Hi, We issued a warrant of distress against a tenant. The bailiffs did not remove any goods nor recover any of the debt, and now claim that we owe them the fees for two attendance & levy costs of £1100 + VAT. Are we liable to pay their fees? They are threatening to issue Court proceedings to recover their costs. Thank you.

Hi, Please help! Yesterday afternoon, I had a visit from a Mr. xxxxx from Marston Group. I was not in at the time and he put a letter through my door containing a final notice and a distress warrant issued by *** Magistrates Court. I had never heard of them and was unaware of any debt, so I googled them and found your website. Hence this message. I have since found out by ringing the court that it in relation to an offence for which I was ordered to pay £85 costs and had to now deal with Marstons directly. This morning, I attempted to phone Mr. xxxxx on the mobile number he left. Nobody answered, so I left a message. I had not had a reply by 3pm today, so telephoned again. Yet again no answer, so left a message again. I then called Marstons enquiry line and was told that I had to speak to the baliff, who they confirmed was Mr. xxxxx. Half an hour later I had a call from Mr. xxxxx, who apologised as he had been "in court" all day. When on the phone he told me he needed the payment in full by 17:30 tomorrow (15/02/13) or he would be removing goods. I requested, as I am on benefits that he set up a payment plan whereby I could clear the now £385 over 8 weeks with the first payment tomorrow (15/02/12). He point blank refused and said payment was due in full by 17:30 and could any family members/friends help, which they cannot. The call was then ended. I really really need some help/advice before any return by Mr. xxxxx I cannot pay in full! Help! Thanks in advance.

THIS HAS TO BE DEALT WITH AND I CALL ON EVERYONE READING THIS TO HELP BRING THESE PEOPLE TO JUSTICE AND MY GOD I WILL ONE WAY OR THE OTHER - ARGHHHH!!! Hello Everybody, I had an appeal application in place regarding an unfair trial I received for a conviction for "Failure to Provide Driver Details." relating toa £60 speeding fine ( I was NOT driving the vehicle at the time and I DID infact provide the drivers details. And in the trial the onus was put on me to prove my innocence rather than the CPS to prove my guilt ) However this is not relevant to the reason I am writing here today. At approximately 12:30 13/02/2013 two individuals from MARSTON GROUP LIMITED arrived at my property. A LOUD THUNDER ROARED THROUGHT THE HOUSE WHICH WOKE MY PARTNER AND WAS EVEN SHAKING THE UPSTAIRS WINDOWS. She had the day before come out of hospital from having surgery and still had open stomach wounds, and was still on strong opioid based pain killers. The two bailiffs proceeded to kick the door round the frontand side down, and SCREAMED THROUGH THE LETTER BOX "COME TO THE DOORBEFORE WE GET LOCKSMITHS" and specifically referred to my name whichcaused quite a few of the neighbours to come out onto the street. My partner who was very drowsy and weak and had just been woken up and hobbled down stairs. She opened the door slightly and repeated numerous timesthat she had just had surgery, was seriously ill and that I didn’t live thereto try to get them to leave her alone (she didn't know I was in the house at the time, I was in my home office doing some paperwork with headphones in so I didn’thear this unfortunately.) One of the bailiffs then put his boot in the door, and eventually forced their way into my property by ramming the door into her which in the process of doing so the door handle hit her wound and knocked her on the floor causing her damage and extreme pain (which she later sought medical attention for after they left.) Once they were in the property she asked them numerous times to leave and they refused. Once I realised what was happening I went downstairs to see what the hell was going on. They informed me I had an outstanding fine and that my appeal had been rejected 2 days earlier (even though I had not received any confirmation of this through the post.) They informed me they had a Distress Warrant tocollect £365 plus £300 bailiff costs. I asked to see the warrant and they refused, they said I had to pay the £665 first and if I didn't they would remove goods. I said to them I am not required to pay their fees only the court fine, towhich they said there was a Distress Warrant for the total of £665 and I had topay the total amount for them to leave otherwise they would seize and sell my goods. After a lengthy conversation I then Under duress paid them £665 and they left. I stuck up for myself and they made numerous offensive statements to my partner about the way she looked (she looked very gaunt and run down afterbeing in hospital for 2 weeks! and these [edits]s made her really upset and she was crying) The situation was very close to breaking out in violence. They then give me a "Distress Warrant" document like this: (www (dot) consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?168-Bailiffs-and-High-Court-Enforcement-Officers/ bailiffs-and-court-fines.htm#counterfeitwarrant) and a hand written receipt which I cannot even read the hand writing to find any names or ID of the bailliff that did this to my girlfirend. After they left I called the police and got a log number and I have an appointment to see a Police Officer on Saturday afternoon to make a statement at the station. I later realised the Bailiff kicked my front door which put abig hole in the PVC door, meaning I now need a new front door. My god would I have given them a run for their money, but I realise with hindsight that I did the right thing by not being violent. I now want to get these people the best I can using all the legal means I have at my disposal. I have already set about claiming back their fees using the method at thisvery helpful site: www (dot) consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?168-Bailiffs-and-High-Court-Enforcement-Officers / bailiffs-and-court-fines.htm#magfeereclaim HELP ME ACHIEVE JUSTICE - If any contributers want to ask me any questions, I will reply very quickly wherever I am with my iPhone as I want retribution NOW. I am not the sort of person that puts up with rubbish as evil will flourish if good men do nothing. Immense thanks to the people who help me with this.

Hi all, Let me give you a brief overview. May 2010 - I took my car to Hull as a car dealer was interested in buying and I took it over for him to look round and test drive - 2-3 weeks later 'speeding ticket' through the post. I informed them I wasn't driving and could only provide Name of the guy (i can't even remember that now, it was that long ago). The Police person who I was communicating with said that he will put in file that I refused/witheld the info for the courts - I told him that he was committing an offence for doing such a thing and I informed him this was the end of the matter, as far as I was concerned. Not long after I moved away. - today, I get a knock on the door by 'Collectica' wanting £925!! Reason: Failing to give information re Driver's identity. - they say they have a distress warrant. Any advice would be appreciated....my first impulse was to send them a recorded 'Removal of implied rights of access' to my house.....but I really need to get this cleared up. Apparently, there was a court hearing on the May 2011..... Thanks all.

I have a HUGE story regarding npower and our bills but in short..... They keep threatening they are going to apply for a warrant of entry, can anyone that has perhaps dealt with this please tell me the process and how long it takes etc Thanks

The history Four years ago I received a pcn for a bus lane and when moving through the PATAS procedure, the local authority - Richmond - confirmed a 'discretionary' penalty distance of 10m existed at the end of the lane(s), which I had apparently violated by almost 4metres - which turned out to be untrue after revisiting and measurements/photos. On the day of the hearing Richmond failed to offer evidence to the contrary, actually not bothering to turn up at all. So, case dismissed and a lost day of work, plus another day in travel and compiling . The adjudicator said at the time that if I had put in an application for costs before the hearing I would have got them. Lesson duly learned. I do not travel much into Richmond anyway but on the odd occasion I will be at the same junction where there is no bus on the horizon, no cars are ahead in the lane, up to the lights, and everybody else is turning right, leaving a completely clear lane ahead of where I require to be to go straight ahead. The lights are phased in a way that at the point of the bus lane finishing, anyone starting from there as they go green will be caught by the amber/red for another three minutes, so in all the whole junction sucks, but hey-ho. Last year I did much the same thing as the first, ensuring I was well within the 10m zone, Once again, no bus/taxi/cyclis anywhere to be seen, no cars right up to the lights and no possible chance of obstructing anybody. I received a pcn a week later, which I duly replied to, citing the earlier instance and advising that if it was to progress further I would be applying costs. The response a few weeks later that there was no discretionary zone and no costs I could recover against the council for my time or stationery. I sent back a reponse, including a copy of Richmond's own confirmation of the 'discretionary' zone, plus a final warning that I would charge for time if this was persued based on the adjudicators comments after the hearing. Fast forward six months to this week, and no response from Richmond at any time in between, I have a letter from Phoenix of Bolton suggesting a warrant of execution was granted in November and they are now obliged to collect. The address on the envelope/letter is not mine, however as it has my name on the neighbour has dropped it off, and so I am assuming any earlier letters might have gone astray, or returned to sender. Odd, as Richmond orignally replied using the correct address, but that is not the point of my first post, neither is the discretionary zone as such. If Richmond confirms in writing that a zone existed, then later they state that it has never existed, should I be able to collate something via a solicitor that I can pass back to the bailiffs and local authority ? I appreciate the Bailiffs may have not been given any information prior to the warrant or instruction from Richmond, but since they are part of the jigsaw, are they obliged to adhere to the content of such a letter to stop them turning up on the doorstep with a further bill for their time ? Thank you for taking time to read this

Hi everyone, I was wondering if i could get some advise with regards to British Gas. On the 9th of January British Gas applied for a warrant to put a pre payment gas metre into my property for an old gas bill. The bill itself was 523.00. I infromed british gas that i could pay 200.00 towards the debt, which i have and pay the outstanding amount when i get paid on the 25th of january. I have now recieved a letter this morning saying that they are going to excute the warrant on the 23rd of january and fit a pre payment metre. I have since spoken to them to tell them i get paid on the 25th and i will pay the full amount on the account so please do not fit the metre. The debt officer i spoke to said there was nothing they could do and they are going to enforce the warrant. Now im not sure if this is the case, but the debt office said that the warrant officer will force entry to my property when i told him that no body will be in to speak to the warrant officer. I hope someone can give me some advise with regards to warrant being excuted do they actually do them on the date? not sure how it orks, just for the sake of 48 hours british gas not willing to help saying it's out of their hands. Many thanks.

I signed a franchise aggreement (unfortunately) and I would like to know if the : personal guarantee`s that was included is legal, if it was not witnessed, at the time of signing, and their is no provision for a witnesses signature, is there a set format for this, and could it be deemed invalid and/or, not binding? when is a deed not a deed? Your advice would be welcome. Thanks!

Guys, This thread is slightly different from another on here relating to British Gas seeking a warrant of entry for non-payment of a bill, so please bare with me... About 2 weeks ago I received a letter from BG informing me that £577 remained unpaid from my last bill and that they would be seeking a warrant of entry on 8th January 2013 from the local court. This would allow them legal access on 16th January to either disconnect my electricity supply or fit a pre-payment meter (the latter being the most likely course of action, obviously). No dispute over the amount - I owe it. I haven't been able to pay it because I am unemployed and my only income is fortnightly Job Seekers Allowance. I have tried repeatedly to set up online a monthly Direct Debit payment scheme, but they won't allow it because previous DDs have been returned unpaid. Nonetheless, since receiving the letter I have managed to scrape together a total of £437, and am going to pay another £50 on January 2nd. But that means I still owe a further £90, which I simply don't have, and won't have until the 16th January - the day of the execution of the warrant. So, my questions really are these: would BG really go to the trouble of applying to the courts for a warrant for such a small remaining sum? And if so, if I attend court on the day of application and plead my case, is it likely my personal circumstances will be taken into account and more time granted me in which to pay? Any advice gratefully received. Thanks A.

I've received a letter saying that BG has obtained a warrant of entry. I received no prior notification of this. I have an outstanding complaint against BG with the ombudsman. How can I get this warrant stopped?

Hi, new here but wish Id found this goldmine of knowledge before! I have received this in the post today, I have to pay 197.66 by tomorrow or they will remove goods. The debt is from capital one to cut a long story short I lost my job, made the mistake of getting a debt company to start helping me sent letters and said that the debt would be reduced as it was not properly executed then they disappeared and I didnt follow it up. Stupid I know. I have been reading forums and it seems that I should have received some sort of court order previously but looking at my post all I have received is a few threats but nothing else. I think that I can apply for a set aside but dont really know how. The debt was about £800 but has now doubled and I wont have the 200 before the end of the year. Im working shifts so wil probably we woken up in the day but is there anything I can do?

In brief, late paying a magistrates fine. Contacted fines office got the brush off, " nothing we can do mate notice of distress issued you must deal with the bailiffs ( Philips ). Go to local court , same story you cannot go in front of a Magistrate to explain situation as Distress notice issued. Give the fines office a ring see what they can do ! So I am at the mercy of Philips, if I do not agree to their terms I am snookered. They could pluck any figure out of the air for me to pay back monthly. If I am not happy do I accept their terms ? Or what is the next course of action

Hi, I need some help please, this is quite involved but I will start at the beginning. On Tuesday 20th at 06-50 I awoke to see someone outside on my drive fiddling with my car, I got up and went outside to find it clamped and faced by a very aggressive bailiff from Marston Group in respect of a debt for my son, who does not live at our address and for whom I cannot recall seeing any previous communication or correspondence in respect of this matter. He advised that he had a distress warrant and openly acknowledged that althoughI was not the named person (as he knew that the Date of Birth of my son, (he is21 whereas I am 50 !) I advised him my son was not and did not live here and he stated he did not care as the debt £445.00 was registered to this address and therefore he was going take the car placing a sticker on the window. I advised that this was not going to happen, nor would I let him into the houseand that I would call the police as the car belonged to me and I could provide proof of ownership (V5 and purchase receipt in my name). I went back into the house and copied the two documents went back outside but he would not talk to me, advising that he had called the police and would get them to sort this out. I also called the police but they refused to attend as this was not a civil matter. Nothing occurred for the next 2 and ½ hours i then had to go out, going outside my car still clamped, I went to talk to him in his car and advised him that I needed to go out. Fortunately we have use of two vehicles, he manoeuvred his car to block my exit but when I reversed he did actually move his car. I returned home later in the day to find that the clamp had been removed from my car and a Final notice letter addressed to my son placed through the letterbox. See Copy) I was clearly concerned I wrote to Marston group and sent a letter by recorded delivery that evening. Yesterday morning Saturday 06-55 I am woken by the doorbell ringing, hard knocking on the door and a female shouting through the letterbox that it is the police, I (foolishly) opened the door and was immediately pushed passed by what I thought was a police officer (due to her comments and dress), only to see behind her the male bailiff from the previous visit. I immediately slammed the door preventing him entering and then blocked the passage of the female in order to prevent her from entering any further into my house other than the entrance hall. I advised her that she was trespassing and had fraudulently misrepresented herself and that I was calling the police, to advise them of a break in which I did, s he stated that she did not care and that I had ‘Invited her in and she was an enforcemen toffice from Marston Group here to collect a debt on behalf of my son and she had a distress warrant. She refused to talk with me until the police arrived, but rang her colleague on the doorstep to advise of her situation which was perfectly safe as we had both accepted that the police would sort this matter out, two patrol cars, bluelights flashing, with four officers arrive and one asks me to move away and come and talk to him in the kitchen, I detail what had occurred, he then goes and speaks with her and returns to say this is a civil matter and apparently according to her ‘I pulled her into the house’ therefore she had obtained peaceful entry therefore she could go about her business and enforce the distress warrant. Based on the above, my wife and I were faced with no choice other than topay the £445.00, which we did by debit card, advising and witnessed by the police that we were paying under duress and that for which we accepted no responsibilityfor the debt. So, to summarise my position, at no time has my son been present, thebailiff forced entry into my property. I should point out that I am unemployed and on Jobseekers allowance, therefore I really cannot afford to pay this money and need advice as to what action I can take in order to recover this money.

Hello.I hope I may get some words of wisdom here! I am not working and my wife has been on long term sick for three years on around half pay. My mortgage lender got a possession order just over two years ago but have only now enforced it and we are to be evicted on 13/12/12. Our payments have been somewhat erratic (the money goes into my wife's account and she is supposed to pay bills but she has severe depression and doesn't keep up to things). Our arrears are £15000, the house is worth about £180000 with £152000 owing. I spoke to the CAB advisor on Friday and she said about the N244 form but before doing that, speak to the lender which I intend to do on Monday. My monthly payment (interest only) is £330. Do you think offering to pay this + say £170 towards the arrears is a reasonable offer? (I can only do this because my son has offered to pay it). If they don't accept that do you think a judge would think it reasonable? I think the only way forward is to sell up.Would it be reasonable to ask the judge for a few months "selling time". My other fear is that as my wife is still employed by a bank she could well lose her job,and income, because of this. Any input greatly appreciated. It's been good just to share my troubles!

Hi all, This is my first post so please bare with me. Had a visit on monday from a rossenadales bailif at my business adress which is a limited company, the ccj was issued to myself at my home adress and relates to a debt when i was a sole trader prior to starting my above limited company. Rossendales have not caught me in at home and have traced me to my new business adress, and have now put my ltd company adress onto their paperwork, but i have had no notification of this from the court. Can they do this???? Thanks all for your help

Several weeks ago I received a visit from a man form Rossendales explaining that we had an oustanding Council Tax bill that had been passed on to them and they had a Magistrates Order to recoup the money. I agreed to send an income and expenditure breakdown and come to an agreement over paying it in installments. I filled this in and sent it back. Today a man appeared on my doorstep with a piece of paper explaining that I hadnt kept to the deal, and he was here with the van. He told me I have to pay over 1200 pounds or he will be back with the van and the police. I explained that its not possible, and said that I could get 300 tomorrow, and he said, that he'll take that and give me to the end of the month to come up with the rest or it will be van/boys in blue/bye bye furniture/car. The piece of paper is form Rossendales and not the court. I explained that I'd sent the paperwork back, and phoned the office and was told its not their fault, and that i should have either sent it recorded delivery, or phoned to make sure it got there. I asked if I have any recourse to appeal, and was told that the only thing I can do to avoid them coming back and forcing entry is to pay the full amount by the end of this month. He said he was "being nice" by doing this for me. I was quite stressed out at the time, and didnt want to get into a confrontation that might make him change his mind and take the stuff there and then, so I kind of capitulated and said I'd have the 300 tomorrow and see what I could do about the rest. Is there ANYTHING I can do to get them to take the installment plan? Their paperwork says: "No further arrangements are acceptable and payment is now required in full by CLEAR FUNDS ONLY." I was helped out over a mortgage issue by some of the guys here a few years ago, and hope someone can point me the right way...

I had a parking ticket from the London Borough of Kingston unfairly. I now have a company called Collect Services sending Bailiffs to my house. I asked for an execution warrant. The copy they sent me does not have a stamp from the courts. Can anyone advise me if this warrant is valid since I have never been in this position ? May also add that I did not receive a CCJ from the courts since the case was thrown out because the Council did not have a statement from me.

Hi, Thought this might be a good place to seek advice, I am trying to help a friend. British gas have been granted a Warrant of Entry to fit a pre-payment meter. We want to try and stop fitting of said meter as we believe we have a strong argument. My friend was abroad when they were granted the warrant in the County Magistrates and hence was unable to attend the hearing to argue why the meter should not be fitted (various reasons, but main reason is because meter is outside and she is a disabled person living alone). We rang the Court for some advice in hope there is a form to fill out, but no joy there. Apparently (through information on the internet), you can appeal to the Crown/Magistrates but the only form I can find is: Appeal Notice (Criminal Procedure Rules, rule 63.3) http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/criminal/docs/crim-pr-form-part63-appeal-notice.pdf But then another website saying to use Form N244 - Application Notice of a request to a court to make an Order (But this seems to be for Civil matters i.e. used to set-aside CCJ's etc. Bit of a nightmare really, not much help/info from anywhere, I just need to know how to stop this as I personally believe we can stop this, but it's just a case of following the correct procedure. Thanks for any help

Scottish Power are demanding half the balance of £1125.70 that I owe or they will come and fit a prepayment meter in my home, with force aparently. I have already paid them £25.70 and offered them £250 today and said I would pay £300 on 07/11/12 however they have turned around and refused unless I pay them £550. Surely as I am willing to clear the debt quite quickly they would just accept that payment and stop their plans. They have told me to "be home" on Thursday. But won't tell me what time and we are in work all day. I live in an apartment block and don't know where our meter is, it is not within the apartment so if they break in the door they would just be causing damage with no purpose. Please help!

Hello, I owe Scottish Power £1125.70 and have not been able to pay the bill. I didn't hear from them for a while and to be honest forgot all about the debt. I then received a letter saying they have a warrant of entry and are coming to fit a prepayment meter, whether I am home or not. I called the company and paid them £25.70 and said I would try to get some more money together to which I was told they wanted half the debt or they would still use their warrant. I live in a large apartment block and am not even sure where the meters are myself so I don't see them breaking down my door being much use as the meter is not even in there. I also rent and know that my landlord could kick us out if the locks are changed and the meter is installed. I called them today to pay them £200-£250 and advise that I could make another payment of around £300 on the 7th November. But basically they refused to stop the meter being fitted unless I pay £550 today or tomorrow which I do not have. Basically they have now advised me to be home on Thursday when they plan to visit, but won't give me a time. Both me and my fiance can't be present on the day they are coming as we are both in work, and all they can say to us is "it's in your best interests". Well obviously getting sacked from work for staying home to wait for them is hardly in my best interests is it. Just wondered if there is any help out there. As we have offered a payment shouldn't they accept it? Also as we live in a large block can they mess with the meters, we have 24 hour concierge and they would have to be let in by calling our apartment number. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

My friend started a business at the start of the year which I was helping him set up. He took out a 3 month license on an industrial unit which ended at the end of February and wasnt renewed as the business never really got off of the ground. I was acting as his advisor at the time due to having a bit of business knowledge and helped him through the process of finding a unit and also dealing with attaining the license for it. Fast forward to last week and I receive 2 Bailiff Removal / Magistrates Liability Order / Warrant Of Execution orders for Non Domestic Rates addressed to both myself and my friend T/A (his company name) totalling around £1700 and informing me that a bailiff had attended to remove goods from my property, the letters both referencing the local council authority which the unit was licensed. Being bemused but with an incling to it being something to do with the business I ring the council to ask what was going on and it turns out they had contacted the estate agent who was in charge of the license and had been (falsely) informed by them that myself and my friend had taken out a 6 month lease on the property dated from December 2011 to May 2012 and we were being chased for fees for this period. I quickly informed then that 1. It wasnt my company so why was my name even on the account in the first place? and 2. That the unit had only been taken for 3 months so why was the account being billed for 6 months? Being rather snotty she said that they'd been sending correspondance to the unit and other contact addresses and had no reply from us (obviously due to the unit having to be vacated) so proceeded with court action for the 2 outstanding bills but may be able to wipe them if we could provide them with a form which would entitle us to small business rate relief. She then emailed this through which I got my friend to fill out and took this to the council along with the license agreement which clearly states the agreement was with him and not me and only for a period of 3 months. The woman in the council office took all of this into the back office and then came back and said the original debt could be wiped but we would still have to pay around £120 in court fees and £283 to their bailiff. and that because they weren't informed in the first place that the business was my friend's and not mine also (this information they were falsely given by The Estate Agent) and that it had already been through court and that they wouldn't be able to take my name from the bill. I have 2 issues here: 1. That i've somenow become become liable for £400 for a business that wasn't mine due to the estate agent giving false information. 2. That both of these liablity orders were issued for periods the unit wasn't even occupied, one from the period 1 Dec 2011 - 1 Apr 2012 (the license was only up until the end of February) and another one from 1 - 14 Apr. Meaning the second one wasnt even valid in the first place but still has racked up fees of £60 court + half of the £283.50 for the baliff. I've spoken to my friend who's agreed to write a letter to the council and the baliff expressing that the business was his and not mine. Also stating that this been proven by them being provided a copy of the license agreement which was in his name and for them to stop contacting me and to take my name off of the bill. Will they accept this or ignore it and keep harassing me? From my estimations, the second bill was never valid in the first place and ontop of this, the bailiff has overcharged on everything so the charges should only be £50 tops for the baliff's lawful fees and £60 for the court fees for the first bill? Does anyone know how I should proceed from here?

Hi Guys, I hope someone can help. I will be as clear as I can - the long and short of it is that I appealed a parking ticket as I was unaware that I had one until the baliffs came calling. All paperwork was sent to my old address so I did not get the opportunity to sort it out. The council dont want to know and I had a hearing at my local court to which they threw my appeal out. The baliffs are demanding £497 (for a £25 ticket) - I have written a letter to the baliff company as advised on one of the forums and stated that guidelines state that where the baliffs are dealing with a vunerable household (ie me) - they should refer it back to the council. I am currently not working as I have been made redundant (and having worked the last 20 years of my life solidly) - and am claiming income support for the first time in my life. I have now received a letter back from the baliff company stating that 'simply benig unemployed and in receipt of income support does not necessarily mean that you are a vunerable person in respect of enforcement action.' The letter goes on that the NSEA is not a legal binding instrument but guidance only. They are therefore going to continue enforcement action. I honestly cannot afford to pay them - the only real asset I have is my car and since we live 11 miles from school and essentially in the middle of nowhere I need trasnsport. there are no buses or trains here and I have three children. I am really worried now and would appreciate anyones help. Thanks so much.

Hi All, Very new to all of this but essentially me and my partner got together a year ago and it turns out she has some minor debt. A fine from the courts for a theft which ended up a £120 fine. Now, this was two years ago (When she was 18) and they have decided to catch up to her now about it. The initial amount owed was £120 and has risen to £420 she has had no previous contact with them except for the court date, she received no warrant (Until today), and no notice of the debt to be owed. The Warrant we received today was stated as a "Distress warrant" And was of the value of £205 in the balance to be paid, £120 original court fine and £85 letter charges. But £420 was handwritten underneath and apparently that is how much we owe. I did read something about bailiffs and 180 days from when the warrant was issued but only had a moment to glance at that. The case history is marked as follows: July 2012 : Start Note Offence - Theft from a shop Date of sentence: June 2010 (Which is the £120 fine issued by the court) July 2012: Hold Case - Specific Period Hold Until July 2012 July 2012 - Misc Note Batch List Printed July 2012: Letter Sent - First HMCTS - First Bilingual Printed (I am assuming this would be the £85 letter charges) August 2012 - Bailiff Assigned Bailiff XX Assigned to case August 2012 - Misc Note Assigned cases List Printed August 2012 - Misc Note Activity Report / HMCS - Distress Warrant Printed August 2012 - Bailiff Unassigned Bailiff XX Unassigned August 2012 - Bailiff Assigned Bailiff XX Assigned to case August 2012 - Misc Note Assigned Cases List Printed Now, I am unsure where the additional £215 charges have come from to total debt to £420 but i wanted to know if you had any advice? There is no court stamp on the warrant and the only people we have spoken to is people from the main company which is Excel Civil Enforcement i can't seem to be able to gain information as to which court the case was assigned to. If needs be i can and will upload the document we recieved from the bailiff and black out all of the personal information so you can have a look at it. But from what i have stated here, is there any reason i should be suspicious? Thank you to anyone and everyone who helps me and my partner has just had a child and we are in our first tenancy so we are all over the place anyway at the moment! EDIT: Sorry, i also forgot to mention that he seemed twitchy about me paying in instalments, he wants payments done within this month. He won't allow any other way.

hy i had a letter from philips for a distress warrant about one things happened few years ago. me and my friend stole make up in boots and the police gave us a fine. i paid the fine at the Court in highbury and islington after 2 months and the man at the Court said that after the payment everything was ok. but today i had this letter werethey ask me to pay £125 in 7 days, but i have already paid the fine few years ago. how can i do? i don't have a copy of the receipt but really i have paid already... can you give me some advice please? thanks jessica

(also posted in utilities forum...) Need advice urgently. I got a little behind with gas bill I am and always have been paying £70 a month by Standing Order. anyway, every time I try and set up a payment plan, always get through to an indian call center and all they want to do is take a payment and not listen. I do have a recorded telephone conversation telling them I had no objections at all in them fitting a prepayment meter. Despite this they got a warrant to change it on the 13th of this month. I never got a chance to tell my side at court (6th) also I never received human rights letter from rep, I sent him away and told him to post it. Didn't even get into a conversation with him. why should I pay for his visit. I don't want to pay the court costs and meter install charges when I already gave permission. Can I stop the warrant, have it put on hold until I at least get a chance to have my say in court? Time is tight ....how would I do this? thanks for reading series3