marston Speeding fine - bailiff refusing SD

[king100]

Just had a visit from Marstons Bailiff, over a speeding fine for my partner.

Once we received the letter we filled out a Star dec and sent it off.

 

When he arrived he stated a few things.

 

1. Stat dec was irrelevant as it hadent been infront of a judge.

2. That he was calling a locksmith @ £100 an hour.

3. That their system says to continue with the warrent.

 

OK

 

I called the court, and the stat dec has been accepted and Marstons has been informed.

 

Called Marstons who state that their system is not uptodate but refuse to call off bailiff.

 

Speak to bailiff who says more bs and that he is again calling locksmith.

I try and explain that the stat dec is valid and the court has accepted it.

He says that the stat dec is not valid until I have been infront of a judge and kept asking me for a "date".

 

Called the court again and spoke to the same woman and passed phone to bailiff, who started having an argument with the bailiff, she told him to back down as their was no warrant.

 

Told her over the phone that he doesnt take orders from her and hung up.

 

Spoke me to again and told me that he doesnt accept her word and will again be calling locksmith.

 

After finding out the court has accepted the Stat dec I called marstons and said, I dont care if your system is not uptodate, that is not my problem, and that I have advised that the stat dec has been accepted.

 

He was still outside and his final words were "Just going to my van to wait for locksmith"

 

Now he has gone, had a good look round and cant see him.

 

I want to take this further and make a complaint about this, I have read about taking it to the police and making a witness statement under Threats to Cause Criminal Damage, which is contrary to Section 2, Criminal Damage Act 1971.

 

Can anyone point me in right direction please.

[renegadeimp]

SOunds like you got a rouge baliff who thinks he can do what he likes. Also of note is it seems marstons dont like to keep their systems uptodate with current information

[BankFodder]

Do you know if the camera was running. They all carry a body worn video.

 

I suggest that you write a letter to Marston with all the reference numbers and a detailed account of what has happened.

 

Also, please would you send me an email to our admin email address and give me your contact details and also the Marston reference which will be on some correspondence that you will have. We have a line of communication to Marston. That doesn't mean that there can be a finding in your favour but it can certainly mean that the matter will be looked at seriously. As to the outcome, are not able to say anything.

 

Email please. Not private message

[BankFodder]

Also, would it be possible for you to contact the court again and get the name of the court official who was involved in the telephone conversation

[king100]

admin email address

 

Ignore

[BankFodder]

admin

[king100]

on a different note it was the same bailiff who came last time which again was a speeding fine, threatening locksmiths then as well, bullied my partner into paying in full, wouldent show a warrant of entry.

 

I have spoken to marstons and I have to write to them to get the video footage which they will post to me. Last time when partner asked for the video footage the bailiff said that we would have to go down to the offices to view them.

 

So going to write to marstons and ask for both videos as will show the same tactic of locksmiths.

 

and to add to say I am annoyed is an understatement.

 

I will be complaining to as many people I can think of, this guy was rude and lied about everything.

[renegadeimp]

follow bankfodders info. he will do what he can to get your complaint seen to.

[BankFodder]

Ignore

 

Do I take it that you have decided not to get in contact?

[Bailiff Advice]

Just had a visit from Marstons Bailiff, over a speeding fine for my partner.

Once we received the letter we filled out a Star dec and sent it off.

 

I called the court, and the stat dec has been accepted and Marstons has been informed.

 

I try and explain that the stat dec is valid and the court has accepted it.

He says that the stat dec is not valid until I have been infront of a judge and kept asking me for a "date".

 

Called the court again and spoke to the same woman and passed phone to bailiff, who started having an argument with the bailiff, she told him to back down as their was no warrant.

 

Can anyone point me in right direction please.

You mention above that when you received a letter that you filled in a ‘Stat Dec’ and SENT it to the court.

Did you not telephone the court firstt to ascertain what the debt related to?

Who advised you to to sent the document by post?

How did you know before the Bailiff arrived that the court had ‘accepted’ your Statutory Declaration?

It is not usual for a court to accept a Section 14 Statutory Declaration sent by post. Have you received any documentation from the court to indicate that it had been ‘accepted.

[king100]

Do I take it that you have decided not to get in contact?

 

no no was asking for email address which i realised was in the hover over.

[king100]

You mention above that when you received a letter that you filled in a ‘Stat Dec’ and SENT it to the court.

Did you not telephone the court first to ascertain what the debt related to?

Yes Speeding Fine and also confirmed with Marstons as we needed the ref numbers and it was only internal ref numbers.

 

Who advised you to to sent the document by post?

How else are you going to send the document to the court?

 

How did you know before the Bailiff arrived that the court had ‘accepted’ your Statutory Declaration?

We have had no notice that they had accepted the document and have received no court letter also. We called up the Court whilst the bailiff was here and they advised us that the stat dec had been accepted and Marstons had been advised via email. They also spoke to the bailiff and advised him that they should leave.

 

It is not usual for a court to accept a Section 14 Statutory Declaration sent by post. Have you received any documentation from the court to indicate that it had been ‘accepted.

Nope only a person over the phone advising us of this.

Edited March 13, 2018 by DragonFly1967
Added quotes and separated replies for clarity

[Bailiff Advice]

Did you know what the offence related to before submitting your Declaration to the court?

 

As I mentioned in my above post, it is usual for the court to ask that an appointment is made for you to attend court in person to consider the Statutory Declaration.

 

When did you send your statutory declaration to the court and how did you know which court to send it to?

[king100]

Yes we did, as soon as the letter got send from marstons we called up marstons and got the details, we then called up the court and asked what the fine was for and the details concerning the fine.

 

Stat Dec was within 21 days of receiving the notice from Marstens and was sent 20 Feb 2018.

 

We knew which court as we sent a N245 and got a reply stating we are quoting a Medway Magistrates Court Number so we sent the Stat Dec there.

 

The stat dec is not the issue, that has been resolved and the lady at the court said its all gone through at Marstons has been emailed.

 

They should not have turned up today and then try to lie and cheat me to pay for it and not accept anything the court was saying to him.

Edited March 13, 2018 by dx100uk
quote

[Bailiff Advice]

 

We knew which court as we sent a N245 and got a reply stating we are quoting a Medway Magistrates Court Number so we sent the Stat Dec there.

 

The stat dec is not the issue, that has been resolved and the lady at the court said its all gone through at Marstons has been emailed.

 

They should not have turned up today and then try to lie and cheat me to pay for it and not accept anything the court was saying to him.

 

As this debt relates to a Maistrates Court you made a mistake by submitting an N245 as this court application is to vary a County Court judgment (to allow you to repay the debt over affordable monthly instalments.

 

if you are wishing to complain, then the first step would be to contact Medway Magistrates to ask them what date the Statutory Declaration had been accepted, and the date when they had notified the enforcement company.

[sgtbush]

Couple of points need clarification.

 

You submitted a stat Dec, was this heard by a judge AND accepted or are you saying a stat dec has been sent.

 

I am of the thought that you think by submitting a stat Dec this halts enforcement. It does not.

A stat dec has to be heard and accepted by the courts. By accepting I mean heard infront of a judge and circumstances accept.

 

The courts at very quick to update files and warrants. If the IT dept at the court have not updated the files then Marston will continue to enforce until the point that the court withdraw the warrant.

A lady on the phone telling the EO is not enough.

 

Why are u using a N245?

[king100]

N245 was my mistake.

 

I dont know what happened to stat dec but when he arrived I called the call the court and it was advised that the stat dec had been accepted and Marstons had been advised by email not to enforce the warrent.

 

On another note the bailiff started shouting at me calling me a criminal and to stop being a criminal.

 

Will call the court tomorow and find out the dates that the stat dec was seen and when marstons was advised by email.

[king100]

on another note the threat of locksmith, can they force entry for a court fine for speeding?

[sgtbush]

I think that the court have accepted physical delivery of the stat Dec. This does not mean that enforcement stops. Only when its been infront of ajudge and the explanation is accepted.

If tho is the case then the EA had every right to enforce the warrant and to tell the call centre lady at the court to basically Foxtrot Oscar.

[sgtbush]

on another note the threat of locksmith, can they force entry for a court fine for speeding?

 

Yes. The warrant is for non payment of a magistrates court fine for the offence of excess speed namely xxxxxxx

[Peterbard]

Yes, section 1 differentiates between the SD being delivered, and it being properly served as per section 14(1).

This stipulation now includes the provision of a plea as per CPR. Probably the clerk will examine and reject anything which is obviously flawed or incomplete.

 

Also a EA does not have to show a warrant when asked, nor does he have to have one in his possession.

 

I am a bit confused about timings . In the last post the OP says,"Yes we did, as soon as the letter got send from Marston's we called up Marston's and got the details". However further down they say they sent an erroneous n245 to the wrong court before being given the correct address from them.

To be clear, is the OP stating the first time they knew about the case was when Marston's sent the notice if enforcement?

[Bailiff Advice]

On another note the threat of locksmith, can they force entry for a court fine for speeding?

 

This was a subject that arose today when I was making a presentation about bailiff reform and to clarify the position, if the debt being enforced is a magistrate court fine, the enforcement agent is permitted to use force to gain entry into the premises. Furthermore, he does not require a separate 'forced entry' warrant.

 

Accordingly, there is nothing amiss with an enforcement agent enforcing these type of debts to state that he can use a locksmith to gain entry.

[king100]

the n245 was my mistake, the 1st we knew about debt was the letter from marstons.

 

So why then did he not enforce the warrent and get a locksmith?

 

The court informed me that an email had been sent to marstons to discontinue enforcement.

[Garry Bibb]

I think that the court have accepted physical delivery of the stat Dec. This does not mean that enforcement stops. Only when its been infront of ajudge and the explanation is accepted.

If tho is the case then the EA had every right to enforce the warrant and to tell the call centre lady at the court to basically Foxtrot Oscar.

 

Can we please stop peddling this myth? A stat dec served within 21 days does not need to be 'accepted' or 'validated' or put before a judge. It is served, a new hearing or SJP notice is arranged and enforcement stops. That is it.

[sgtbush]

The courts do not update Marston by email.

To update a warrant or withdraw they, the courts log into Marstons servers as a client and update or redact warrants.

The court call centre lady is fobbing you off. Typically the call centre lady is promoting she has either more power than she has and/or winging it as she doesn't have the full knowledge of what goes on in the courts