S £10 I was unaware of whilst challenging the £75 'stage fee' as this is the FIRST I am hearing of the fact that it was oustanding. Surely I should have been notified, as a compliant payer, that there was a £10 shortfall and given the opportunity to clear it rather than straight to a Debt Collector with further charges added on?!? Absolutely not right. Kindly please offer your thoughts on how best to go about this. Regards Btm

I would really appreciate it if somebody could give me some advice. I had a fine of around £180 for non payment of TV licence. I had agreed with Collectica to pay £60 before agreeing on a payment plan (thanks to CAB, as Collectica didn't want to accept the low offer) . As I had to pay £3 card charges for the two payments I have made so far, I was short by £6 of the amount they expected and I had a magistrates bailiff at the door. When I explained i had an agreement to pay they said it was too late and I should have expected to pay the card fees on top despite the rules changing and i had just not paid enough. When I said I couldn't pay the full amount (180 +£200 fees), and I could only give them £50 in cash they claimed to phone the police while at my doorstep. They also told me they had no powers to stop a van arriving to collect my goods immediately. I don't think the phone call they made was to the police, I think they were blagging me, but as they had a distress warrant I did let them in. They started to talk about new laws since 6th April which I am not familiar with. i knew there were new rules about fees but I did not know a family member in your house had to pay £180 to the court if they wanted to prove their goods were their own. Is that correct? I have agreed to pay in full tomorrow though I can ill afford it and will not have enough to get us all through the week but they were not budging. With my daughters help I can afford to pay the original fine of 180. I have not had a fine before so have no idea if the magistrates court could or would accept it. It is the fees that are a real problem. Also they insisted on going into all of my children's bedrooms while they were in there and obviously they were upset. Is this also considered acceptable? My 18 year old daughter who works and is renting her room from me refused to unlock her door at first. They threatened to break the door down and frightened her to death. They also made her sign a form saying the goods were hers but unless she could prove it by paying a £180 fee to the court they would take any goods she had bought herself that she did not have a receipt for. Sorry for the long post, any help appreciated.

A few days ago I received a notice of enforcement from collectica stating that if I do not pay or agree a payment arrangement by the date above, (april 24th 2014 which is today) an enforcement agent will visit and seize my belongings. I have no money at all till tomorrow and im worried sick that people are going to turn up at my home today. Does anyone have any advice on what to do?

hi all, I'm getting texts from collectica for someone who used to reside at my address, but hasn't been for about two months now, long story short i don't talk to him anymore and i have no idea what this is for. I telephoned Collectica and they told me to get my address taken off their system i needed to provide a council tax bill. Do i have to give them a copy of my council tax bill ?

Help urgently needed. My son left home over a year ago, however, a year ago he decided to ride a train with no ticket and got caught. Rightly so he received a fine and he never paid it. He was taken to court and a £20 fine escalated into £400 court fine. Which I have to say he deserves. All through this he has not changed his address and all correspondence keeps coming to my home. To my horror last night when I got home there was a Notice of Distress Warrant on my doorstep. I am petrified that bailiffs will turn up and break into my house and my son doesn't even live there. He is not on the electoral register, no correspondence apart from his debts (much to my disgust) comes to my home for him. Please please please can someone give me some advice.... I have until the 24th December according to the letter. FDAO xx

Hey, j ust wanting a bit of advice really. I have dealt with this company before. they were collecting a court fine. I was under the impression though that they only collected HMRC debts and CCJs? I have had a letter from them this morning about a loan I took out a while back for around £900. I am actually currently in negotiations with the loan provider about lowering my monthly payments Does his collectica letter now mean the loan provider has taken me to court whilst pretending to be interested in lower payments from me? If so, I have had no letters about attending or anything :/

Hi just wanted a little bit of advice regarding bailiff laws for parking fines. I have today received 2 letters from Collectica Enforcement Services relating to 2 parking fines received by my local council in March and April last year. The total amount owed is £190.88 (2 x £95.44). The letters state that as I have failed to pay the amounts outstanding for the contraventions they write to notify me that they have been instructed to commence immediate recovery procedures against me. It says that I am requested to make full payment within 7 days of this notice to prevent further recovery procedures commencing. if I fail to make payment bailiffs/agents will be instructed to attend your premises to instigate further recovery procedures. Additional charges will be incurred 8 days after the date of the notice. With regards to these parking fines I received notices from the TEC late (because I had moved) and contacted them, they then passed it back to the council. I received notification from the council and then I responded online asking to pay by installments. I never heard anything else and if i am honest I just forgot all about them and had my memory jogged by these letters from Collectica! I cannot afford to make payment in full. I could possibly make payments of £20 per month (£5 per week) so what do I do? On the back of the Collectica letter it says I can email them. My questions are:- 1) Are they just normal bailiffs i.e is this the same as credit card debt or are is this debt the one where they can get locksmiths etc? 2) I don't own anything of value.....I don't have a car, my sofa and TV are on HP therefore even if they did get in there is nothing of any value should I say this on my email? 3) Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what i say to them in this email? Really can't face them turning up. Any help much appreciated. Lucy

Hi, I will not be giving out any personal information to avoid any further information being given to the bailiff's company. Some figures have been changed, so please do not be alarmed that it doesn’t add up. I received a PCN for parking without a valid ticket by MB Council in late 2012. I was not at home to receive the NTO and CC. Council took it to TEC sometime in May 2013. I replied to court summons which was successful. Received no further paperwork for a month or so, was away from home for a few months on business. I did not receive any further documentation until I got a visit from two bailiffs working for Collectica Limited on October 15 verbally demanding I pay £205, if I did not, they would call a tow truck and have my vehicle removed, resulting in further costs. They used a panel van to block the driveway where my vehicle was. The overall tone was threatening but I am not someone who bows easily to threats, my pride & ego doesn’t allow me to. I called the local councilor, who just advised me to take legal counsel. The bailiffs then threw (literally) a piece of paper at me and left. I did not sign anything; I did not accept any paperwork. I did not pay the bailiffs at this stage. I informed the bailiffs that I am self-employed (actually am) and my vehicle is necessary in the course of my business. I am the sole user of the vehicle. Furthermore, my vehicle has been fitted with custom electronics which I produce and sell; therefore it contains “Tools of the trade”. Bailiffs didn’t care. The piece of paper I received from the bailiffs, is a standard Collectica form, which contains hand written information such as, My name, First line of my address, Date, Time, Their reference, Bailiff in charge names, bailiffs mobile number and the balance outstanding and council name which initiated this action. On that form it has a printed paragraph which states: “I AM AUTHORISED BY THE COURT UNDER THE ENFORCEMENT OF ROAD TRAFFIC DEBTS (CERTIFIED BAILLIFS) REGULATIONS 1993 (AMENDMENTS 2003), TO REMOVE YOUR VEHICLE/HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS TO SATISFY YOUR UNPAID PENALTY CHARGE IF YOU FAIL TO CONTACT ME WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS I WILL HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO REATTEND YOUR PROPERTY EARLY MORNING OR EVENING TO IMPOUND YOUR VEHCILE/REMOVE GOOD” Where there is an option, neither was crossed out. I filed an Out of Time application on that day, which was refused (submission made to the courts by the council: apparently I refused the recorded delivery mail – checked with RM and on their records, it just shows as being returned) on the 9th of November or thereabouts. I contacted the local councilor again who passed me through to the person he believed to be responsible at the council for this matter. I asked for a breakdown of costs, which was: Original debt (Below £100 – around £80) Letter sent: £13.44 incl VAT (Legal) First visit: £105 incl VAT (Errm yeah? ) So I replied to the council that the charges are excessive and therefore illegal as set out under the Road Traffic Debts. The council denied it’s their responsibility. (Case law would suggest it is the council’s responsibility) All throughout this, I was paranoid my vehicle might just “disappear” off the driveway. I would always leave it in gear, made and installed my own security alarm system. I had many sleepless nights and would wake up, get out of bed at the slightest noise to check on the car, even if it was 3am in the morning. I’ve had my car for 6 years and it’s my first car… it might not be worth a lot but it’s sentimental value is through the roof. So reluctantly, I paid the charge online on or around the 13th of November 2013. Under duress but there was no option anywhere on the website to attach notes. I was charged 5% for credit card payments and then VAT on top, which resulted in an additional charge of ~£12 being added on…even though I used my debit card!! Anyway, I have read up so many laws, stories etc. So far, what I am able to gather, I have been overcharged by the first visit by nearly 3x. I have also been overcharged for debit card payments by 4x the required amount (£3 according to their website, which takes information from HMTCS) I have checked the two bailiff’s names against the register, neither of them appear on the register. My pride and ego have been severely dented; I want to go thermonuclear on the bailiffs, the bailiff’s company and the council. Looking on the web, I am not the only one these cockroaches have overcharged/threatened etc. What should I do to get the maximum punishment for the cockroaches? I am guessing it’s sending a complaint to the OFT, LGO, Issuing proceedings in small claims court and possibly getting in contact with the police over fraud? What would be my next steps and in which order? I don’t care if this process takes a few months, it’s principal I receive my dues. Can I get a refund of the entire amount I paid or only the bits which was overcharged? Thank you for taking your time to read this lengthy post, I wanted to include as much information as possible.

i received a distress warrant from someone called collectica this morning for a so called unpaid fine for unpaid tv licence, the original fine was £175 and I had to pay it back at £5 a week , I have been doing sometimes I would miss a week but pay double the following week and the courts were fine with this , I did once miss two weeks and got a letter from the courts but I spoke to them and explained that I had paid double that day and they were fine , I then paid 4 weeks on the 21st of December but this letter I got today was dated the 19th of December and says I have 2 weeks to pay £175 - I only owe £65 now the only number to contact collectica on is an automated number to make payment on , I don't want to pay £175 when I have nearly paid off the fine , I don't know what to do because I can pay it but not for a few weeks and I don't want to pay another £110 on top of what ive already paid

Earlier this year we drove to Spain on holiday. While we were there our vehicle was involved in an accident, and to cut a long story short it took three and half months to get this repaired due to the other parties insurers. During this period the road tax expired, which we were unable to renew as the MOT was also due at the same time and the vehicle was not in the country. Upon receipt of the road tax reminderI contacted DVLA and was told there was nothing I could do as a SORN could not be made when the vehicle was not in the UK. Within 24 hours of the vehicle arriving back in the UK I took this in for an MOT and taxed it online later that day.. A couple of weeks later I received a letter from DVLA informing me that they were levying a fine of £80 for failing to submit a SORN. I called the telephone number on the letter which was waste of time. The half-wit at the other end said there was nothing I could do but pay the fine. Needless to say, I object to this as a matter of principle. Now I am receiving letters from Collectica. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hello everyone, My first post, I'm grateful for the website and all the valuable contributions made toward it by the community. I've already had a lot of what I wanted to ask answered already through reading I have had a similar recent encounter with Collectica who have clearly operated using foul practise. All the usual intimidation tactics of a [problem] company that seem to do the rounds every so often whether it be parking fines or whatever. Something doesn't seem right Here's what I understand about this company so far. Bizarrely it's owned by Serco, and allegedly one of the directors has a peerage which when putting the pieces together is a little worrying really isn't it. I had a dispute with the courts over a fare and wrote to them on two occasions. In one instance the clerk agreed to suspend the case for a month to allow me to send letters back in as they had wrong address. The letters were ignored and the severity of the situation continued to increase until more recently they have passed the debt on to Connectica. Now Connectica use the same tired old familiar routine combined with loads of heavy threats in their initial communication to me. They're chasing this same debt that I was non-the wiser had escalated in the first place as technically it was in dispute, but their letter page is riddled with inconsistencies and lack of specifics. Has anyone actually had a run in with a Collectica debt collector yet? All our dates seem similar, they're a recent operation and hungry for our hard earned money, no doubt they'll be hoping for gullible mugs to pay first time round. Anyone still riding there demands out? How much has it risen to? Someone posted on here the max they can blag is £300? Above all else. THIS STINKS. The circumstances in not only mine, but everyone's case I've read so far are utterly unreasonable and this needs to go to Watchdog, or Moneybox Extra on R4 for further exposure....anyone else interested in blowing the lid on this government endorsed operation before someone gets hurt. Any thoughts or experiences welcome. Kind regards, Jc

Hello, I've had a letter come through today from Collectica which states I owe £755 from fines dating back two years ago. The total amount still outstanding to the courts is £455, so the rest are bailiff fees. These were initially being taken out of my benefits (I've been on Jobseeker's Allowance for some time now) but I signed off for two weeks to attend a work trial. When I signed back on, there were similar deductions being taken off which I assumed were the fines again (I owed no other money out). I then had to move at the end of June abruptly. Today's letter is the first contact I've had from the courts or Collectica for some time. I wasn't aware the courts were looking at taking enforcement action and they say it's been sent on since the beginning of July. They've also said that, despite my move, they've sent out all the relevant documents and have met their obligations legally. I'm staying with a friend and his family while I sort myself out after a couple of years of severe depression due to my mother's illness and subsequent passing. Things were pretty much looking up until this happened and I'm really unsure about what to do. I've not contacted Collectica yet as I'm scared it'll make things worse, and I'm worried if I tell them about this letter or the fact there are bailiffs, I'll be out. Obviously I'll need to explain this to them though. I'm not going to say I'm not at fault though - I should've managed my affairs better and had this sorted a long time ago.

Hi .I need some advice my 20 year old son a year ago was taken to magistrates court for not having a £1.80 train ticket . He as they do ignored this . This became a £00.00 debt with costs etc which he arranged to pay monthly and did until he became unemployed towards the end of last year . The debt was moved to collectica . I called when they notified him they adding more to the O/S balance and after he gave his authority for them to talk to me I explained he was unemployed and waiting for benefit to be sorted and wanted to make an arrangement to pay but currently he had no income . They told me that wasnt their problem and needed proof he was unemployed. They said they would send bailiffs and i explained he didnt own anything and had no income or money . Again I was told they were not interested . I sent the required documents to show he was unemployed and heard nothing from them until a bailiffs letter was pushed through the door . I again called and said that he had now managed to secure a temp job for 3 months so would be able to make payment at the end of june . They said they would not up the file but had never been told or notified he was unemployed and that they would not stop the bailiff action . He called at the end of June and made a payment that they excepted and charged him to make by his debit card . Today I have received another bailiffs letter saying they are calling tomorrow a nd will force entry into my house and take possession for the debt . I called the bailiff explained this was my home and my son had no possessions here apart from clothes etc and that he was making payment and would make a further payment at the end of this month . He said he wasnt interested and would be calling and forcing entry. I said i would report him to the police if he broke into my home or forced entry . He then told me not to threaten him and that he had a warrant as it is a magistrates court debt so he can and will force entry into my home . I have read confusing information online and I am really at a loss what to do . I now will have to not go to work tomorrow for fear he will break into my house . Please help as i really dont know what to do I cant afford to pay the debt which is now nearly £600.00 and neither can my son only having secured a 3 month contract Michelle