phillips recovery of a mgistrates court fine

[the taxed man]

hi there, i recieved various letters from phillips ranging from asking me for money owed to the court to saying that a bailiff had been to my property and added £200 onto the account. it is now£740. i e-mailed phillips as i could not afford the premium rate call from my mobile(pay as u go) i am on Benefits and told them i could afford to pay £20 per month on the 28th. When i asked this they said that this is called a "voulantry payment" and did not meet what they were asking, i said what is the minimum i have to pay, and was told "as it is not means tested, you have to pay in full,or, over two months, if you cannot find the money, ask someone, if yf you still cannot get it then we will have to carry on with a bailiff visiting your premesis to remove goods" i live in a rented flat and i am currently not woking,and on benefits, i have set up a standing order with them for £20 per month, but they now tell me its not good enough, i simply do not know what to do, am i wrong to assume that as i am paying them something, they cannot remove goods?? thanks for any help with this!!

[the taxed man]

hi there, i have an unpaid magistrates court fine fo £540, which i rang the magistrates about,in november last year, they said they would send me a means form, in December i recieved a letter from phillips saying they are visiting my flat if i did not pay, i rang the magistrates court up, told them i had never recieved a means form, they siad, i should have rang them and chased it up, because i did not, they called upon phillips, i recieved more letters, io e mailed phillips and told them i am on Benefits and can not afford to pay the £740 as it was now as a bailiff had been to my flat??? no eveidence of this whatsoever!! i said i can only afford to pay £5 a month, they said i can, but this is called a voulantry payment and isnt suitable, i saked what is, they said, The full amount or, split it over two months, iwas told do this or bailiffs would be coming. I then rang them and said i can afford to pay £20 a month, i was told "ok, we will look into that for you." i set up a standing order for £20 on the 28th of each month, this came ut in february and was in there bank on the 2nd of march. I thought this was going to be the way until i payed it, but today i recieved another letter saying i hasd not paid blah blah, i rang them, explained i had set up tyhe S/O for £20 per month, told them i was on benefits, but they still said "you can pay this amount each month but it will not stop them coming unless you pay in full" is this the way?? am i wrong to assume that as i am paying something, the bailiffs cannot come and force there way in and remove my belongings?? thank you for any advice.

[debbbbsy]

iwas told do this or bailiffs would be coming

 

What you must understand, you are under no legal obligation to allow the bailiff entry to your home. They can only enter & take legal possession if you allow them peaceful entry. Do not under any circumstances allow them into your home.

 

am i wrong to assume that as i am paying something, the bailiffs cannot come and force there way in and remove my belongings?? thank you for any advice.

 

If you have entered into an agreed payment plan, do not be bullied into paying more then you can afford. They CANNOT force there way in to a residential property. If they come to your door, and they will be polite & ask if they can come in & discuss matters. Say NO.

 

£740 as it was now as a bailiff had been to my flat

 

They have inceased the debt by £200. There are set limits to what a county court bailiff can charge. These are excessive. Send a letter, and make a formal requst for a breakdown of this fee, and you require proof that the bailiff attended on the day specified. Do not be intimidated by these bullies, that is exactly what they want. Stand up to them. You have rights.

[sir_gilmour]

the taxed man welcome to The Consumer Action Group community.

 

You haven't received any replies to your problem yet so you might be better off posting your story again directly in the sub-forum which deals with your kind of situation. You will get lots of support there.

 

Also, spend some time looking round the forum. Once you understand the layout, you will be able to get best use from this Consumer Community. It is a big forumm and may take some time. But it will be worth doing.

Good luck.

[rebel11]

Hi The

 

Welcome to CAG

The guys will advise as soon as they are available. You don't need to move your thread.

[thebeyond]

visit national debtline website

download & digest bailiff factsheets

-will tell you exactly what they can & cannot do

 

could also ring them, if you want - daresay they will help

 

[in my amateur opinion, £20 sounds very fair - however do they know you are on benefits, yet?

[you can use an expression such as " this household presently only enjoys a minimal benefit level income" to leave you some ambiguity elbow room]

if they do know you're on benefits, what they will want is £8 per week, more or less-

my amateur advice -pay them nothing until you secure their agreement & negotiate monthly figure upwards only VERY slowly

eg next offer £21.45 per month - maybe squeeze in a "this household is always keen to service outstanding obligations" - ambiguous about whether you have other debts, you see? might give them pause, in case, if they squeeze you too hard, you'll go bankrupt

 

be prepared to waste MONTHS negotiating a monthly figure & INSIST on them sending you receipts acknowledging each payment

[i advise paying postally, & conducting negotiations by royal mail recorded delivery - keeping your paper trail straight & "ducks in a row", as potential supporting evidence, for the [extremely unlikely & best avoided] event that you have to explain your actions to, say, a court]

-good luck

[the taxed man]

thank you very much for the advice, its comforting to know this, god knows how these people/companies continue to operate this way, the rules and regs/law with these firms even seems to baffle solicitors!!

thank you once again

[fork-it]

hi there, i have an unpaid magistrates court fine fo £540, which i rang the magistrates about,in november last year, they said they would send me a means form, in December i recieved a letter from phillips saying they are visiting my flat if i did not pay, i rang the magistrates court up, told them i had never recieved a means form, they siad, i should have rang them and chased it up, because i did not, they called upon phillips, i recieved more letters, io e mailed phillips and told them i am on Benefits and can not afford to pay the £740

 

£540 or is it £740?

 

Bailiffs cannot charge you "fees" for collecting an unpaid fine. http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex345.pdf On page 3 under Magistrates courts. It says bailiffs are not allowed to charge you more than the amount you are fined.

 

This is an official advisory says there is an agreed scale of fees which bailiffs can charge, however that is by way of a contract between HMCS and the bailiff. There is nothing in that contract that says it can be charged to the debtor, and in any event, there is no contract (or court order) obligating the debtor to pay any fees. The HMCS contract allows the bailiff to deduct the fee from the fine collected and the balance is paid to HMCS.

 

There are plenty of examples to backup this position:

 

This poster contacted the Magistrates court manager about a bailiff (Phillips) who charged her "fees" for collecing an unpaid fine - and miraculously, Phillips made the fees disappear,

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bailiffs-sheriff-officers/229873-help-philips.html#post2547500

 

And this poster recovered his fees from the bailiffs for a Bus Lane fine after filing a Form N1 in the county court naming the bailiffs as the defendant. The bailiffs refunded all the fees, but only on condition of no adverse publicity against them.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bailiffs-sheriff-officers/254610-n244-county-court-action-2.html

 

This confirms bailiffs do know the official position on charging fees on to the debtor, - and are aware of the criminal liability if they are caught. See Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 and Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970.

PS. If a bailiff tells you owe more than the law says you do, then he commits a criminal offence of Fraud by False Representation. A offence cheargeable under Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006. Its up to you to decide how much fun you want to have with that.

[fork-it]

See your other thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?299024-Phillips-recpvery-chasing-me-for-magistrates-court-fine&p=3341765&viewfull=1#post3341765

[the taxed man]

hi there, thanks for the reply, it was £540, but phillips are now saying £740 as a bailiff has visited???(no proof anywhere of this) they have added £200 to the account. i have never seen or had any documention(apart from a letter sent via royal mail) that a bailiff has visited the flat. i will keep on paying the £20 a month and see what happens, wwhen the fine is paid ie, the £540 i will stop paying, and take it from there. thank you

[the taxed man]

hi and thanks, yes they do know i am on benefits, when i told them this, they said it does not matter because it isn't means tested and i must either pay in full or over two months!! i will wait for the next letter, thank you.

[rebel11]

Threads merged.