Phillips - court fine help please

[kilic]

Hi, i'm not sure if i'm in the right place here so apologies if i'm not.

 

So, last week i received 4 letters on the same day from Phillips regarding a fine for £285 telling me if i don't pay now they are sending bailiffs, locksmiths etc. At first i was very surprised as i wasn't aware of having any fines so i've wrote to them 3 times asking what it is for and have received no response. Thinking back, the only fine i have ever had in my life was almost 4 years ago for non payment of a metro ticket and it was for £85. I remember at the time contacting the court as they wanted me to pay installments at a court miles away from me and i asked them to change it to my local court which they said would be fine. They told me a letter would be sent with details of how, where and what to pay but i never received anything and to be honest completely forgot about it until now.

 

So, i visited the CAB to ask what to do, as i've heard from other people that Phillips are awful to deal with, and was told pay it as they can break into your house even if they've never been before!! Is this correct?

 

I'm not in a position to pay it, i'm not working and don't receive benefits, my hubby brings home £660 per month and we have 2 young children. I'm really panicking now. We are in a huge mess financially which i'm trying to work through but i really can't see what to with this.

 

Thanks in advance

[little miss complaint]

Hi Killic

 

I've only just started dealing with these people myself so I can't offer a great deal of advise. If you call them they will ask for a telephone number and tell you they can't access your account without one, well they're not legally entitled to one so with hold your number (141) and provide a false number, I used 01234 666999, and if you do talk to them they are incredibly dim and don't appear to have ANY legal training so record all of your calls (if you have a mobile call from that as your mobile probably has the ability to record calls) as almost everything they told me was a blatant lie.

 

I know it's difficult but try not to panic, offer them what you can afford and if they refuse then contact your local CAB and get them to deal with them for you. I have spoken to 5 people at Phillips and every one of them didn't appear to have any legal training and were in breach of several OFT and CSA guidelines.

 

Sorry I can't be more help.

[ambershadow]

And whats the sum of 285.00 for now then? is that court fee's....

 

You really need to contact the court I wouldn't phone the bailiifs if you can email them or record delivery their letter or even better still special delivery one letter that way you know its got to them.

In the meantime Don't let them into your home and be very wary of opening the door as once they get their foot in they don't move it

[kilic]

Thanks for the replies guys, I have no intention of phoning them as i know they are nasty (my brother has dealt with them before) but i have just sent off an e-mail re-iterating that i am not refusing to pay but that i simply have no idea what the fine is for (i do have some idea but they haven't confirmed it) The original fine was £85 so Philips have added £200. I've read somewhere that Philips can add £50 per letter so that would add up BUT the extra £200 was on from the first letter and has not risen with the further 3 letters which i received so i'm confused about that.

 

I have asked them to provide me with info on what the fine was for, who was the issuing court and what charges have they added so i'll just have to hang fire until they get back to me. I really don't know who the issuing court was so can't even contact them yet. The latest letter refers to a distress warrant so can the bailiffs break in? Another post i read states that it depends on the type of fine and they usually only break in if it's for motor fines (no insurance etc) or parking tickets. Mine was for fare evasion on the north east metro system (if the fine is actually for that).

Edited June 22, 2009 by kilic
bad spelling

[Big Boss Man]

Sorry to hear of your problems, Philips are known for ignoring people, demanding the full payment, etc etc.

 

Here are some contact details, i would reccomend you exaust all the complaint avenues:

 

Philips Collection Services Ltd

 

PO Box 152

Darlington

DL3 9WT

 

Contact: Mr N Bradley Cheif Executive

 

Phone: 01325 387 400

Fax: 01325 383 887

 

Email: [email protected]

 

Link: www.philips.org.uk

 

 

Office of Fair Trading contact details:

 

Philips Collection Services Limited - Licence Number 0491286

 

[email protected]

 

You could also make your local MP aware of your situation:

 

www.theyworkforyou.com

 

Hope you get things sorted.

[tomtubby]

Thanks for the replies guys, I have no intention of phoning them as i know they are nasty (my brother has dealt with them before) but i have just sent off an e-mail re-iterating that i am not refusing to pay but that i simply have no idea what the fine is for (i do have some idea but they haven't confirmed it) The original fine was £85 so Philips have added £200. I've read somewhere that Philips can add £50 per letter so that would add up BUT the extra £200 was on from the first letter and has not risen with the further 3 letters which i received so i'm confused about that.

 

I have asked them to provide me with info on what the fine was for, who was the issuing court and what charges have they added so i'll just have to hang fire until they get back to me. I really don't know who the issuing court was so can't even contact them yet. The latest letter refers to a distress warrant so can the bailiffs break in? Another post i read states that it depends on the type of fine and they usually only break in if it's for motor fines (no insurance etc) or parking tickets. Mine was for fare evasion on the north east metro system (if the fine is actually for that).

 

 

You MUST find out what this is for because you can file a Statutory Declaration if you have not received documentation about this fine. This is VITALLY important as you only have 21 days to do this. If you can file a stat dec this will CANCEL the fine and bailiff fees are removed.

 

Philiips DO HAVE the right to FORCE ENTRY n the event of a MAGISTRATES COURT FINE.

[Guest Happy Contrails]

Only if a magistrate has signed the warrant.

[kilic]

Thanks for the replies, i'm trying desperately to get them to let me know what it is for but no joy so far. No reply to 3 letters and so far no reply to my e-mail. I'll send another now.

 

Tomtubby, you say 21 days but 21 days from when? Is it from when the distress warrant was issued? Or from when Philips first contacted me?

[hunni2006]

I HAVE dealt with phillips before, early last year, for 2 fines that like you I had missed the opportunity to pay in installments with the court.

 

I was hounded day & night by philips.... they were adding £100 per 'visit' (they didn't even knock on the door, just put letters through saying they'd been.... it's a good way for them to increase your debt) They were calling me and sending messages threatening to break in etc more than 5 times a day.

 

Initially I wrote to them, I phoned them and was bullied & threatened into making payments over the phone.

I emailed them offering installments, none of which they would accept, and they just kept adding charges after charges on. I even got in touch with the courts, who told me there was nothing they could do as the account was in Philips' hands...

These people are ANIMALS... they literaly almost drove me into the ground.

 

The trick is to step back and calm down a bit & stop panicking.

 

These animals use every trick in the book to bully and intimidate you into paying. they terrify you with the threats they make.

 

They usually give you a reference number on the letters to make payments online.

I used the online service to email them and make an offer of weekly payments at what I could afford..(would have taken 30 weeks) and also made a payment online of that amount.

I got a letter a few days later saying that the offer was not acceptable to them, demanding full payment and adding yet more charges on.

I emailed back, explaining that there was no way I was able to pay the full amount, and could somebody please get in touch so that we could work out an arrangement that WAS suitable.

the only thing I got were abusive & threatening phone calls, texts and letters. During one phonecall I was told that the bailiff would return every week until I pay!!!

I was at my wits end, so I did some research on the internet and found out that if they are unable to collect the debt they have to pass it back to the court for action.

 

I got in touch with philips and told them that there was NO WAY i was going to pay them, as all previous payments ahd not reduced any debt, but had gone towards the outrageous charges they were levying... at one point it was £100 per week for visits... I requested that they return my debt back to the court so that I would be able to make an arrangement that I could afford.

I also warned them that if they failed to stop turning up at my door & making threatening phonecalls & text's I was going to complain to the courts, The OFT and take legal advice about suing them for harrassement.

I then got letters telling me that they had issued a warrant for my arrest.... scary stuff:-o.... but that is a good thing... it means that if you are arrested, you are brouight before a court and given the oppertunity to tell the magistrate what a set of ******'s philips are, and why you haven't paid (because they wouldn't accept installments).

They never followed up on the threat of arrest with me, but I did get a summons to go to court for non payment of the fines in April this year.

 

I took along ALL the letters philips had sent, told the magistrate about the calls & texts and explained the effect this had on my health, They could also see from the payment record that I had made the attempt to make payments & arrangements, and I explained that I stopped paying because I was only paying their charges, and that it was LAST year that I requested this to be returned to the courts.

After hearing my story The magistrates REDUCED my fine by £100 because of the terrible time I had with philips, agreed an affordable weekly installment, and when I left they were discussing the DISGRACEFUL behaviour of the bailiffs.

 

in other words.... ask them to return it to the court.

[kilic]

Hunni, thank you so much for that and sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this, i've been offline for a while. I finally got e-mail confirmation of what the fine was for and it is correct so i'll have to pay it. However they did not confirm what the extra £200 was for (i know it's their charges but for what, i don't know) and at no time have i ever had any correspondence refering to charges for letters, visits etc.

 

I made an offer online of payments that i could afford and have just received a letter this morning refusing it and telling me that if i don't pay within 7 days an agent will visit to obtain payment'. So i'm going to send a letter back telling them that the offer is the best i can do and that if an agent visits they won't be leavig with payment or goods as i have nothing at all of any value. I will then request it be returned to court and see what they say. I'm also keeping all correspondence from them although so far i haven't had much in the way of harrasment other than the letters so i suppose i'm lucky.

 

According to Philips e-mail, the liability date was 3rd Feb 09 which i presume is when they got the distress warrant so would i be right in thinking that they have to pass it back to the court after 180 days anyway which will be August? The offence was November 05 and the date of the fine was feb 06 so i can only think the liability date relates to the distress warrant.

 

Thanks Cat