HM Court Fine and Marston Group (Paid Fine in Full late)

[B20RDY]

Thanks for all the help before hand, hope people can help -

 

I got fined at the start of December 2011 and had a fine of £100.

 

I paided the fine late around the 2nd Feb.

 

9th Feb i get a letter from Marston Group saying i owe them £100 + £300 Fee's (£85 standard change £215 hand letter) = £400

 

10th Feb i get a letter from HM Courts reading -

 

With refernce to a recently payment of £100 in respect of your fine account, there is currently a warrant against this accout with the marston group for enforcement of the outstanding amount due.

Your recent payment has been credited against your fine and the authorised enforcement agent informed.They will deduct the amount you have paid from the amount outstanding on the warrent.

However once the warrant has been issued the authorised enforcement agent are entitled to collect their fee's associated with the execution of the warrant. Payment of the order itself to the HM Courts ad Tribunal Service will not change this situation and they will continue to enforce against you for collection of their fees once the amount due to the court has been paid.

 

So where do i go from here?

 

This mean the court has been paid and Marston will just keep trying to get there money?

 

What do i do about Marston? tell them to jog on? pay them?

Funny thing is i would have no problem paying the £85 standard fee BUT £215 for a hand deliverd letter WTF? why not post it

 

Advice would be welcome?

[welshy1]

Similar story to mine I had no letter from court of my out standing balance of £37 I thought it was fully paid. they past it to bailiffs no letter of bailiffs to say i know own them £137 Today they turn up at my door and charge £215 Just to deliver a Red letter Total sum £337 I would paid £137 but £337 is a joke!

[brassnecked]

Seems like the admin in HMCS is taking a nosedive, they shoild send a Further Steps Notice to give you the opportunity to pay BEFORE sending in the bailiffs, so it may be Stat Dec time. tomtubby, and ploddertom among the others will be able to point you in the right direction

[tomtubby]

This is REALLY serious indeed and I am most concerned at the administration of such court "fines".

 

A Distress Warrant should always be seen as a "last resort" and all other avenues for payment should first be taken.

 

The legal position is that; BEFORE a warrant can even be considered, the court MUST ( this is a STATUTORY requirement) first send to you a Further Steps Notice. This is like a default notice and advises the debtor that as the fine remains unpaid, that the court will issue ANY ONE of the FURTHER STEPS listed on the notice. This cane be EITHER a clamping order, attachment of earnings order, registering the debt with Registry Trust etc OR to issue a Distress Warrant.

 

On the Further Steps Notice is states that UNLESS payment is made within 10 WORDING DAYS that any of the "further steps" will be taken.

 

Did you receive a Further Steps Notice?

 

If not, then a Formal Complaint Must be made to the Fines Officer at the issuing court immediately.

[B20RDY]

I have had no letter from anyone about my fines since the date i went into court.

 

I will write a letter to the fines officer asap and see what responce i get from them.

 

Thank you for the advice i will keep everyone updated in how i get on as i am sure this happens to 100's of people.

[Surfer01]

Surely if the original fine has been paid and the bailiff is trying to recover their costs which is a separate issue now, they need to start the whole procedure and go back to court and get a CCJ first before even chasing?

[tomtubby]

I have a comemercial business and in the past month or so I have come across at least 6 cases where the court FAILED to isue the legally required FURTHER STEPAS NOTICE before issuing a Distress Warrant.

You really must not let this matter go away and please do ensure that you post back here.

 

PS: The legal requirement to first serve a Further Steps Notice can be found in the Courts Act 2003

[B20RDY]

Copy of the letter i have just writen and i will send recorded today -

 

 

To whom this may concern,

 

 

 

 

I am writing to make a formal complaint to the

Fines Officer.

The reason for wanting to do this is for the use of Distress

Warrant.

A Distress Warrant is to be used as a last resort after all over

avenues of payment has been used.

The Legal position is that before a warrant

can even be considered the court MUST

the legal position is that; BEFORE a

warrant can even be considered, the court MUST (this is a STATUTORY

requirement in the Courts Act 2003) first send to you a Further Steps Notice.

This is like a default notice and advises the debtor that as the fine remains

unpaid, that the court will issue anyone of the further steps listed on the

notice. This can be either a clamping order, attachment of earnings order,

registering the debt with Registry Trust etc OR to issue a Distress

Warrant.

On the Further Steps Notice it states that unless payment is made

within 10 working days that any of the "further steps" will be taken.

Which

I am sure you agree with the above comments.

I go onto pay my fine in full

but I agree this was a late payment, since doing this you have informed me that

a distress warrant has been issued against me with a company called Marston’s

even though I have not received any other correspondence from you?

I have

contacted Marston’s about this case and they tell me that I have a bill of £300

ontop of my original fine.

Can you tell me why I have not received any

information/letters from yourself about this matter? And how you can legally

just pass it on without contacting me first?

Also why have you accepted

payment from me when you have passed this onto a 3rdparty?

 

 

Looking

forward to hearing from you about this matter

 

 

 

lets see what comes back

[tomtubby]

Have you also telephoned the court to ask them why they had not sent a Further Steps Notice?

 

The letter will NOT put the enforcement of your account on hold so I would strongly suggest that you call the court this morning.