Marston Group - Distress Warrant

[ChrisLDavies]

Hi, everyone.

 

New to this due the incident that prompted me to seek advice.

 

The background to this story is as follows, I was issued a fixed penalty from Merseytravel for breaking railway bylaws, fined £50 and told I had to pay it in 14 days. As a student I, at the time did not have a job and therefore could not afford it and consequently the matter of retrieving the fine was handed over to the relevant magistrates. The magistrates then sent me a letter saying that I was to appear at Wirral Magistrates on a certain date, or send a letter admitting to the offence and that I would pay the fine. Understanding of my own wrongdoing, I sent the letter off, declaring that I had my feet on the seats of the train and broke the railway bylaws. At this point I had a part time job, therefore I rang the fines team and arranged to pay £5 per week at a new fee of £120. I was paying the fine for 5 weeks up until the point where I lost my card for paying the court. Due to a mix of stupidity and a busy timetable, I put off contacting the fines team and another month or so later I heard from Marston's.

 

I had no record of correspondence from the magistrates nor no initial correspondence with the Morson group until today, when I got a call from a family member saying "Someone has just about a fine you owe, saying if you don't pay it by tomorrow they will issue a warrant out for your arrest." As a student looking to go into a masters in computing forensics next year the prospect of having the be arrested by police and putting a mark on my record scared me. I promptly picked up the phone (missing lectures in the process) and assuming I would need to ring the magistrates due the the threat of arrest. I rang them up and they said "we cannot access anything on the system regarding warrants of arrests, we don't have the access to that part of the system. Go to a local police station where they can access more information for you." Then assured me by explaining that if I took the call reference, at least I can prove I was making an effort to get in touch with the relevant person. I did so and went to my local police station. When I got there, the inquiry officer said there was nothing on the system and that I'm going to have to find out who has been in touch with my residence.

 

From there I went straight home to find that they had they had kept my younger sister at the door for a good 40 minutes reiterating why they should receive payment immediately. They left a notice that read:

 

"I, Mr such and such attended your address today to execute a Distress Warrant issued against you by Liverpool Magistrates Court. The amount outstanding today is £360.00. I have been refused entry/enable to contact you at the address and believe that you are willfully trying to evade payment of this account.

 

You should be aware that there exists a power under Schedule 4A of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Vistims Act to enable us to enter your property, BY FORCE, using locksmiths where required, to execute this warrant.

 

This power may only be utilised if the Enforcement Agent is executing a Magistrates Distress Warrant. If this card has been left for a case other than a Magistrates warrant please contact Marston Group immediately on: 0845 --- ----

 

I will be re-attending the premises, with a locksmith if necessary, to conclude this matter. I may if appropriate request authority to use the above powers of entry."

 

Then a phone number to avoid action.

 

It was a bit of a shock when I realised that the debt was now £360! Although these fees can occur from visit(s) to my property and for administration. Is it fair, seeming as I didn't even know Marston group had taken over the responsibility of taking over the debt?

 

I've heard stories on here where the group have made demands to other people in the past that have been unrealistic and inconsiderate to peoples financial circumstances. I have left the agent with my details to ring me back in the morning via voicemail.

 

Has anyone got any relevant advice about how I can deal with the matter?

 

It would be very much appreciated.

 

(Sorry about the rambling, it's hard to be concise when you're panicking :/ )

 

Chris.

Edited November 23, 2011 by ChrisLDavies