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Hi folks, hoping you can advise on what to do. When I got home from work earlier this evening, I found on the doormat an unsealed envelope marked "delivered by hand on 16/10/13", addressed to a name I don't recognise (not me or anyone else who lives here) but with our address & postcode. Inside was a letter from Collectica Enforcement Services, saying:
The only contact information is a PO Box in Doncaster, and the only other information on the letter is the amount of the fine, a reference number, & a bailiff name & number (all hand-written in pen, with the name not very legible.)
(By way of background, my parents own the house, and have lived here for approx 30 years (so no chance of it being for a previous resident), but they're away at the moment & I'm out at work during the day.)
Thinking there might be something dodgy going on, I called the police on 101, who advised to call Action Faud to report it as someone fraudulently using our address, which I have done & have a reference number from them. Both made the perfectly reasonable point that we're not liable for a fine that a complete stranger has failed to pay, but I'm at a loss as to what else to do.
Do I ring Collectica and try to sort out their mistake? Write to them saying "Go away, we don't know who he is or where he lives but he doesn't live here, and have reported the matter to Action Fraud with reference number x"? (Not wording it like that, obviously, but on that theme.) And any ideas on how likely they are to show up with their threatened locksmiths while I'm out at work?
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO ENTER & SEARCH YOUR PREMISES - REMOVAL NOTICE
Due to your failure to pay an outstanding Magistrates Court Fine a Bailiff, under the instructions of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service has attended your premises today with the intention on levying distress and removing your goods.
The Magistrates Distress Warrant empowers the Bailiff from Collectica, by virtue of Schedule 4A of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, to enter your premises by force should you willfuly refuse to pay the outstanding fine and costs.
To prevent the removal of you goods and the expensive additional removal costs you must make immediate payment to the Bailiff. Failure to do so will result in the Bailiff re-attending your premises with Locksmiths and the Police to remove your goods even in your absence.
No further notice will be issued.
Due to your failure to pay an outstanding Magistrates Court Fine a Bailiff, under the instructions of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service has attended your premises today with the intention on levying distress and removing your goods.
The Magistrates Distress Warrant empowers the Bailiff from Collectica, by virtue of Schedule 4A of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, to enter your premises by force should you willfuly refuse to pay the outstanding fine and costs.
To prevent the removal of you goods and the expensive additional removal costs you must make immediate payment to the Bailiff. Failure to do so will result in the Bailiff re-attending your premises with Locksmiths and the Police to remove your goods even in your absence.
No further notice will be issued.
(By way of background, my parents own the house, and have lived here for approx 30 years (so no chance of it being for a previous resident), but they're away at the moment & I'm out at work during the day.)
Thinking there might be something dodgy going on, I called the police on 101, who advised to call Action Faud to report it as someone fraudulently using our address, which I have done & have a reference number from them. Both made the perfectly reasonable point that we're not liable for a fine that a complete stranger has failed to pay, but I'm at a loss as to what else to do.
Do I ring Collectica and try to sort out their mistake? Write to them saying "Go away, we don't know who he is or where he lives but he doesn't live here, and have reported the matter to Action Fraud with reference number x"? (Not wording it like that, obviously, but on that theme.) And any ideas on how likely they are to show up with their threatened locksmiths while I'm out at work?
The Black rat (Rattus rattus) is a common (hence the accusation of being Pleb) long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus (rats) in the subfamily Murinae (murine rodents). The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times (another thing that we ought to thanks the Romans for, besides roads, aqueducts and public toilets) before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.
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