marston Marstons - Removal Notice from some unpaid court fines

[Shanks]

Hi,

 

 

my brother in law came home yesterday to find that a 'Removal Notice' had been posted through his door from Marstons.

 

 

He is certain that it stems from some unpaid court fines from some time ago, which he admits having not paid.

 

 

Long story short he was going through a very rough time then, with lots of issues but is now beginning to get himself sorted.

 

Since the fines were issued originally he has been moving all over the country and has consequently never received any notice of intended action

or chasing of this debt until this letter received yesterday.

 

He understands that the fines need to be settled but cannot tell how much of this £1500 odd is actual debt and how much is Marstons fees.

 

 

He is renting a room in a privately owned house, with virtually no countable posessions to speak of.

 

I'd like some help with advice on the following points:

 

Do Marstons have a right of entry given that nothing in the house belongs to him?

 

If they turn up should he try to prevent their entry or 'welcome' them in on the basis that there is nothing in the house

that he owns apart from a small crt television and a portable stereo?

 

The owners of the house are being very supportive through this and although not in a position to pay the debt for him will not throw him out because of it.

If Marstons turn up and he is not there what should they do?

 

Is there a way for him to get this back to the courts so that he can make a voluntary arrangement to pay by installments,

possibly avoiding what we think are substantial fees and charges added by Marstons?

 

And anything else which you think he should be doing to get this resolved.

 

I'm sorry for all the questions, but after years of worry about him it's good to see him getting back on his feet and it would be a real heartache if this sent him back. Thanks in advance.

 

(I can post a scan of the notice if it helps)

[dx100uk]

if he has not received a 'next steps' notice from the court

then they shouldn't be adding anything.

 

 

best idea is to ring the court tomorrow

and sort it out direct wit them.

 

 

as it stands the bailiff does have right of entry.

 

 

dx

[Shanks]

Thanks dx, this is the only thing he has received.

 

So if he rings the court and asks to sort it direct and reaches an agreement,

 

 

does that then mean that Marstons,

 

 

along with their charges,

 

 

are out of the equation altogether?

 

If so, that's great news thank you, cheers

[dx100uk]

ensure the court are made aware he received no 'next steps' notice

 

prob needs to go down the route of a variation order or whatever the name is

 

I assume he Is on benefits?

that needs to be conveyed too.

 

confirm with the court that they will contact the bailiff and cease enforcement action too.

 

dx

[Shanks]

Thanks again dx, I'll get him to call the courts tomorrow and explain that this is the first he has heard of it, then try to negotiate a plan for repayment.

 

He is working now so should be able to make regular payments but I will get him to put together a income and expenditure sheet before he contacts them.

I'll look into variation orders, I'm sure there must be some threads with information on them here.

Cheers

[Bailiff Advice]

ensure the court are made aware he received no 'next steps' notice

 

prob needs to go down the route of a variation order or whatever the name is

 

I assume he Is on benefits?

that needs to be conveyed too.

 

confirm with the court that they will contact the bailiff and cease enforcement action too.

 

dx

 

DX....a couple of small corrections:

 

The notice that is sent by the Magistrates Court is called a Further Steps Notice and this is the final document from the court to 'warn' the debtor that unless he pays the amount owing that the Fines Officer intends taking one (or more) of the 'further steps' outlined in the notice (one of which is to issue a Warrant of Control'.

 

HMCTS state quite clearly that if a debtor has a court fine then it is their responsibility to advise the Fines Officer of a new address.

[Bailiff Advice]

Hi,

 

My brother in law came home yesterday to find that a 'Removal Notice' had been posted through his door from Marstons. He is certain that it stems from some unpaid court fines from some time ago, which he admits having not paid.

 

Long story short he was going through a very rough time then, with lots of issues but is now beginning to get himself sorted.

 

Since the fines were issued originally he has been moving all over the country and has consequently never received any notice of intended action or chasing of this debt until this letter received yesterday.

 

He understands that the fines need to be settled but cannot tell how much of this £1500 odd is actual debt and how much is Marstons fees.

 

He is renting a room in a privately owned house, with virtually no countable posessions to speak of.

 

I'd like some help with advice on the following points:

 

Do Marstons have a right of entry given that nothing in the house belongs to him?

 

If they turn up should he try to prevent their entry or 'welcome' them in on the basis that there is nothing in the house that he owns apart from a small crt television and a portable stereo?

 

The owners of the house are being very supportive through this and although not in a position to pay the debt for him will not throw him out because of it.

If Marstons turn up and he is not there what should they do?

 

Is there a way for him to get this back to the courts so that he can make a voluntary arrangement to pay by installments, possibly avoiding what we think are substantial fees and charges added by Marstons?

 

And anything else which you think he should be doing to get this resolved.

 

(I can post a scan of the notice if it helps)

 

Before your brother in law rings the courts there are a number of points that he will need to clarify.

 

Firstly, you say that your brother in law moved around the country and that the court fines were from a long while ago and which he admits had not been paid.

 

What needs to be established is whether or not he received the initial summonses. If he had not received any summonses then this is grounds for him to make a Statutory Declaration, which once accepted, will mean that the warrants are revoked and the matters to which the fines relate can be re-heard.

 

It would seem from your posts that your brother in law had knowledge of the fines from long ago so he needs to be cautious about a Statutory Declaration.

 

I would suggest that he calls the court today and he needs to stress the difficulty that he has had over the past few years. Please post back to let us know what the court say.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

Yes, he confirm he knows he had a fine, so I assume they are writing to his given address. Thats all they need to do. Might be worth asking the bailiff company if they sent an noe and to which address. You can pretty much guarantee marstons have and it will be to the address they have visited.

 

I dont hold out much hope that the court will entertain him if they are aware he was aware previously and may just direct him back to marstons. If they did withdraw the bailiffs, everyone would claim non reciept of notices.

A genuine claim would be he was in hosp during the time it was sent.

Or in prison.

They can force entry as long as they believe the debtor is in. It makes no difference who the debtor says is the home owner. Personally, I would ask the home owner to get ready a council tax bill and some utility bills as proof of occupancy, and also supply a sub let/lodgers agreement for the debtor to prove he is just that. Maybe scrape together what proof of ownership they can of cars and household assets too.

I wish him good luck with the court and hope it work put for him but I see this weekly and have only seen two or three work in years. They may put it on hold to investigate, but rarely if ever do they withdraw the bailiff(EA).