Debt Collection issues

[shocked14]

Here is the saga,

I had a tv license, had a direct debit, capita stopped the debit did not tell me and the new license is due in January. On 03 12 09, i received and undated letter from Philips debt collection stating that they had a distress warrant for the amount of £300.

 

TV License

Well the first issues was that I work in safeguarding children and i could lose my job as i was fined in court! I have told my employers who were lovely on 04 12 09 and I was recommended a solicitor. I will not use my job and the solicitor has contacted my bank who have confirmed that the tv license people stopped the DD and that I have always had sufficient funds and that they have written to that effect. My Solicitor is taking the case on for free and she is optomistic!

 

The Debt!

So I was advised to make an offer of payment and I did of 10pw, they said it had to 15pw, my solicitor said go with 15pw and inform them that you are querying the debt and will do so until you are in a legal position not too. I emailed furiously on the 04 12 09, stating that the automated system would not accept my payment. I paid online at on 06 12 09 at around lunchtime, i had to pay an extra 50p processing charge. The payment went left my bank account on the 07 12 09, i then emailed them to say this and I received a reply on 09 12 09. This said that they accepted my offer but the amount owed was now £385, they did not mention the payment of £15 i had made, and they stated from 12 12 09. On the 10 12 09, i recieved a hand delivered letter stating that I owed £385 and that i had to pay instantly.

 

As much as I am loathed to I fear that it is an admin problem on their side however, I am worried that this will spiral!

 

Any advice

 

Sorry about the saga

 

Shocked!

[PGH7447]

Hi and welcome, I am having difficulty understanding this but here goes

 

If you were paying by DD for a TV licence what has Capita got to do with it?

 

were you ever contacted by the tv licensing authority?

 

what exactly did philips letter say, not sure what a distressed warrant is, but will check?

 

if the original debt they claim was £300 that is rather high for a TV Licence so send Philips a SAR for all information regarding this debt

[shocked14]

Apologies PGH7447, I am all over the place,

TV License; I was never approached by the TV Licensing people, I received no mail, and i did not expect to, as the debit started in Jan 09 and was due to finish in June 09, I paid something like £25 a month for 6 months, I had paid 5 months worth before they stopped it and i owed £24.66, I never received anything from them, or visits, I was 'taken' to court and fined (as i did not attend as i did not know) and as i did not pay the fine i did not know about promptly, it was passed to Philips, it was £250 for the fine and £50 for being handed to them, but now it is £385 with no explanation. However I have just had a phone call from my solicitor stating that in may 09 the post code was changed by the tv licensing people, the 3rd character was changed on their system. With out giving my postcode here is the example mine was A5 1TX and was changed to A1 1TX, which is a real post code and 4 miles away, so the as of may 09 the tv license was attached to a different street address with an incorrect post code but my name on it and the correct house number.

 

The Debt collection agency (according to my solicitor) sent the letter to the correct address as they use the electoral role to double check, as they had tried the address given by the Court but the occupiers who are a government office sent it back with an explanitory letter, they then checked. Therefore I feel that i should get this thing sorted after a while!

 

As for the Capita reference, I am a audio typist and some one mentioned it on the TV and i typed it in error!

 

But I am concerned about the notion that they could increase this on and on. I also expect to get this money back as if the fine was issued in error, so there was no debt to pay. I hope i am not overly optimistic here.

 

I hope this clear this up and thank you for your interest.

 

still shocked!

[PGH7447]

I.m suprised you solictior is not advising you to contect the court case, if the forms were neverdelivered due to an admin error at the licensing authority then that would be a good enough reason to get it overturned.

 

I would in the first instance contact the court where this was dealt with and ask about a set aside

 

also inform philips they aint getting anything until this dispute is settled,

 

can a mod move to the legal forum please

[shocked14]

Well the Solicitor say that the plan is get a set aside but there are rules about the timing and i have messed a deadline, but the plan is to get it overturned and Philips do not care if there is a dubious element to the debt they are entitled to recover it and i was advised to deal with the 2 issues as different issues as this is more likely to get a result.

[shocked14]

Also non payment of a TV license is a criminal offense set aside does not apply as that is civil ( or so i have been told) so at the moment i now have a CRIMINAL record to boot

[PGH7447]

yes it is a criminal offense but if they issued the court papers to the wrong address, so I dont see why a set aside is not possible, also the court ward is therefore in doubt, so why is it not possible to state that this is in default, also bailiffs which is what philips are can only add certain fees

 

I am not a sol or lawyer so maybe your guy is correct