Marstons bailiff - twice this week - court fine

[Tantan]

Hi All,

im looking for advice.

 

 

On Monday 13th March a bailiff came to my door saying he had a warrant to enter and search my home with the intention of removing goods.

 

 

I asked him why and was told that my son had an outstanding court fine for running a red light last summer some time and that it had not been paid so he was here to collect the debt in full or recover goods to the value of.

 

 

He said he had a locksmith, removals van and the police on route but if I let him in peacefully and paid the outstanding amount he could cancel the police and locksmiths presence.

 

 

I refused and said I would try to get hold of my son but he said it needed to be paid straight away and said if my son or myself could not the full amount of £561 within the next 10 minutes he would proceed with forced entry.

 

 

After 15 minutes of trying to reason with him whilst also getting my granddaughter ready to go out and get my nephew from play school I said that if I found him in my house when I got back that I would call the police myself.

 

 

Eventually he left leaving a card that said notice of intention to enter @ search your premises -removal notice and told me to ring him later that day to arrange payment.

 

 

I told my son all about this later that evening and he says he knows nothing about any court fine and has not received any letters r notices in the past.

 

On my return from the play group I did some research on line and found that he did have the right to force entry and remove my goods unless I could prove none of it was my sons,

 

 

I tried to message him to find out which court the fine originated from and the exact date of it. He didn't reply.

 

 

He came back yesterday morning with the same intention of removing goods, bringing a van, locksmith and police but this time he was able to get hold of my son on the phone and insist he pays the debt there and then or he would again proceed with entry.

 

 

My son said that he had no knowledge of the debt,

what it was for or when it was issued

but to keep the bailiff away from my door

 

 

he tried to negotiate a payment plan of half today (yesterday) and half next Thursday.

This was refused

he told the bailiff he would get back to him.

 

 

The bailiff left after 10 minutes but said if the debt was not settled by 8pm he would be back before 9pm.

 

 

Later my son told me that he had phoned the court and find out what he could do,

he was informed that as he had no previous knowledge of the fine that he could apply for a statutory declaration and have the case reheard if he pleads guilty.

 

 

What can I do in the mean time to stop the bailiff entering my home and taking my possessions whilst waiting to get the declaration and the court date.

 

 

The bailiff as informed of my sons plan of action but insists he will be back today at some point to make an actual enforcement as he has already wasted 2 days here.

 

 

What am I to do, im at my wits end,

I have my 2 year old granddaughter here during the day and my 27 year old son who has a severe learning disability.

 

 

Can some please advise thank you

[dx100uk]

so your son does reside at the address?

[Tantan]

He s registered at this address but does not have his own room as he has lived with his gf on and off for the past 3 years. They are always splitting up with each other and he comes back here for days or weeks at a time so in effect this is his actual residence

 

Can I get my own SD signed by a solicitor saying that all the goods in my house belong to me.

[dx100uk]

or direct at a court

[unclebulgaria67]

Marstons should not really be behaving like this.

 

 

The person owing this fine should be told to go back to the court,

to advise them they don't live at the address for the warrant and Marstons have refused payment offer.

 

 

They can probably get the court involved in setting the repayments, if there is no fixed abode to control goods at,

[Bailiff Advice]

Hi All,

 

On Monday 13th March a bailiff came to my door saying he had a warrant to enter and search my home with the intention of removing goods.

 

He came back yesterday morning with the same intention of removing goods, bringing a van, locksmith and police but this time he was able to get hold of my son on the phone and insist he pays the debt there and then or he would again proceed with entry.

 

My son said that he had no knowledge of the debt, what it was for or when it was issued, but to keep the bailiff away from my door

 

He tried to negotiate a payment plan of half today (yesterday) and half next Thursday. This was refused

 

Later my son told me that he had phoned the court and find out what he could do, he was informed that as he had no previous knowledge of the fine that he could apply for a statutory declaration and have the case reheard if he pleads guilty.

 

What can I do in the mean time to stop the bailiff entering my home and taking my possessions whilst waiting to get the declaration and the court date.

 

The bailiff as informed of my sons plan of action but insists he will be back today at some point to make an actual enforcement as he has already wasted 2 days here.

 

Can some please advise thank you

 

I am sorry if I may sound harsh but it is not so much what you need to be doing...it is what your son needs to be doing !!

 

If he is adamant that he doesn't know anything about this fine then he should be contacting the court to make an appointment for a Statutory Declaration hearing. He needs to ask the court for the address where all notices had been sent to and the date of the conviction.

 

When you son make an appointment, the court will contact Marston Holdings to place a 'hold' on the account. Until then , bailiff enforcement can continue.

 

Do you recollect receiving any letters for you son from the courts?

[Tantan]

As my son never registered at his gfs address this is his actual address

although he doesn't live here on a regular basis due to going back and forth with her.

 

 

they are entitled to look for him here as its his known address.

They point blank refused payment option as they said it has gone way beyond that point

 

 

my son or myself need to pay in full asap.

 

 

I'm inclined to pay it to get them off my doorstep but it's not my debt so why should I really

[unclebulgaria67]

If you pay them, you will just encourage Marstons agents to behave in exactly the same way with other parents or grandparents of children who have unpaid fines.

 

It is quite simple to resolve. Your Son contacts the Magistrates and makes a declaration that he has not received court summons or notices of enforcement. He provides his girlfriends address and arranges to pay affordable amounts. If Magistrates accept, then he should not have to pay Marstons fees, so would save £310.

[Tantan]

Not harsh but I did mention in my initial post that my son had contacted the court, that's how he found out about the SD.

 

They say the notices were sent here and they may well have been but I don't open his post just put it to one side and give it to him if he's at his gfs at weekends when they drop they're daughter off for the 3 days she stays here or when he's staying here between arguments.

 

He says that someone will call him about the SD within 3 working days, that was yesterday he said that after he'd rang the court.

 

I know nothing about statutory declarations but am about to go over to my local magistrates court now to find out any information on them and about getting my own one to send to Marstons and show he bailiff when he comes back.

 

Thank you I shall show him this, I was only going to pay because I didn't want them to break into my house, but decided not to until I could gather further info, thank you for your help

[Bailiff Advice]

Not harsh but I did mention in my initial post that my son had contacted the court, that's how he found out about the SD. They say the notices were sent here and they may well have been but I don't open his post just put it to one side and give it to him if he's at his gfs at weekends when they drop they're daughter off for the 3 days she stays here or when he's staying here between arguments. He says that someone will call him about the SD within 3 working days, that was yesterday he said that after he'd rang the court. I know nothing about statutory declarations but am about to go over to my local magistrates court now to find out any information on them and about getting my own one to send to Marstons and show he bailiff when he comes back.

 

 

Takaing your above comments into consideration, it seems likely that correspondence may well have been sent to your address and passed onto your son.

 

If that is the case, then it may well be that he should think twice about going down the Statutory Declaration route. On the SD he will be required to swear on oath that it was only yesterday that he became aware of the court fine.

[Bailiff Advice]

Takaing your above comments into consideration, it seems likely that correspondence may well have been sent to your address and passed onto your son.

 

If that is the case, then it may well be that he should think twice about going down the Statutory Declaration route. On the SD he will be required to swear on oath that it was only yesterday that he became aware of the court fine.

 

Just to re-iterate, a Statutory Declaration may be sworn within 21 days of becoming aware of the conviction. If your son had received any of the letters from the court, then he needs to re-consider this route.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

Marstons should not really be behaving like this.

 

The person owing this fine should be told to go back to the court,

to advise them they don't live at the address for the warrant and Marstons have refused payment offer.

 

They can probably get the court involved in setting the repayments, if there is no fixed abode to control goods at,

 

Marston's are entitled to act like this.

They believe he lives there.

He is registered there.

They have been shown no proof to the contrary.

They have been refused access twice.

They shouldn't be asking her to pay it, which they are not.

They are asking him to pay it.

 

A stat dec would be fine.

BUT, he is registered there,

he does collect his mail,

so he could fall flat on his face.

 

This could also open up the dvla to pursue for failure to notify a change of address and also a benefit check as to why he isn't registered at his gf's address(if she is on benefits).

 

Lying and making false stat decs wont win favours with the court.

[unclebulgaria67]

I think we know going by the number of reports that EA's do ask parents to settle fines, under the threat of another visit involving forced entry to remove goods. That is what i am saying is unacceptable, where there is reasonable attempts by the household to protect themselves against actions, which are not of their making.

 

I would rather see an arrest warrant issued and see the person bought before Magistrates with a short spell in Prison on the horizon, if they don't pay the fine under a new agreement. Better for tne Son to get in touch with Magistrates to sort this out, as the EA has so far refused payment and he does not want his parents at his previous address being bothered by this.

[Tantan]

My son of all the letters he has had,

none have been from the courts or bailiffs and he was only aware of this debt on Monday when I told him the bailiff had been and showed him the notice left by them.

 

The bailiff did ask me to pay the debt because my son wasn't at home,

he also said that anybody was in a position to pay it as he couldn't leave my house without the money.

 

My sons girlfriend is an estate agent and therefore not claiming any benefits and owns her own home.

He has just started a job 4 weeks ago and did not claim benefits previous to this when he was unemployed for a short while, his gf supported him.

 

Why would you automatically think that everyone's a benefit scrounged trying to break the law.

 

If my son makes a SD then I would believe it to be true,

if he says he didn't receive correspondence from the courts or bailiffs

then I gave no reason to disbelieve him as he is not usually in the habit of lying.

 

I would also like to make my own SD and would be grateful if someone could send me a link for a template or advise as to where I could find one. Thank you

[Bailiff Advice]

As confirmed by you, no letters were received at your house from the courts and accordingly, your son on became aware of this fine yesterday. In that case, he can apply for a statutory declaration. He needs to do this immediately.

 

When he contacts the court it would be a good idea if he asks them to confirm the precise address where the following statutory letters had been sent:

 

The Summons

 

Notice of Fine/Collection Order

 

Further Steps Notice.

PS: When he contacts the court for an appointment, he needs to inform the operator that the enforcement agent is insisting on making a personal visit. The court officer will almost always email Marston Holding to instruct them to place a 'hold' on the account for a specific period of time (usually 30 days) to await the outcome of the stat dec application.

[Tantan]

When he contacted the court they said they would get back to him within 3 working days about making the statutory declaration.

 

He also told them that the bailiff had been yesterday, Monday and was coming back today at 8 am( of which he hasn't so far).

 

He asked them where the letters etc were sent and it turns out that they were sent to no 16, our house is 16d.

 

The road I live on has 6 houses that are all numbered 16, 16a, b, c, d and e, I have no clue why as none are flats but 3 bed houses. Thank you for your help

[brassnecked]

He should be OK withh the Stat Dec then.

[ericsbrother]

so why didnt the bailiffs batter down the door of No 16?

 

Because they knew that it was an improperly served writ and once they had been to the address on the writ they were told that the house they wanted was 16d.

 

That doesnt make the writ valid at your address so they would have been plain old burglars if they did force entry..

[brassnecked]

Back in the day they would have probably added their own "d" to the writ and carried on regardless, not as easy to do that these days.

[Tantan]

Quick update, since my son told the bailiff that he'd been in touch with the court, he has not been back as he said he would do. Thank you all for taking the time to give advice on this matter, I shall post again soon with another update on what happens next as soon as I know. Thank you again I am very appreciative.

[brassnecked]

Quick update, since my son told the bailiff that he'd been in touch with the court, he has not been back as he said he would do. Thank you all for taking the time to give advice on this matter, I shall post again soon with another update on what happens next as soon as I know. Thank you again I am very appreciative.

That's what CAG is for, post back how you get on.