Final notice today by hand Marston

[fedupwith]

Hello, i,ve been looking for advice and help as am at my wits end! My son had an on street fine which we never received a summons for. The fine officer ignored me so I wrote to the finance unit and got a reply saying letter forwarded to court. Today out of the blue a final notice has been delivered by hand asking for £385 by 7pm today or they will attend again and take control of goods. I cant afford the original £75 and last time I had financial problems I ended up in hospital as I overdosed, i,m mentally weak atm and struggling. Can someone advise what to do as i,m worried they will be back tonight and charge even more.

[ploddertom]

How old is your son?

[fedupwith]

At the time it was his 17th birthday and he was fined for his motorbike exhaust noise, he's now 19 but a little too molly cuddled!!!

[i hate bailiffs]

The only goods they could take controll off would be the debtors your sons

 

They can not take controll of goods belonging to you

[fedupwith]

So they can take his stuff? even though I,ve brought it for him? How do I prove what is his? guess his motorbike will be first thing then Just dont understand how it is now in baillifs hands and £385. It will take me months to pay it off!!

[ploddertom]

At the time it was his 17th birthday and he was fined for his motorbike exhaust noise, he's now 19 but a little too molly cuddled!!!

 

Thank you for that. Do I take it he still lives at home with you?

[fedupwith]

yes he does as he is going to college and cannot support himself .... yet!!!

[ploddertom]

This is part of the classic act by Enforcement Agents (Bailiffs) whereby they up the ante and hope a parent will pay the fine.

 

You say there was no notification of the summons - have you checked to see what address including postcode they used? Have you had any letters at all from the Court & if so what? How long ago did this happen?

[fedupwith]

Well I would pay if I had the money, hence my worry as know another visit incurs further costs. They did not come back today as stated but unsure now when they will just turn up, which is worrying me a lot. His motorbike is currently in the garden as I cant afford to mot it so they wont say its worth£1600 and probably take it and want more money. He was given a blue slip at the time and told me a few weeks later. I intended to write and pay but have had a breakdown as parted with my husband not long after.... been a mess since which is no excuse I know. We first got a letter at xmas but it was sent to the wrong number house which I presume the summons went to. I have been in touch explaining, last letter was in March from the fines office at the court saying my letter would be passed on to the court and there would be another hearing, the court would contact me, nothing since. Then this final notice from a baillif.

[unclebulgaria67]

Well I would pay if I had the money, hence my worry as know another visit incurs further costs. They did not come back today as stated but unsure now when they will just turn up, which is worrying me a lot. His motorbike is currently in the garden as I cant afford to mot it so they wont say its worth£1600 and probably take it and want more money. He was given a blue slip at the time and told me a few weeks later. I intended to write and pay but have had a breakdown as parted with my husband not long after.... been a mess since which is no excuse I know. We first got a letter at xmas but it was sent to the wrong number house which I presume the summons went to. I have been in touch explaining, last letter was in March from the fines office at the court saying my letter would be passed on to the court and there would be another hearing, the court would contact me, nothing since. Then this final notice from a baillif.

 

I think you need to contact the Magistrates and bailiffs to explain your situation as you have posted. About not recieving correspondence and your health situation. This is a vulnerable household and once the Magistrates and bailiffs are aware of this, they will have to offer more help. If they handle this properly, your Son should be asked to attend the court for an assessment of how is can pay the fine.

 

See if you can find an email address for the Magistrates and bailiffs to send them the information.

[tomtubby]

Under the new regulations that took effect on 6th April the 'amount due' comprises the amount of the debt from the court and any fees incurred up to the date of payment. Accordingly, if payment were made (or a payment proposal put forward) at the Compliance stage (during the period when the initial letter is sent) the only fee payable would be £75.

 

If however payment is made at the time of a personal visit (or after the visit) an 'enforcement fee' of £235 is added to the debt.

 

A further important point to be aware of is that under the new regulations better protection is provided to 'vulnerable' debtors in that

if there is supporting evidence or explanation (of vulnerability) then all companies will return the case back to the Compliance Stage and remove the Enforcement fee of £235. The only fee that would then become payable would be the £75 Compliance Stage. The account would NOT be returned to the court /creditor and there are excellent reasons for this. We have had many cases where the 'enforcement fee' of £235 has been removed and this provision does appear to be working.

 

The problem in this case is that it is YOU who appears to be vulnerable but it is your SON who is the debtor. However there does appear to be some confusion regarding the summons and it is possible that this important document had been wrongly addressed to a different house number.

 

Your son's bike should be 'exempt' from seizure and this again is due to two important parts of the new regulations. Firstly there is a limit of £1,350 to the value of goods and secondly (and most importantly for your son) is that new additional protection has been given to students. The actually wording in the regulations is:

 

'For use personally by the debtor in the debtor's employment, business, trade, vocation, study or education'

[HCEOs]

TT, for info, I believe that whilst an exempt claim could be made it would not be successful as it the bike is not MoT'd.

 

Further, this is the sons debt and it should be him that is paying it.

[fedupwith]

Thank you everyone for your replies, I have spent all day trying to sort this and am crying my eyes out trying to cope. Just to update you, the central finance unit were really helpful and put the case on hold after my letter in march. They got back in touch with the court 16th June who said they had sent appeal papers out to me but heard nothing back so the finance unit escalated it to Marstons and I cannot go back to them. The lady I spoke to looked at the records and suggested I phone the court as the address given to them was house number 31 - 34 and maybe the summons and appeal papers went to 31 and I could do something called a statutory declaration??? but she cannot stop Marstons now. When I finally got hold of someone at the court they admitted papers had gone to wrong house number and are now sending me new appeal forms to correct address. They said to inform Marstons case is under appeal and to get these papers sent back to court asap,.

Marstons still want £400 plus if they revisit and said they need to hear from the court that it is under appeal. I explained mentally I cannot cope with this and they said my son should do it then and not me ..... by the way the enforcement officer is not on the certified register either but they had nothing to say about that.

So will the appeal papers make it go back to £75 and keep Marstons away?

[fedupwith]

He needs it to get to college but I cant afford to mot yet, my son has no income and is still like a 16 yr old due to my over protectiveness. I am on the disabled register as have to have 24 hour care to stop self harm as when overwhelmed I have panic attacks and cannot cope. Briefly put it sounds pathetic but I seriously

cant help myself atm.

[unclebulgaria67]

Your Son could go to the Magistrates to explain the situation to them about the papers (summons & appeal) going to a wrong address and that he needs help . He also should explain about the vulnerable household situation. The Magistrates court staff should help him with this.

[fedupwith]

Thank you unclebulgaria for that .... unsure if i,ll be able to get him to do that!!! I was hoping the appeal papers will come tomorrow and I could fill them out explaining and offer to pay the £75 with it, so it ends and Marstons will not be able to persue anymore???

[renegadeimp]

Its better to head to the court. It can all be handled there and then. The Bailiff will not care about how you feel. They just want the money.

[fedupwith]

so the appeal forms won,t stop it?

[fedupwith]

Sorry it seems i have spent all day going round in circles, I felt a little less worried after talking to the person who said they had the incorrect address and would send out ppapers tonight but now I feel it is pointless. Am I wrong thinking Marstons will have to back off now?

[unclebulgaria67]

Thank you unclebulgaria for that .... unsure if i,ll be able to get him to do that!!! I was hoping the appeal papers will come tomorrow and I could fill them out explaining and offer to pay the £75 with it, so it ends and Marstons will not be able to persue anymore???

 

If they come tomorrow, you could do that and return them marked urgent. If you do that, you could phone Marstons to ask them to check with the court someone Wednesday or Thursday that they have the appeal papers in. That should put matters on hold.

[fedupwith]

I,ve not seen what the appeal papers say yet but i,m hoping I can fill them out explaining about the wrong address etc and that I am not arguing about paying the fine, I would have paid it in the beginning if the first papers came here, I just think that the situation isnt my fault, it is the courts and very unfair to send out an aggressive man demanding £400 to the right address but not the paperwork!!! Do the appeal papers allow me to put whats happened down and that I will pay £75 for my sons fine but not the money Martons want?

[renegadeimp]

Only the courts can call them off. Thats why you need to deal with it properly and quickly.

[fedupwith]

I,,ve also complained to Marstons but they say they have done nothing wrong, they did not comment about me asking if the collector was acting illegally as 1 he is not registered and 2 he left a final notice demanding payment or goods by 7pm Saturdaay but did not return and charged me for doing so. I am waiting on an email back from them.

[fedupwith]

Only the courts can call them off. Thats why you need to deal with it properly and quickly.

Thank you reneadeimp , thats what i,m asking, will the appeal papers that are being sent, allow me to do that???

[fedupwith]

hello again. sorry to be a pain but I received the appeal paper today and its 1 page,, and an appeal to the crown court from a magistrates court with a couple of questions that don,t relate to me, there isnt enough space for me to write an explaination either. Have I got the wrong form? Or can someone aadvise me what to put please?