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Hi,

 

Today I received a letter which says it is from merseyside magisrates court reminding me to pay fine of £108.75.

 

However this is first I heard of it - I have had no correspondence about it at all.

 

I tried to call the number on letter and they are closed.

 

It doesnt say what fine is for. I do drive so maybe speeding buti have not been stopped by police.

 

It says if I dont pay they can order bailiffs or arrest me.

 

There are a few discepancies though. For example it says merseyside magistratescourt yet address is in cheshire. The letter is not signed and it is from "designated officer". I also looked up merseyside courtand their phone number is not the one on the letter. I wondered if it is a [problem]?

 

It says to pay on http://www.gov.uk/pay-court-fine-online or call 0300 790 9901.

 

 

Does anyone have any idea if this is legit or not?

 

Also what can I say. When I phone tomorrow?

 

Thanks all

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The letter is legit and the Court you allude to is part of Runcorn Magistrates Court, by contacting them you should be able to establish what actual Court it was heard at, I wonder if it may be a DVLA for failure to do something as there do appear to be a lot of these going the rounds. If/When you get hold of them ask for the exact address the offence was committed at. If you genuinely have no knowledge you should be able to make a Statutory Declaration.

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Hi,Thanks for the replies so far. I have just called the court. The woman on the phone could only give very vague information but it seems it's for not having vehicle license in 2005? I presume that means road tax? That was 8 years ago. I have no memory of this at all. Should I fax them stating that I have not received any documentation regarding this alleged offence and asking them to send me details of exactly what the alleged offence is? Will they put proceedings on hold if I ask this? I know I have a 14 day deadline to pay so I don't want bailiffs to turn up while they are sending me some documentation.

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Hi I was thinking of sending this letter via fax and recorded delivery.Can anyone advise if this is the best thing to do?I honestly knew NOTHING about this until yesterday.Name, address, account number etcDivision 10517th May 2013Dear Sir or Madam,Yesterday I received a letter from Merseyside Magistrates Court which was a reminder of an unpaid fine of £108.75. I telephoned the court and was given very vague details about it relating to me allegedly not having a vehicle license in 2005. I have no recollection of this alleged offence and I have not received any correspondence regarding this prior to the reminder letter on 16th May 2013.I would request the court to send me some more information about this alleged offence and if I have committed it I will of course be willing to pay the fine. However as I have no memory of this I am concerned I could be the victim of somebody giving false details to the police or identity theft. Hence I request some more information to enable me to confirm if I have actually commited an offence and also to be able to put in a defence if appropriate.In the meantime could I request that the court delays pursuing the matter further with bailiffs or forcing me to attend court.

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Did you ask if you could submit a Statutory Declaration as you knew nothing of this. The danger is that the time is fast approaching - possibly today - where they may automatically just send it to the Bailiffs. If there is going to be an issue of getting things sorted it may be better to pay first and argue aftrewards. - definitely cheaper than having a Bailiff attend which may add an extra £300.

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Hi Ploddertom.I have googled statutory declaration and it says you need to get it signed by a solicitor or JP? If assume i will be charged for that. If so as you say I might be better off just paying the fine rather than start paying solicitors. The letter is dated 13th May and it gives me 14 days so I have until 27th May I assume.I think it's outrageous they are pursuing me for something I allegedly didn't do in 2005. How can I possibly defend this? I don't keep documents going back more than 5 years. I know though I am not the sort of person who would ignore a letter off police or courts so I know I can't have received any paperwork. Only thing I can think of is my grandfatther was terminally ill in 2005 and I moved in with him in his last few months to look after him. I was a bit of a wreck at the time so perhaps missed a letter or something due to not being at home.And to send bailiffs round after just one letter is disgusting.

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If you are near the original Court this can be done there, if you moved and are miles away then arrangements can be made to use a Court local to you - as far as I am aware there is then no charge for doing this. What has happened to you seems typical of the DVLA as it seems they are all trawling old unpaid fines to see what they can rake up. Have you had a read of this thread as the advice may be similar to what you need:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?391444-urgent-help-needed-over-bailiff-please

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Thanks Ploddertom.Are they allowed to ask for money from 8 years ago? I thought that debts were statute barred after 6 years? I am guesing there is some sort of exemption for govt fines? I read the other thread you linked and it seems that poor guy's only option is to pay the fine anyway but he has to also deal with bailiffs. I am wondereing if I should just (reluctantly) pay it to save myself a load of stress in a month or two?I mean, say they come back to me confirming I had no road tax at some point in 2005 and I have a fine to pay realistically is there anything I can do to defend myself? I haven't got any documents going back that far so I can't produce any proof they are wrong.Surely there should be a limit on how far back they can go? Will I get a letter next week for speeding in 2002? Very very harsh!

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There is no Statute of Limitations on what are perceived to be criminal fines. However it is simply not good enough in my view to just say you owe it without providing more proof. There may be a chance this could be for a vehicle that you have previously disposed of and the new owner may be the one that has not taxed it.

 

I think that given the dates you have you have another week in which to find out more about this. Or as you say just pay up and it is done with - the choice has to be yours.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for all the help with this. In the end I just paid it. I remembered that at that time my grandfather was terminally ill and i had moved in to look after him. I did end up a bit of a wreck at the time and as I wasn't at home I might have missed a letter off the DVLA. I thought rather than add to my stress fighting it when I think back I think chances are I did forget my tax for a month or so I would just pay. So I have and hopefully I will never hear from them again now!

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Well that is one way to possibly stop the bailiffs in their tracks. However now you have paid, you could now begin to enquire what you were charged for and what the dates involved were. Otherwise you

could get another claim and you will have no way of knowing if it was for the same offence or a different one. Should it then transpire that the charge against you was unmerited, you could reclaim it.

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lookinforinfo - that's a good point. i think I need to do that. I am annoyed about it as I think it's a cynical attempt to get extra money. I understand the need to fine people for not complying with the law. But to hit me with something from 8 years ago when I was going through a difficult time when since then I have always been really good about tax, insurance mot etc is not going to achieve anything except make me resent the DVLA and the courts that enforce this. I also think there should be a cut off point for fines where they can't enforce it like with debt. Otherwise in theory what's to stop them going back 30 years and hitting you for stuff you did in your teens?

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