urgent help with marston bailiff

[natalie009]

Hi

 

i was fined for not having a tv licence

a genuine oversight i thought we had paid for the year we hadnt

 

i was fined in my absence as couldnt get to court

it was 3 towns away where they wanted me to go .

 

at the time partner was doing agency work

we received no benefit help apart from child tax credits and child ben was struggling to pay and in the end we couldnt pay it

 

the fine was £275

 

roll forward to september 2013

 

i was contacted by some one from the court who told me they had a warrant etc

but as i had a child he wasnt going to take he told me to ring get an appointment etc

 

so i did.

 

went in front of a judge explained our financial state and was told to pay £185 in the october

which we paid the day before my sons birthday

 

partner had a new job so its fine .

 

then he said to pay the £90 outstanding in the November

which for one reason or another we have over looked and its not been paid

 

on the 23rd of december i was out

my partner was in and

 

marstons turned up told him who he was etc and why he was there

 

he didnt leave me any contact details or paper work as to who he was .

 

i rang the office i found the number online

might i add at this point how rude they was

 

got his number rang him and

he asked to come out the following day

i agreed thinking i could set up some payment plan

 

.but no he now wants £390

 

thats £300 charges

 

he is coming back on the 10th of january and im worried sick i cant pay it

 

i have no income

 

my partner works but we just get enough to live off

 

£390 is more or less our food budget for the month

 

he was very nice with us

we didnt let him in .

he was trying to laugh and joke with us even wished us merry xmas !

 

Is there anything i can do

 

ive now gone on to debt management

but they said they cant do anything with the bailiff as its a court fine and a criminal matter as its tv licence .

 

i rang cab who told us to ring the courts

rang them explained we had no further steps notice

if we had this £90 would have been paid

 

it is a genuine oversight yes on our behalf but a genuine mistake .

 

the bailiff in question still hasnt give me any paper work

no nothing

just quickly showed me a piece of paper saying it was a distress warrent

 

ive checked the list of certified bailiffs he isnt on there .

told the court there not interested at all

 

is it worth me ringing marstons myself or will they not help

 

i can pay the £90 but the £300 charges are so excessive .

 

worried sick here as partner will be at work on friday when he comes back .

 

i have a 6 year old aswell

although he will be at school

im so worried

 

.everything in this house has been bought with partners cash obviously no proof as they say a receipt prooves nothing .

 

The court that issued it was chester and merseyside it was originnally in wirral courts but when i attended i had to go to st helens

 

what can i do to stop this if anything

 

he said if we dont pay he will be coming through my door with police and locksmiths

 

help anyone

 

and thankyou for reading

[unclebulgaria67]

You may be able to attend the Magistrates to swear a statutory declaration that you did not receive a further steps notice, advising that a bailiff would be employed. If this is accepted, you would then be able to pay just the £90.

 

Give it a go. You would need to attend the court in person, as if you phone they will just give you the brush off.

[natalie009]

yes i will try that tommorow and go down there thankyou just hoping they accept this

the bailiff is back on friday but dont think he will be very understanding tbh

thanks for the reply

[natalie009]

the bailiffs been on the phone this morning so i told him i cant pay and he said tough if i dont hes coming in end of discussion and put the phone down one me really scared now im 8 weeks pregnant and all this stress isnt good im not sleeping or anything .

going to the court fri morning as thats the only day i can pay as partners wages go in then but hes coming at 11am

[Desperate Daniella]

Do you mean 11 am today? Or on Friday?

 

DD

[natalie009]

oh sorryi mean friday the 10th at 11 am

[unclebulgaria67]

You need to inform the bailiff that you are 8 weeks pregnant and that you are going to the court Friday morning to deal with it. The bailiff may then back off, as they have rules to follow, if the person concerned is pregnant.

[Desperate Daniella]

Absolutely. I thought you had meant he was bringing forward his visit to today.

 

Do follow uncle's advice, and just in case they are tricky do move any vehicles away from your home before you go to Court on Friday.

 

When you go to Court tell the judge you are pregnant, and even if they won't drop the £300 you can ask for this to be paid in instalments.

 

Is it the bailiff's charges that are £300? There are strict rules regarding their charges.

[natalie009]

i will im going to call them shortly well try to .there call centre staff are awful .

 

my partner has a moped for work but its off the road atm

 

the bailiff actually said all the charges were the court but its a bit steep £300 charges for a £90 debt doesnt seem right he is therefore saying his company arent getting anything out of it for thereselfs yes whatever

 

i will be following the advice given i did tell the bailiff i was pregnant to which he said debts debt it doesnt matter wether your pregnant,ill ,disabled whatever either way we owe this money he was vile on the phone .ive looked through all letters and definately no further steps notice

 

When i questioned him over him not being on the list of certified bailiffs he changed the subject i also asked why he hasnt left any paperwork or numbers he said hes not legally obliged to

[tomtubby]

Natalie,

 

Can you clarify something.

 

In September you say that you were contacted by the court about a warrant and they made an appointment for you to attend the court. I am assuming that this was an arrest warrant. Can you confirm.

 

The other query is that when you went to court and explained your financial position it does not appear that the court reduced (remitted) any of the fine and instead, order the same amount to be paid in 2 installments. Is this correct?

 

The court only have to issue ONE Further Steps Notice and you need to find out whether a previous one had been issued.

 

Before the bailiff visited you a letter should had been sent by Marston Group. Did you receive this letter?

[Desperate Daniella]

If you google National Standards for Bailiffs - Ministry of Justice you will find the guidelines for bailiffs. (Sorry, it's a pdf so I can't put in a link.) As you are pregnant you are potentially vulnerable.

 

When you speak to them you should ask them if they follow the MoJ guidelines.

 

He's also supposed to itemise charges for each visit and provide paperwork.

[natalie009]

hi yes it was an arrest warrant a man came out from the court looked like the police but he was and he had another man with him who was there he said to support me etc the man said he had been sent to take me in but i was on my own with son at the the time so he told me to ring and get an appointment

 

Yes me and partner went to court in front of 4 people it was in the magistrates court he didnt take any money of but let us pay in 2 halfs we paid the first half in october of £185 pounds .should have paid the final £90 in the november and completely forgot about it .

 

I spoke to the court they said one had been issued in the begining of december .i never received this letter or any letter of marstons group before he visited .even now i still havent received any paper work or letter from him or his company .

[natalie009]

on hold now to the main office

[2ltr16valve]

on hold now to the main office

 

I'm not sure telling them your going to court is good idea to be honest. My dealings with them once I told them I'm going to court to get their warrant withdrawn meant that they attended at 6am and refused to leave. Calling the police who helped them gain entry.

I would go to the court ASAP and file the stat dec. even if you can not pay until Friday. You can pay the balance Friday once the warrant is withdrawn.

[natalie009]

Theyve just told me im not vulnerable they only class heavily pregnant women as vulnerable

she said hes coming out and will be gaining entry by force

so worried now

i offered £100 A month and there refusing to accept this

[tomtubby]

I'm not sure telling them your going to court is good idea to be honest. My dealings with them once I told them I'm going to court to get their warrant withdrawn meant that they attended at 6am and refused to leave. Calling the police who helped them gain entry.

I would go to the court ASAP and file the stat dec. even if you can not pay until Friday. You can pay the balance Friday once the warrant is withdrawn.

 

I would be very surprised indeed if the court would agree to a Statutory Declaration.

 

As Natalie has confirmed the court issued an Arrest Warrant against her in September and allowed her to pay the fine in two payments. Therefore she had knowledge of the fine.

 

Personally, I would not hold out much hope with the court assisting as the court records will show that in order to get Natalie to pay the debt Court Officers visited her property with an Arrest Warrant and she attended court and would of therefore known of the serious consequences of non payment.

 

The court have told her that they sent a Further Steps Notice in December so Natalie needs to find out why she did not receive that notice and did not receive an initial letter from the bailiff company.

[natalie009]

yes i attended court i paid the majority of it the £185 i completely forgot the rest due to family bereavment .

we have had a problem receiving mail for a few months i cant prove this so guess im sunk

cab have just informed me the bailiff can come in and do what they want

marstons have no compasion at all yes i owe the money but they have charged me £300 for a £90 debt how is that fair if i pay it me my partner and son cant eat for the month

just asked why he wont leave me paper work she said she will ask him that herself right now so now ive made it all worse for myself

[natalie009]

just rang central payments and fines the lady on the phone just told me to complain to marstons the way ive been treated

she also said its marstons charges not theres

but the lady who told me the other day a further steps had been issued was wrong there was none issued becuase id been to court and granted time to pay so alls i can do now is wait for him to come and take our things

[Desperate Daniella]

What excuse did they have for him not leaving paperwork.

 

I think their charges are limited, but tomtubby is the best person to advise on that.

 

Why won't they accept instalments?

 

It doesn't say anything in the guidelines about "heavily pregnant"; it says "pregnant".

 

According to CAB you can question the charges if they are higher than the debt. If you haven't read the CAB guidelines, here is the link

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_action_your_creditor_can_take_e/debt_bailiffs_e/bailiffs__charges.htm

[natalie009]

They didnt give one she put the phone down on me she just said she was getting on the phone to him now to ask him to bring paper work

 

she said at this stage its payment in full or nothing at all again gave no reason as to why installments were unacceptable this btw was a manager who i asked to speak to well she said she was one

 

yes i just read it but there saying there rules are heavily pregnant but i bet if i said i was heavily they would say it early stages

 

thanks for the link i will look at them now

[Desperate Daniella]

Their rules might say "heavily pregnant"; the Ministry of Justice guidelines just say "pregnant".

 

It might be worth calling CAB, or going down there if you have a local one.

[natalie009]

hi just rang again for a run down the charges are as follows

 

£85 administration fee

£215 bailiff attendance fee

 

theysaid they no legal obligation to show me any paper work i have asked them for acopy of the charges to be posted to me which was refused then he said i had to write to request this

[natalie009]

Their rules might say "heavily pregnant"; the Ministry of Justice guidelines just say "pregnant".

 

It might be worth calling CAB, or going down there if you have a local one.

 

 

i said that to him on the moj website it just says pregnant got a guy this time he said tough there not our rules

[Desperate Daniella]

Or you could call Stepchange.

 

They have advice on how to deal with bailiffs.

 

http://www.stepchange.org/Debtinformationandadvice/Whatyourcreditorscando/Courtaction/EnglandWalescourtaction/Bailiffs.aspx

[Desperate Daniella]

hi just rang again for a run down the charges are as follows

 

£85 administration fee

£215 bailiff attendance fee

 

theysaid they no legal obligation to show me any paper work i have asked them for acopy of the charges to be posted to me which was refused then he said i had to write to request this

 

They are just completely ignoring the guidelines. Email him and say you want a copy of the charges by return email.

 

Tell him you want a copy of their complaints procedure also emailed to you and say you will be making a complaint to their Regulatory Body about the charges and you will also report them to the Ombudsman.