total amount paid but still got a warrant of execution

[gazhodge1981]

Hi all,

 

Can anyone give me some advice please???

I have just paid an outstanding debt of of £400 to daniel thwaites plc directly.

today I got a warrant of execution through the post asking for £614.86. I am a bit confussed as to why this had arrived as they have cashed the cheque before it was issued.

the other funny thing is that the name on the court forms are in my dads name to which he has nothing to do at all with this. it was me who had signed the original agreement with thwaites. is this normal?????? (i am over 18).

All the court stuff has been done by a trainee solicitor, is this just a mistake????

Does the claim still stand as it has the wrong name on it????

 

any help please

[setmefree]

bump

[tomtubby]

I am confused as to what this debt relates to.

 

Could you let us know and then I can respond.

[gazhodge1981]

IT WAS FOR SOME BEER THAT I HAD of them in march and april. They don't invoice you for two months thats why it is now october.

[lookinforinfo]

Have you spoken, or written to Thwaites pointing out that you had already

paid the debt before they issued the warrant?

Are you sure your cheque was paid?

If yes, then you should write to the bailiffs pointing out that the debt

has already been paid and ask them to refer back to Thwaites, pointing out

that they will be guilty of trespass should they visit your premises as this letter is formal notice that they are not welcome at your establishment, and any attempt to remove goods etc will be treated as theft. A copy of this letter will be retained and presented in Court if necessary.

[gazhodge1981]

the cheque has been cashed by then. the only outstanding bill with them now would be for the bailiffs but that was added after the the money was paid. have I got to pay this?????

I have spoken to the bailiffs this morning and they have said I have to pay it and then claim it back some how, even know he agreed that the debt was paid before the woe.????

what should my next move be?????

[alexteh]

Don't pay imo. The bailiff is just after some money - he knows it's a cock-up so he is hoping you'll pay him and then won't bother claiming it back.

 

Stand firm, write to the bailiff company, the court and Thwaites and tell them to call the bailiff off!

[gazhodge1981]

ok will do, The amout I have paid does not include any court costs. I have just looked at the paper work and it it says there is £80 and £50 in costs. do I pay them and not the bailiff????? I didnt notice this before. the outstanding bill has been paid in full.

[gazhodge1981]

is writing to the bailiff the best course of action. Spoke to them again today and again they have said that i need to pay them and claim it back. how is this done????

[lookinforinfo]

It would seem that timing is critical.

What was the date of the warrant? And on what date did you send the cheque? If the cheque was received before the hearing, then the Court should have been informed.

[gazhodge1981]

the warrent was iassued on the 19th and they had the cheque on the 10th and it cleared on the 18th.

[lookinforinfo]

If that is the case then you should ring the Court and advise them that the debt had been settled prior to the case and ask how to have the warrant

struck out. Once you have that information and any reference number if there will be another hearing, write [don't phone] to the bailiffs advising them

of the circumstances.

If you are sure the £400 debt is paid, then were the bailiffs to come round

to collect the £600 odd after that, they would be guilty of theft and trespass.

 

Also ask Thwaites why they didn't stop the proceedings as they knew that

the debt was cleared. You shouldn't be liable for the Court fees for the

issue of the warrant nor the bailiff fees.

[gazhodge1981]

can i ask, i have spoken to the court who have told me the hearing was on the 4th. (had no paperwork). they had the cheque on the 10th it had cleared on the 18th ( have proof of this) and the warrent was issued on the 19th. all i need to know is what have i got to pay and what can i contest. sorry for covering old ground.

[lookinforinfo]

Thwaites should have informed the Court that they had received your cheque.

Your cheque was not received until after the hearing so I believe you would normally be liable for the Court fees.

However as the cheque cleared before the warrant was issued, I don't believe

you should be liable for the bailiff fees.

 

This is not an area I am strong on, and I had hoped that someone more knowledgeable than I would have jumped in by now.

Speak to the Court again and ask them

a] have they been notified that you sent a cheque for £400 on the 10th which cleared on the 18th ie the day before the warrant was issued.

b]if they had known that £400 had been paid, would they still have issued the warrant? If not, how do you get the bailiffs off your back as they are

chasing the wrong amount. If yes, why? And how do get the bailiffs to stop chasing you for the whole amount.

c] you did not get any details beforehand that there was to be a hearing.

Had you known, you would have attended and paid the money there and then if not before. In the absence of notification, can you have a rehearing

especially as the warrant is in your fathers name not yours, and he was not involved in the transaction.

[Zigzagz]

What appears to have happenned here is that:-

 

1) Initial debt of thwaites was £400.

2) They take it to court. Fees and costs added on make debt £600

3) Thwaites instruct bailiffs. Further fees added on making it £650

4) Next day, cheque for initial **£400** paid. Debt is now £250.

5) Warrant of execution still valid.

 

This is a county court matter, so there is no "bailiff company" involved. It is not like Council Tax matters, where bailiffs try it on and chance it. There has been a warrant of execution issued by the court, and no amount of writing letters will make any difference to anything, so the court's advice is correct.

 

The methods of challenging these awards are set down in law, and there are proper procedures to follow. Complaints, subject access requests, or anything else won't matter.

 

IF you can show you didn't receive the claim forms, and if you did, you would have paid the £400 earlier, you could apply to set the judgment aside. BUT you would still have incurred the court fees and solicitors costs, as these are added on at issue and are valid if the initial debt is valid. So even if you set it aside, the extra costs would still be valid, and the fact you paid £400 would still mean you hadn't cleared the debt in full, and the bailiffs charges would also be valid.

 

My advice would be, I am sorry to say, you should pay it, and then take this as one of those things.

 

Or you could simply not pay it, tell the bailiffs you have no money, and eventually they will give up and go away (as County Court bailiffs in most areas of the country are notoriously lax, and as they aren't getting paid by results like other bailiffs, will be happy to move on to the next job).

 

HOWEVER, you should MAKE SURE you have confirmed to the County Court Bailiff in writing that the £400 was paid, so there is a record of this.

 

You should also note that the problem was probably caused by you paying the court. Once bailiffs are instructed, you have to pay them, at the court. Before the bailiffs are instructed, all the court documents tell you to pay THE CREDITOR, Thwaites, directly. If you had done this, they probably wouldn't have bothered instructing the bailiffs for £85. By paying the court (incorrectly) this has led to delays which has made the steps taken valid.

[gazhodge1981]

hi, thanks for the advice.

i have applied to the court to set the judgement aside as i don't like to be beat ( 2 weeks a go) and this morning i have had a letter from there solicitors saying they accept the set aside the judgement and that there is now nothing to pay. please can you also inform the court of our action.

so it turned out ok in the end.

ps: am i able to claim my £75 back, i don't need it but it would be nice to get one over on them. lol

[gazhodge1981]

it was thwaites that i paid directly and they failed to inform the court of any payment.

[Zigzagz]

If you proceed to a hearing, i.e. don't agree with the solicitors, then the judge has power to award costs in your favour. This is your time spent dealing with the case at £9.25 per hour, plus travel costs (i.e. fares to court). This also includes any court fees.

 

Therefore you should write to the other side's solicitors, and say that you will be seeking a costs order against Thwaites and inviting them to pay in advance rather than go to court. Make sure the offer is in writing, and confirm it was sent (e.g. send by fax as well as post). Then if necessary take it to the hearing.

[gazhodge1981]

could i still lose if i now went to court???

do i need to inform thwaites of anything???

[Zigzagz]

There is a possibility you could lose, given what I said earlier in post 15. Even if you paid Thwaites direct, you still paid less than the claim amount, so unless you filed a defence, they were still entitled to judgment. However, if they have admitted to you that they believe they are in the wrong, the solicitors for Thwaites may not have taken the point, and therefore you should write to them, and send a copy by fax, claiming costs, and see what response you get.

 

Obviously, if you get a response of "we think your wrong, and we will fight it, but we offer to pull out on a no costs basis" then you should agree to pull out then (if you do, you must sign a "consent" order, which you should ask them to provide - they will do if you insist). If not, they may give you the court fee as it will cost them more than this to appoint an agent to attend the hearing to argue with it.