Marstons bailiffs help please!!! **Returned to Court**

[essexdiva]

Just had a visit from a bailiff from marstons to my mums address who proceeded to explain everything to a 17 yearold who answered the door!!

All this on her camera apparently. She told him that she was entiltled to come in and remove goods from my room for a court fine I had failed to pay which I did try to sett up a payment plan but they refused.

I have been on benefits as was unable to work.

This is a high court distress warrant and she says she is coming back on friday or saturday to remove the goods.

I called her to see if I could set up a payment plan she saidf no she also said that she will be removing goods from the whole of the house as the warrent is on the whole house not just me.

All the time my disabled mother and brother were getting agitated and distressed over all that was being said.

Please help I need some advice what do I do??

What are my rights??

Many thanks in advance.

[unclebulgaria67]

Marstons would have left some paperwork regarding their visit. Can you post up details of what they have left.

 

Did they actually come into the house ?

 

Were they aware of your disabled mother in terms of vulnerability ?

 

This will just be a standard magistrates warrant if it relates to a fine.

 

Have you contacted the Magistrates about this before to say that you are having trouble paying the fine ? If not, you may be able to attend magistrates for a means hearing.

 

You should contact the Magistrates court about this and the fact that bailiffs have made threats to go through the whole house, when you have a disabled mother. Bailiffs have to act carefully when dealing with a vulnerable household.

[essexdiva]

Hello there,

 

Yes they did leave leave paperwork.

 

It is a white piece of paper with an orange boarder and has removal notice in red

I attended your adress today at am to arrange payment under the terms of a warrant issued on behalf of the above client.

Despite previous visits and notices this matter has not been settled, and I therefore urge you to contact me on the telephone number below immediately.

Please note that the amount now due is £1,684.98 inclusiver of charges for todays attendance.

IF THIS AMOUNT IS NOT PAID IN FULL IMMEDIATELY a further call will be made, WITHOUT NOTICE, to take control of goods and potentially remove for sale by public auction.

such action will render you liable to further substantial costs.

To avoid such sever action, please contact me on etc

DO NOT DISREGARD THIS NOTICE

 

No they did not come into the house they spoke at the front door.

 

They were not aware that my disabled mother and brother were in the house at the time but they are now.

 

It is a high court distress warrant. i tried to contact the court but they only gave me the number to call and it is the number for martstons!!!

 

The court did not want to hear anything about it.

 

I contacted marstons back and explained that i have not got that money and would appreciate if we could set up a payment plan but they say it is way past that and they cant set one up.

 

I did contact them back in January and told them I was on JSA and sent proof of that t them, I was then had a go at by the woman on the phone saying tha Did I not think that something else would happen as it has been 6 months.

 

To be honest i actually forgot the time scale looking after 2 disabled relatives running a house suffering from depression myself so am now at my wits end not saying this for sympathy or anyting I try to cope day to day the best I can.

 

I have been told if I dont have the money the bailiff is going to ask for a warrant for my arrest for this fine.

 

Has anyone got any idea of how I can avoid this or at least sort it out?/

 

Many thanks for reading.

[unclebulgaria67]

Who are Marstons collecting for ?

 

Who issued the original fine ?

 

As I said before, if this is Magistrates, you need to make a complaint to the Magistrates. If you cannot do this yourself, contact your nearest Citizens Advice to ask for urgent help.

[essexdiva]

They are collecting for the magistrates court.

 

I dont have the time to speak to CAB as after calling marstons again she said that it could be anytime from today and the CAB dont have an appointment til friday!!

 

Many thanks for reading.

[unclebulgaria67]

They are collecting for the magistrates court.

 

I dont have the time to speak to CAB as after calling marstons again she said that it could be anytime from today and the CAB dont have an appointment til friday!!

 

Many thanks for reading.

 

Send Marstons and the Magistrates court a letter/email setting out your circumstances and the house being a vulnerable household. You need to mention JSA/depression and disabled mother. Both have responsibilities to ensure that the fine plus costs are collected in a fair way to take into account the vulnerable circumstances.

 

If they did not come into the house, they cannot force entry and you should keep the doors locked, with windows closed. For the bailiff to force entry they would need to go back to the Magistrates for their consent to use a locksmith to gain entry.

[essexdiva]

I will send an email straight away to the court and marstons thank you for the advice.

Although I was on JSA I actually went back to work and have had one weeks wages so far!!

Although I am juggling a 30 hour week job and looking after 2 disabled relatives plus everything to do with the house!!

They did not come into the house but the marstons woman told me she is getting an enforcement team and a locksmith and the police to attend!!

Scary stuff Im at my wits end!!

[essexdiva]

All sorted.

 

sorted a payment plan with the cort so marstons are the losers here they deserve it!!!

 

Many thanks for all your help.

[essexdiva]

Can anyone help??

 

Marstons scaring me witless!!!

 

I had a fine with the court and arranged to pay it via the court I was paying it.

 

My disabled mum was ill and I missed a payment

as soon as I realised I paid it and the one after.

 

I then get a letter saying that my payments had been forwarded to the approved enforcement agency.

This was swiftly followed later that day by a letter coming through my door from marstons saying they had called.

 

This followed another letter the next day.

 

I called the number

spoke to the woman who I might add was unhelpful

she just said they are coming today to remove goods!!

 

One problem it's my mum's house I'm just staying there til I find somewhere to live

I share a room with my sister so have no goods myself.

 

They said they will take my mum's things instead!!!

 

I'm terrified as both my mum and brother are disabled and have a live in carer.

 

They are distressed and I'm worried it's going to set my mum's health off in a downward spiral

because she is so frightened and upset about it all.

 

I have offered to pay a monthly amount more than I was paying the court but the bailifs are having none of it.

 

Please any advice will be gladly appreciated.

[unclebulgaria67]

They can only take your items and not anything belonging to someone else. See if you can phone the Court manager to make a complaint. If you are paying the amounts and have vulnerability issues where you are living, the court needs to be made aware of this.

[essexdiva]

Thank you for your reply.

I have spoken to the court they say it has been handled correctly and marstons are now dealing with it.

Marstons say they can take everything because they need proof how is she going to do that it's taken years to get what she has!!

She is so distressed I just don't know what to do??

[Bailiff Advice]

You say that the payment was made to the court and that you then received a letter from them telling you that the payment had been forwarded to Marston. before this the court should have sent you a Further Steps Notice.

 

Also, you should have received a letter from Marston's before a personal visit. The letter would be entitled: Notice of Enforcement. a fee of £75 is applied at this stage. Did you get such a letter?

 

Have Marston's or the bailiff been advised of the the health of your mother and brother?

 

How much is the amount being asked for.

[essexdiva]

When my mum was ill I missed the payment tried to catch up but the warrant was issued.

 

No one can stop it!!

[lookinforinfo]

Essexdiva, you might be able to stop it if you think back to when you first heard from Marstons and whether you received a letter from the Court

after you missed a payment.

Bailiff Advice asked those questions to see if Marstons could be stopped in their tracks-and they can be if your case has not been handled in the

right way.

Do you still have the letter from Marstons called a Notice of Enforcement. Please tell us when you received the letter, when it was dated and when

Marstons said they would call. Also do you recall getting a "Further Steps" letter from the Court?

 

Marstons know that they cannot legally take anything belonging to anyone other than yourself but they lie to scare you into paying up and paying up quickly. However it would be helpful if the others in the house had receipts for some of their possessions to prove ownership.

 

You do not have to let them in but make sure that if you have a car it is moved away from the property and if their things like garden furniture outside put it away.

 

The qucker you respond to the questions ,the quicker we may be able to advise you if the process can be stopped.

[ploddertom]

Is this the same matter as your previous one? http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?429408-Marstons-bailiffs-help-please!!!&p=4580684#post4580684

[essexdiva]

This is the problem I had last year but we made a payment plan but missed the payment when my mum was ill. We had no letter just an orange and red final notice.

The red one from 14/1/15 states they will call one day this week or after 7pm.

The bailiffs have told me on the phone they will be here at 3 today they won't budge I have pleaded with them even offered £500 but they want full payment of £1,500 today.

They have a warrant of control/distress warrant and said they will apply for a right of entry when they get here if we don't let them in so they can get the locksmith to open the door there and then!!

[essexdiva]

According to the court they said a further steps letter was sent in 2013 which was before we were made aware of it last year.

No letter called notice of enforcement was received from marstons just the 2 put through the door last Thursday and Friday.

[Bailiff Advice]

In your above post you say that both your mother and brother are disabled and that there is a live in carer.

 

If for instance your brother were disabled (with maybe back problems etc) then sadly this does not mean that the bailiff should not attend. After all it is you who is the debtor and not your brother. It is unfortunately a misconception from internet sources that bailiffs should not attend a 'vulnerable household'.

 

HOWEVER...in your particular case it does seem from what you have stated that there could be a case of very serious 'vulnerability' with either your mother or brother given that you have mentioned that there is a 'live in carer'.

 

Has this situation been brought to the attention of the bailiff or better still...the magistrate court?

[Bailiff Advice]

The amount of the debt is £1,500 and given that you had previously been making payment to the court I would assume that the initial fine had been for a lot more than this. Did you ever make an application to the Fines officer to have the amount reduced?

[essexdiva]

No it has not been brought to the courts attention.

My brother has a trachiostomy and has mobility problems my mother is wheelchair bound when out but spends her time in her bedroom in bed because she can't move about. There has been a live in carer for the last 12 years.

Is it too late to ask for a reduction??

[mrdanieks]

are the bailiffs allowed to take other peoples goods? i thought they could only take goods owned buy the named person???

thanks

[essexdiva]

Do I have to let them in???

[essexdiva]

All this stress and worry for £40!!

How can the courts allow this bully boy tactic???

[ploddertom]

I've merged both your threads together.

[lookinforinfo]

Just to repeat what has ben said earlier. If they have not ben into your property before You do not need to let them in nor should you under any

circumstances. They cannot force their way in but if you don't pay they

can apply to the Court to force entry.

 

I know you had problems with the Court referring you back to the Bailiff but if you speak to the Clerk of the Court asking for an assessment of your means as the repayments are giving you problems you should be allowed-especially if you didn't go to Court when the case was heard.