Marston and £10k Eon energy bill CCJ - What can a Bailiff take?

[Determined1]

When the levy was originally made were any terms of payment attached to it?

 

When The Marstons guy was here he was trying to force my wife to agree to pay £1500 per month and told her that the creditor would not accept anything less?

My wife said that was unreasonable, but not sure what has been put on his paperwork. No payment schedule was agreed at the time with Marstons. Since then we have paid £1500 off the outstanding amount.

Last payment was April and was £500.

[brassnecked]

When The Marstons guy was here he was trying to force my wife to agree to pay £1500 per month and told her that the creditor would not accept anything less?

My wife said that was unreasonable, but not sure what has been put on his paperwork. No payment schedule was agreed at the time with Marstons. Since then we have paid £1500 off the outstanding amount.

Last payment was April and was £500.

 

Wonder how much of the £1500 was swallowed by Marston's fees?

[Determined1]

Wonder how much of the £1500 was swallowed by Marston's fees?

 

About £600+ I think, without checking! Fantastic eh?

[ploddertom]

My take on all this is that parts of the levy are dubious at best - would not necessarily invalidate it but may reduce the available items by half possibly. Of more concern is the length of time elapsed and failure of the Enforcement Officer to:

a - check on the goods seized

b - demand paymends

c - remove goods for sale before now.

 

In my view I see the levy as having been abandoned. This therefore puts you back in the position youwere in previous to their first & only visit some 7 months ago and if they were to call now I would rfuse to let them in. They in turn may argue otherwise but think they will have a hard job making a convincing story up.

 

Have you heard from the Court yet?

[Determined1]

My take on all this is that parts of the levy are dubious at best - would not necessarily invalidate it but may reduce the available items by half possibly. Of more concern is the length of time elapsed and failure of the Enforcement Officer to:

a - check on the goods seized

b - demand paymends

c - remove goods for sale before now.

 

In my view I see the levy as having been abandoned. This therefore puts you back in the position youwere in previous to their first & only visit some 7 months ago and if they were to call now I would rfuse to let them in. They in turn may argue otherwise but think they will have a hard job making a convincing story up.

 

Have you heard from the Court yet?

 

Hi, I have not heard from the court yet I will call them before 3pm today.

Can Marstons call the police and enforce entry if I refuse them access and do not enter into dialogue with them on my driveway?

[Determined1]

Just got home and read the paperwork.

 

Marstons have added on £1,700 to the debt, absolutely scandalous ;-(

[ploddertom]

I would write to them (email followed up by a recorded delivery letter) advising due to the length of time elapsed since the levy and no follow up visits you consider the levy abandoned - don't ring them as their operatives are there to browbeat you. I don't doubt for one minute they are following this thread.

[Determined1]

Thanks Ploddertom, I am doing that now.

 

Can they call the police and force me to let them in?

[ploddertom]

Can they call the police and force me to let them in?

 

That is an awkward question to which there is no easy answer. Most Bailiffs/HCEO's will try and bamboozle the constabulary with different bits & pieces a most Police Officers know very little about Bailiff Laws of Distress, however in the case of HCEO's there is also Courts Act 2003, Schedule 7, Section 5 which states:

Constable’s duty to assist enforcement officers

5.

It is the duty of every constable, at the request of—

a.

an enforcement officer, or

b.

a person acting under the officer’s authority, to assist the officer or that person in the execution of a writ.

 

They may decide to try this but you should stand firm and inform the Officer that the last visit was some 7 months ago and therefore whatever levy he had that allowed him re-entry was abandoned and he needs to start again. Really depends on if they turn up, what they argue their case with - personally I think they are on very dodgy ground trying to force entry.

[ploddertom]

Just got home and read the paperwork.

 

Marstons have added on £1,700 to the debt, absolutely scandalous ;-(

 

The fees are all challengeable

[Determined1]

Thanks Ploddertom, I am just off to post the letter now and once I get through this week I will then see what I need to do to challenge the fee's.

Thank you for you help, it's very much appreciated.

[ploddertom]

I am not being critical of you here but if you had come here first - I know hindsight is great - then I would have suggested applying for a Stay of Execution against the Writ on the following grounds:

a - you cannot afford the fees demanded

b - the levy the Enforcement officer has taken contains a lot of items that are needed to satisfy my basic living needs

c - the Officer is threatening to remove items for sale despite having only made 1 visit 7 months ago

d - given the elapsed time from the initial levy the seizure should be classed as abandoned

 

The reason I am saying this now is that you may still be able to use any of the above if a Hearing is listed.

[Determined1]

Aah ok, I completely understand. I telephoned the courts earlier but could not get through!!

I will keep trying though and I will most certainly use those points in my defence.

Thank you

[Determined1]

Hi

I have still not heard from the court yet, hopefully get an answer tomorrow? So in the meantime I think its wise to prepare for the worst.

 

I will follow the advice offered here, thank you. But I also want to ask if I should lock my garden furniture into my attached garage and also leave our car at a friends house so they cannot be taken once I have refused them access?

Just for the record the car is worth about £500, on a good day! But we do need it to get out of our village which is a 40 minute walk to the nearest town.

 

Many thanks

[wonkeydonkey]

I see PT has covered everything and I agree with him 100%

 

Yes get the furniture into the garage and move the car. There is a lot more you need to know as and when the need arises but no point in giving you everything at once as it won't make much sense.Once you get sorted with the court we can help you with the fees.

 

Stay firm and you stay in control....good luck and remember we are here if needed.!!!

[Determined1]

Hi I have just spoken to the courts and my paperwork is still being processed, they can't confirm that it will have been processed by the end of today

 

So, my plan is to get everything locked away and if/when Marstons knock tomorrow they cannot get at anything.

 

Is it best to be out or just to tell them through the door that I am not allowing them in?

Do I tell them why and give them the reasons that you stated above, or tell them nothing and refuse to speak to them?

A lot of questions above, sorry, just want to arm myself with some knowledge and confidence, thank you in advance.

[Determined1]

Hi just had some good news, my N244 app was successful and I have been given a hearing date of the 5th Aug.

I tried calling Marstons to inform them but was constantly engaged so I have sent an email informing them not to bother coming to my home tomorrow. My guess is they will still turn up but a shall shoo them away and if they call the police then they can contact the courts to confirm what I am saying.

However, I will still put away my garden furniture and car.

 

Is there anything else that I need to know at this point?

 

Many thanks

[ploddertom]

If you have an interim Stay pending a Hearing then you have done the right thing so far by notifying them. Just in case he does turn up tomorrow print a shortnotice off giving him similar information and insist he check with the Court.

[Determined1]

Thanks Ploddertom, I will let you know how I get on.

[Determined1]

Thankfully there was a no show from Marstons and we have received a court date for the 5th Aug.

Can you please offer any advice on how to tackle this when were in front of the judge?

Many thanks

[Determined1]

Hi ploddertom

I am just in the process of preparing mine and my ex-wifes case for the 5th Aug and was wondering if you advise that I should also include the following points that you mentioned earlier? i.e.

a - you cannot afford the fees demanded

b - the levy the enforcement officer has taken contains a lot of items that are needed to satisfy my basic living needs

c - the Officer is threatening to remove items for sale despite having only made 1 visit 7 months ago

 

Many thanks for your avice so far ;-)

[ploddertom]

I'll get back to you later this evening when I get home.