Marston Enforcement Agent

[trezmiffed]

On July 14th I received a hand delivered letter from Marston titled Siezure of Goods, for non payment of fine. I rang the courts to find out what fine.

Back in December 08 my 13year old son was in Youth Court for shoplifting, he received 16 hours Reparation & £60.00 Fine as I'm the parent it was me to pay, the duty solicitor asked for it to be deducted from my Benefits & the magistrate agreed. It turns out that although the courts applied to DWP they never received any money. The courts say they sent me 2 letters but I didnt receive them in fact the first I knew of the situation was on receipt of the siezure of goods letter.

I rang the Agent to explain & that I couldnt afford to pay the £285.00 he wanted. He asked if I had family or friends I could borrow the money I said no. I told him that I knew, after helping a friend in the same boat that he could refer the fine back to the courts, plz could he do this. No he said his boss had told him it was payment in full or remove goods. He then said that he wouldnt do anything with the paperwork & get in touch in a couple of days to see if I'd managed to borrow the money.

Wednesday 16th July The Agent called today at the house, I didn't let him in & told him I still didnt have the money & that I dont even get anywhere near that amount to live off what did he want me to do not feed my kids for a 4weeks, he was the most un-sympathetic man Ive ever met. Unfortunatly it was at this point I started to lose control sobbing. My 21year old came down to see what was going on & he spoke to the Agent. He told my son he would be back today, (17th), for the cash or the goods & if I didnt let him in he'd have a locksmith with him who could open the door regardless.

I am a single parent with 3 children, (21yrs, twins 14yrs), I receive JSA & Child Tax Credits & this whole situation was not helping my depression.

Off the record I had been told that if you can't pay the Agent will send it back, but he is adamant his "boss" said no way its payment in full or take goods.

Please can anyone tell me if I've got my facts right RE: Referring the fine back to court?

[Maggie_moo]

Bailiffs can force entry as it is an unpaid fine, however as you are on JSA it can be referred back as you are classed as vulnerable regarding your income. Ring the court yourself and ask for it to be referred back ASAP. Regarding the fees someone else will be along to help you as I am not sure of those.

[lets fight bailiffs]

this is true is true you also need to inform the court of your mental health at the momant an email also would be a good idea to the company who he works for and tell them your situasion and demand that for these resons you want it taken back to the court as you have already filled a means form and at that time they agreed that you could not make the payment in full and it was agreed by magistate and that your situation has not changed and i would follow up with a phone call within 15 mins just for them to confirm that they have your email

[tomtubby]

The bailif is supposed to abide by the National Standards for Enforcement Agents that state that (according to what you have written) you are classified as "vulnerable".

 

What part of the country are you in. ie: London. South East, North West etc.

[%Ostrich%]

From what she has written, trezmiffed is potentially vulnerable.

 

According to the National Standards for Enforcement Agents, the bailiff must use his discretion when dealing with people who may be potentially vulnerable.

 

Department for Constitutional Affairs - Enforcement - National Standards for Enforcement Agents

[trezmiffed]

I have allready spoke to the courts in person & they said they cannot ask for it back he has to refer it back. I live in the North West, Manchester to be precise.

[lets fight bailiffs]

I have allready spoke to the courts in person & they said they cannot ask for it back he has to refer it back. I live in the North West, Manchester to be precise.

 

 

Enforcement agents should:

• Carry out their duties in a professional, calm and dignified manner. This includes dressing appropriately and acting with discretion and fairness.
  
• They must not misrepresent their powers or abilities, or discriminate on grounds of gender, sexual, orientation, age, ethnicity, race or religion
  
• Produce identification and authorisation on request
  
• Communicate clearly and provide information (on charges etc) prompt
  
• Have arrangements for translation services and provision of information in large print, Braille etc
  
• Provide procedures for identifying and dealing fairly with vulnerable debtors such as people who are elderly, disabled, those who have been bereaved recently, lone parents, pregnant women, unemployed people, people with language difficulties this last part needs making very clear theye are right he does have to hand it back so tell him the above
  

[trezmiffed]

On your advice I e-mailed Marston & they have replied saying if my account is with an Agent it will be forwarded to him & wont get a reply from the Customer Care Department. The Agent has been back this morning but I wasn't in my kids spoke to him, he wants me to ring him. My sister rang him back & left a message on his voicemail explaining everything, is awaiting a call back. If he has a right to enter my home with it being an unpaid fine what do I do if he knocks on again? I am worried & to scared to go out in case he gets a locksmith to get in, he has allready said that he would do this if I don't pay.

[lets fight bailiffs]

how old are your kids he spoke to

[lets fight bailiffs]

i have just sent you a private massage

[lets fight bailiffs]

On your advice I e-mailed Marston & they have replied saying if my account is with an Agent it will be forwarded to him & wont get a reply from the Customer Care Department. The Agent has been back this morning but I wasn't in my kids spoke to him, he wants me to ring him. My sister rang him back & left a message on his voicemail explaining everything, is awaiting a call back. If he has a right to enter my home with it being an unpaid fine what do I do if he knocks on again? I am worried & to scared to go out in case he gets a locksmith to get in, he has allready said that he would do this if I don't pay.

 

 

 

Provide procedures for identifying and dealing fairly with vulnerable debtors such as people who are elderly, disabled, those who have been bereaved recently, lone parents, pregnant women, unemployed people, people with language difficulties these two points need making very clear and the fact that you are willing to pay through DWP and have agreed to do this in a court.

[lets fight bailiffs]

use this by amail

 

 

to marstens

 

with regards to this ref (add)

 

Dear sirs

 

I would like to inform you that one of your officers has made a visit to my home home today.

 

I wish to inform you as a company that i am on JSA and it is of my opinion that i come under hardship inline with the National Standards for Enforcement Agents and if i meet the demand that you are asking you will be forcing me under duress to abuse my own human rights as i only receive the minimum amount that i need to live.

 

I confirm this is the second letter today I have sent in order to make you very aware of my possition.

 

to make it very clear I have at no time refused to pay this fine in fact i have been to court and it was ordered by a magistrete that the fine to be taken direct out of the money I recieve from DWP. again the minimum amount i need to live.

 

can I ask that this case be handed back to the court in order for me to defend my case and arange payment

 

 

regards (only put your surname)

[trezmiffed]

Dear All,

 

I would just like to say one huge THANKYOU to you all for ALL the help & advice you have given me throughout my nightmare experience with Marston.

 

I have not heard anything from the Agent or the office since the 17th July & I am assuming the Agent has referred it back to the court.

 

One last request before I bid you all a fond farewell, any ideas how I find out if its been sent back to the courts, as I do not want to rely on waiting for a letter seeing as I didnt receive any post that there was a problem in the first place.

[seanamarts]

My advice is to phone the courts back and ask if your case has been reffered back to them. If so all well and good.. if not then you may need to chase up marstons again and ask them if they are planning on sending back your case to the courts. These people, who I have had dealings with in the past are not very forthcoming with information from the start and have a nasty habit of just turning up when you least expect them to.