Marston bailiff help please

[loopylou2004]

Thanks in advance.

 

My husband received a letter from marstons stating he owed 980 for unpaid water rates plus a fee of 90.

 

We were given on the letter until 5pm today to contact them to pay in full or according to the letter set up a payment arrangement.

 

They wont set up an arrangement stating they had no say in the way the letter was worded and to set up an arrangement the officer must enter the property and will only agree to repayment by installments if there are insufficient goods to cover the debt.

 

They wouldnt discuss it with us any further and said they wont until it goes to the next stage incurring us even more in fees that we cant afford.

 

Any advice please, they said we should seek legal advice as they wont do a payment arrangement.

 

She also said they cant force entry to property is that right?

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

[unclebulgaria67]

Is the domestic water rates at the current property ?

 

Has there been a CCJ for this debt ?

 

Has this now gone to the high court for enforcement ?

 

If you cannot afford to pay the bill, you can apply for an urgent stay of execution, if it has gone to high court. You can apply to pay by instalments.

 

You should NEVER allow bailiffs to enter your house. If you do that, they can charge you more and they may break in to your house, if you failed to make agreed payments.

[unclebulgaria67]

Citizens Advice information on this.

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_action_your_creditor_can_take_e/bailiffs_e/stopping_bailiff_action_e/applying_to_court_to_stop_bailiff_action_e.htm

[Bazooka Boo]

DO ''NOT'' let any bailiff into your property EVER!!!

 

Bailiffs are not my area, but there will be plenty of others available later on to give you solid advice.

 

All I will say is to not discuss this over the phone with them, as they will do nothing other than lie, intimidate

and threaten you. Who is the water company? Is this waste water?

 

They CANNOT force their way into your property, that;s the first lie they have told you!

Secondly, they CANNOT get a locksmith to 'force' their way into your property, that will be the second lie they tell you.

 

UNLESS, they have a warrant which expressly states that they can ''force'' entry, then the ONLY way they can do so in future

is ''IF'' you allow them peaceful entry, by inviting them into your property in the first instance, which you're NOT going to do.

[loopylou2004]

unclebulgaria is says page not found?

 

thanks for your help

[Bazooka Boo]

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_action_your_creditor_can_take_e/bailiffs_e/stopping_bailiff_action_e/applying_to_court_to_stop_bailiff_action_e.htm

[unclebulgaria67]

National Debtline can also advise you what you need to do.

 

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/31%20EW%20High%20Court%20enforcement/Page-05.aspx#quicklink2

 

Read their information and give them a call.

[dx100uk]

so this is the water 'element' of your normal CTAX

but the CTAX itself is paid CT benefit?

leaving you the water bit to pay?

 

 

dx

[loopylou2004]

no its water rates wth northumbrian water, we both work and get no benefits at all

[Conniff]

Has this been to court ?

[Bailiff Advice]

no its water rates wth northumbrian water, we both work and get no benefits at all

 

With regards to the response that you received....was this given in an email or over the telephone?

 

You say that the enforcment agent would need to come into the house first before accepting a payment arrangment and that this visit will incur you in more costs. Was this actually said or was this your understanding?

 

What sort of payment proposal did you put forward?

[loopylou2004]

We didnt put any forward as they said it was a waste of time as they wouldnt accept anything without an enforcement agent gaining entry to the home.

 

Yes its been to court but we genuinely hadnt received any paperwork.

[Conniff]

This is the only thing water can do, they do not need access to your house as they can't turn off your water, so they are trying to trick you into entering to take a levy.

[loopylou2004]

Letter states

 

f you do not pay or agree a payment arrangement by the date about (which is today 5pm) an enforcement agent will visit you and may seize your belongings - this is called taking control.

 

Marstons are saying this is first enforcement stage and can only agree to a repayment plan once this stage is started - so why give the option of agreeing a payment arrangement before this time if they cant until after the time?

 

Ive contacted northumbrian water and their litigation dept is going to contact marstons.

[loopylou2004]

It was over the telephone

[unclebulgaria67]

If you have never received the court claim, you could ask Northumbrian water for a copy and a detailed explanation of the amount they are claiming.

 

If they do not confirm that Marstons have been put on hold, you may need to apply to the courts to pay on an affordable basis.

[Conniff]

I know you don't get instant answers, but you really should have these things in writing. If you must use the phone, record the calls.

[loopylou2004]

having spoken to northumbria water and

 

 

they have said the letter they sent out is a letter drafted by the government

and after this letter was written the legislation changed so they can indeed get away with this....

 

does anybody know the fees for the stay of execution off hand please?

[loopylou2004]

phew! have just come off the phone to northumbria water again and

 

 

they agree the letter is worded badly and agree something needs doing,

 

 

they are going to lobby the government to make the changes needed,

 

 

as a goodwill gesture they have removed the account from marstons and

 

 

we have paid 100 today and agreed an arrangement of 25 per week to clear it,

 

 

thanks all for your advice,

 

 

really appreciate it.

[Bailiff Advice]

phew! have just come off the phone to northumbria water again and they agree the letter is worded badly and agree something needs doing, they are going to lobby the government to make the changes needed, as a goodwill gesture they have removed the court from Marstons and we have paid 100 today and agreed an arrangement of 25 per week to clear it, thanks all for your advice, really appreciate it.

 

 

An excellent outcome indeed.

 

It needs to be remembered that debts enforced via a High Court Enforcement company have a completely different fee scale and in fact, if a payment arrangement is to be accepted there is an obligation on the enforcement officer to attend the debtors property to formally 'take control of goods' in order to 'secure' the debt.

 

This visit is referred to as an Enforcement Stage 1 visit and attracts a fixed fee of £190 plus 7.5% on the sums to be recovered over £1,000 plus VAT.

[%Ostrich%]

So for clarification, Marstons were "not" trying to "trick" the OP and obtain further fees by slipping in an unnecessary visit?

[Bailiff Advice]

So for clarification, Marstons were "not" trying to "trick" the OP and obtain further fees by slipping in an unnecessary visit?

 

Correct.

 

With judgments enforced via a High Court Enforcement Officer there is a obligation on the enforcement agent to 'secure' goods' when agreeing a payment proposal and furthermore, he can be held personally responsible for failing to do so.

[Sweetlaw]

This is absolutely correct and exactly what is stated in law. I am unsure why there should ever be any confusion.

[Bailiff Advice]

The following is a copy of what I wrote on another thread in answer to another enquiry this morning about the enforcement of a CCJ:

 

 

 

 

 

Within the past week there have been quite a few enquiries about debts enforced by a High Court Enforcement Agent(now known as a Enforcement Agent) and with the confusion surrounding the fee structure it would be best if I start a new thread.

 

However in brief and for the avoidance of doubt, the fees structure for debts enforced by a High Court Enforcement Officer are very different indeed from those for other debts types but there is a further important provision in that whilst the fee structure introduces an incentive to enter into an affordable payment proposal the fact remains that unless a debtor pays the entire debt in full at the Compliance Stage (when fees of £75 plus vat are added) then in every case the enforcement agent is obliged to visit the debtor in order to 'secure' the debt by 'taking control of goods' and entering into a 'Controlled Goods Agreement' (previously known as a Walking Possession Agreement).

 

This visit is referred to in the statutory regulations as a "Enforcement Stage 1' and triggers a fee of £190 plus 7.5% on the sums to be recovered over £1,000 plus VAT.

 

PS:

 

For non-High Court debts a payment proposal can be entered into without the obligation to 'take control of goods' and sign a 'Controlled Goods Agreement' during the 'compliance stage' . This will avoid the enforcement fee of £235 being applied.

[unclebulgaria67]

What happens if a HCEO is denied the opportunity to take control of goods ?