collectica collectica magistrate court baliffs!

[seche0911]

Hi, my partner has had outstanding payments with the courts, we had been paying them off at £20 a week up until January when he lost his job...we are currently on job seekers allowance and have been unable to make payments.

 

Today we had a hand delivered letter from collectica magistrate baliffs saying they want payment of £982.74 immediately or they will force entry, which will be pointless as we have absolutely nothing of value in the property. We have sold our TV last month to make ends meet until partner finds a new job.

 

This morning my partner phoned our allocated baliff who was very rude and completely refused to negotiate a repayment plan with us, he said he doesn't care about our circumstances, we either pay in full or he will force entry. We explained we have nothing of value and he said that's fine I'll just have you arrested then.

 

Unpaid fines are for a breach of the peace and TV licence with added baliff fines.

 

I have a Renault megane 1.4 which I told him he can have but we have nothing else or no means of paying in full or even half! He said he will talk to his manager but its still not enough as he said its worth £300!

 

We have tried calling him a few times today but he just tells us to stop calling unless we have full payment then hangs up.

 

I have a 3 & 5 year old so very worried that this baliff may force entry as it will be very scary for them.

We don't know what to do please advise.

 

Many thanks

Edited May 21, 2015 by honeybee13
Paras.

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

The forum guys should be along later with advice for you. Please bear with us until they're able to get here.

 

My best, HB

[Bazooka Boo]

Lies lies all lies!

 

They cannot force entry nor can they get one of their silly locksmiths to force entry either!

 

STOP calling the bully, he will think that you're scared of his empty threats.

 

Shame you fell for the TV licence goons, non payment of the TV tax will no longer be a criminal offence by the end of the year.

 

Which court issued the fines?

As there has been a change in circumstances since the court issued the fines, then you should contact them and inform them.

[seche0911]

I had been told as they are magistrate court baliffs they may force entry whenever they like.

I think this is because one of the unpaid fines was for a breach of the peace which is a criminal charge.

I am hoping to get to citizens advice beurea tomorrow and see if there is anything we can do.

Very stressed.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

Lies lies all lies!

 

They cannot force entry nor can they get one of their silly locksmiths to force entry either!

 

STOP calling the bully, he will think that you're scared of his empty threats.

 

Shame you fell for the TV licence goons, non payment of the TV tax will no longer be a criminal offence by the end of the year.

 

Which court issued the fines?

As there has been a change in circumstances since the court issued the fines, then you should contact them and inform them.

 

Bazooka boo. Bad advice. They can and will get a locksmith. These are criminal fines and as such, the warrants carry express permission to force entry.

 

Failure to locate goods or collect a payment means the warrant is returned, often recommending committal if the ea deems the case suitable. The courts will review it further then.

 

Bad advice like this causes more issues than it solves.

 

To the OP, the only good advice there is to contact the court if your circumstances have changed as they may be able to help.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

And bazooka, claiming that the tv licence wont be a criminal offence by the end of the year doesn't help in this case. It wont write off previous fines and offences. They just wont issue any more.

[seche0911]

Bazooka boo. Bad advice. They can and will get a locksmith. These are criminal fines and as such, the warrants carry express permission to force entry.

 

Failure to locate goods or collect a payment means the warrant is returned, often recommending committal if the ea deems the case suitable. The courts will review it further then.

 

Bad advice like this causes more issues than it solves.

 

To the OP, the only good advice there is to contact the court if your circumstances have changed as they may be able to help.

 

Unfortunately my partner has already contacted the court and they have said it's out of their hands and there's absolutely nothing they can do.

[brassnecked]

Have to agree with Grumpy, as it is criminal, and multiple fines, he could use a locksmith to get in, if he found nothing of value and to cover £900 he would need to take control of £9K of goods as distress sale goods often only fetch 10% of their value at auction, the car and what is available would fall far short. He wants to pressure you, If you contact the court ASAP and inform of a change of circumstances since conviction, they may be able to help, say you have nothing of value are on benefits as in JSA so an attachment to benefit is more appropriate than the Collecticarp attack dog.

[josephbloggs]

In your position i would let the bailiff into your home to show him that you do not have items to remove he cant take what isnt there - the bailiff can then return the account to the courts a lot quicker.

 

In the mean time you can speak to the courts and explain the following -

bare in mind when you speak to the court they will say they cant get involved once passed on to collectica.

which is correct EXCEPT in 2 circumstances.

1 is where they have made a mistake sending it over in the first place.

the 2nd is if the fines officer refers to the magistrates for a variation on terms ie if you have not got the money to pay.

they may discharge the warrant under section 142(1) of the magistrates court act 1980.

explain you are on benefits and ask they consider reducing the fine to a more affordable amount. this is set out in section 165 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

In your position i would let the bailiff into your home to show him that you do not have items to remove he cant take what isnt there - the bailiff can then return the account to the courts a lot quicker.

 

In the mean time you can speak to the courts and explain the following -

bare in mind when you speak to the court they will say they cant get involved once passed on to collectica.

which is correct EXCEPT in 2 circumstances.

1 is where they have made a mistake sending it over in the first place.

the 2nd is if the fines officer refers to the magistrates for a variation on terms ie if you have not got the money to pay.

they may discharge the warrant under section 142(1) of the magistrates court act 1980.

explain you are on benefits and ask they consider reducing the fine to a more affordable amount. this is set out in section 165 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

 

+1

[ploddertom]

When your OH lost his job & you could not keep up payments did you advise the Court of this at the time?

 

Have you ever received a Final Steps Notice from the Court asking you to bring your account up to date or one of several enforcement methods listed may be used?

[Bailiff Advice]

Only a couple of weeks ago I published a copy of the revised Forced Entry Protocols for court fine enforcement and it is well known that bailiffs enforcing criminal court fines do NOT have to apply to the court for a separate warrant and forced entry is sadly a reality and a frequent one at that.

 

However, it needs to be made clear what the PURPOSE is of forced entry. The role of the bailiff is to 'take control of goods' (which included money) and if payment is not forthcoming then the bailiff can force entry to remove other items from the home to satisfy the debt and bailiff fees. The problem arises when there are not enough,NON EXEMPT goods in the property (which seems to be the case here). In such circumstances, the bailiff would then be required to return the warrant back to the court (which in this case would assist as the court can then undertake a new Means hearing given the change in the families circumstances).

 

My advice (which may seem odd) would be to allow the bailiff into the property so that he can access for himself that there are no assets.