arrest for non-paying of speeding fine

[eryca03]

hi everybody. my boyfriend just received a letter - Warrant - for his arrest due to not paying a speeding fine £825. He cannot pay it at all we are on extremely low income.he receives WTC as well. tried to make arrangements million times to pay by small installments but no one was listening.

the letter basically says he either has to pay in full or attend on the court.....no date.
He cannot pay in full, we have proof we have tried several times to settle the issue but been ignored, he has got proof of WTC as well.

I would greatly appreciate any help.

[Sapphire]

Re: arrest for non-paying of speeding fine

Who is the letter from ? can you please post up the letter word for word, but please make sure you omit name, address and reference numbers to protect your identity, when you've done that then someone will be able to help you.

[IanM]

Re: arrest for non-paying of speeding fine

Not sure what BB would say but personally if i was notified there was a warrant for my arrest i would go to the Police station first thing in the morning and hand myself in. Your boyfriend will be arrested at the police station for non-payment and then will appear in front of a magistrate within hours where you can explain your circumstances and show you have tried, and failed through no fault of your own, to pay the fine.

The magistrate can then set a new payment schedule for you but you'll have to keep up with it when they do.

hi everybody. my boyfriend just received a letter - Warrant - for his arrest due to not paying a speeding fine £825. He cannot pay it at all we are on extremely low income.he receives WTC as well. tried to make arrangements million times to pay by small installments but no one was listening.

the letter basically says he either has to pay in full or attend on the court.....no date.
He cannot pay in full, we have proof we have tried several times to settle the issue but been ignored, he has got proof of WTC as well.

I would greatly appreciate any help.

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: arrest for non-paying of speeding fine

Bluebottle has asked me to let him know about threads like this.

he is not a well bunny atm so I have highlighted this to him and am expecting word soon.

[labman]

Re: arrest for non-paying of speeding fine

Read this, Procedure, Point 6

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...s-Courts-Fines

[ploddertom]

Re: arrest for non-paying of speeding fine

This sounds like the classic no brainer for the Bailiff - either cough up or go back to Court. Whichever way he gets paid by commission on the monies you are paying - they will be charging approx £300 for this or if you agree to go to Court for a Hearing as to why it has not been paid he gets a fixed fee. Usually it is not arrest in the general terms we understand but if you do agree to go back to Court - normally at a fixed date & time he should have been given - then fail to appear then expect to have your collar well & truly felt. It sounds worse than it actually is.

[labman]

Re: arrest for non-paying of speeding fine

PT - can the OP not try to get a Means Enquiry Hearing first, before any due court appearance?

[ploddertom]

Re: arrest for non-paying of speeding fine

My experience of these is to accept the Court Hearing and when appearing take a I&E that proves you have very little. The size of the initial fine sounds very large - either massively over the limit or non-appearance for the original charge whereby the Magistrates have to to make the maximum available to them.

Is it possible we can have some more details of how this came about in the first place?

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: arrest for non-paying of speeding fine

From Bluebottle:

The OP's boyfriend needs to have been sent a Further Steps Notice before any form of enforcement can proceed. If this has not been done, HMCTS are in breach of the law, per se. If an HMCTS Warrant Officer or a police officer, for that matter, were going to come and arrest you, they certainly wouldn't send you a letter announcing it. They would turn up, unannounced, and arrest you.

This has all the hallmarks of one of Marston Group's house-trained baboons.

The OP's boyfriend needs to telephone the court concerned, first thing tomorrow morning, WITHOUT FAIL, and speak to the HMCTS Enforcement Manager.

If the size of the fine and costs is anything to go by, it sounds very much like the OP's boyfriend was not in court when the fine was set or proper procedures have not been followed by HMCTS court staff.

My advice is to try and cut the house-trained baboon off at the pass or out of it altogether.

[labman]

Re: arrest for non-paying of speeding fine

Thank you. Pretty much as Plodder and I have put then. :beagle:

[eryca03]

Re: arrest for non-paying of speeding fine

whats Happened was,

one day he had received a form from the traffic office to fill out his details as a camera has took a pic of him speeding (stupid i know). he did not filled it out so they took him to court. we have moved homes that time and he did not attend court. in fact am not sure he even knew about he has been taken to court at that time.

few months later after we have moved Marstons attended at his parents house, disturbing the entire family. His parents told them he does not live at the address anymore, they contacted him on phone. my boyfriend dropped his work and rushed to his parents proving he had moved to a different address. Marstons didnt care still.

at that time my boyfriends mum was out of hospital recovering from Brain surgery, his dad does not speak english and his brother also had to drop his work and rush home to solve the issue. the family has called the police to tell the bailiff off but the police has done nothing even after proof of address has been showed. the bailiff was rude and was threatening with jail, and talked to my boyfriends mum like she would be some kind of dirt, he did not show any ID, paperwork or nothing at al.

anyway my boyfriends brother finally said the bailiff can take his things if he wants he does not bothered, he just wants his brother out of this mess. the bailiff realized whatever he was going to take from that house did not belong to my boyfriend so he left.

after this they have started harassing us, but because they were unable to get anything out of us, we sent them several letters asking for small installments, checkbooks proved that we rent a house where everything belongs to the landlord, they sent us back to court. and now he received a warrant for his arrest dropped off at my door. the letter was not even in an envelop, simply thrown through the letterbox.

HE has a date for 11th Dec 12 to attend on court now.

[labman]

Re: arrest for non-paying of speeding fine

I'd follow Plodder's advice and attend court, explainning all the above. He may get a slap on the wrist, but the fine will be determined by what you can afford. Make sure you take copies of a GOOD income and expenditure form with you (National Debtline has one on their website). Emphasise in court that stuff was sent to the wrong address as you moved, but be prepared to answer why you didn't seek advice once it was clear to you this had happened.