so called visit by the bailiff

[simon52]

i had a fine for speeding and using my mobile while driving that amounted to £600 which i have been paying through my jobseekers at the rate of £5 a week and only have £135 left to pay, i got 4 weeks work and the money stopped through my benefits for 4 weeks, i have today got a letter from phillips called a pre-removal notice saying that i have not answered the letters they have sent me and that a bailiff called at my home, the bill is now £410, so i called them today to find out what was going on only to be told that i now owe the £410 as the bailiff came to my house on the 15 nov at 16.42 and put a letter through the door and that we have had 2 other letters and done nothing about them, we have had NO other letters other then the one we got today and NO bailiff has been here and put a letter through the door and we are always in at that time of the day as we have a young daughter at school, they have told me that i have to pay the full amount with the bailiffs costs on and im so angry as they are making me out to be lying, why would i lie when the fine was nearly paid off ... what can i do ????

[TUTTSI]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

Hi Simon
I am sorry to hear of you predicament. Have a look at the bailiff guide http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ad.php?t=14113 It does not sound right to me that they have jacked this up so you need to follow what is said in the guide and send an Subject Access Request requesting a breakdown of all the bailiff fees as soon as possible to protect your interests, this action will place this in dispute. Also, do not phone them keep everything in writing.
Can you get evidence from your job seekers a statement showing what money which has been paid over has actually gone.

[Mrs James]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

Hi simon52

Have you changed addresses at all since you got the fine?

Also, it's up to Philips to prove that they have visited you. So you need to write to them and ask for a breakdown of charges. You need to know the time and date of any action that has led to a bailiff fee and the reason for the fee. You also want to know the name of the bailff/s, the date when he/she was certificated and the name of the court they were certificated at. Also make it clear that this is not SAR.

Never speak with them on the phone and keep everything in writing. If you have a car it might be wise to move it away from your house for the time being in case they try to levy on it.

[labman]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

Could you confirm whether this is being dealt with by the County Court or a Magistrates' Court please as the charges are different. I'd also contact the court to see what amount they have outstanding on the fine.



Here's the letter:



From:
My Name
My Address

To:
Acme Bailiff Co
Bailiff House

Ref: Account No: 123456

Dear Sir

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

This includes:
a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.
b - the reason for the fee.
c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.
d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were Certificated at.
e - the date of the Certification.

This is not a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

I require this information within 14 days.

[simon52]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

hi and thank you all for you posts, the court says i owe £135 now outstanding on the fine, but phillips say the full outstanding money to them is now £410 as the bailiff called at my house on the 15th november at 16.42 and that if we were not in that a letter would have been put through the door they said the bailiff was agent 659, and he called once and phillips are saying they have sent out 2 letters before the bailiff called but i have heard nothing from phillips at all untill i got this letter today so they are lying
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its is being done through a Magistrates' Court

[Mrs James]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

hi and thank you all for you posts, the court says i owe £135 now outstanding on the fine, but phillips say the full outstanding money to them is now £410 as the bailiff called at my house on the 15th november at 16.42 and that if we were not in that a letter would have been put through the door they said the bailiff was agent 659, and he called once and phillips are saying they have sent out 2 letters before the bailiff called but i have heard nothing from phillips at all untill i got this letter today so they are lying
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
its is being done through a Magistrates' Court

I would send them the letter that labman has posted, you need a complete breakdown of the fee's they've charged so we can see which one's are illegal, and knowing Philips there will be a few no doubt.

[simon52]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

cheers i will send that letter first thing in the morning, and will let you know the out come, just worried as i live with my partner and her daughter and everything in the house belongs to her and was in the house before i moved in and dont want bailiffs taking her things

[labman]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

Would the fine have been the same amount on Nov 15th when they supposedly called, or have you paid money off it since then. If you have paid, do you have any idea what it would have been on Nov 15th?

[simon52]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

not sure as we didnt even know it was in the hands of the bailiffs till today, this is the first letter we got from them with the full amount owning on it but we do know that the money outstanding to the court is £135
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we were waiting for the benefits agency to say they were taking the £5 a week again when i went back on jobseekers and just thought that it would take time for the court and the beneifts agency to sort it out

[ploddertom]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

I was under the distinct impression that before the Bailiff is employed the Court is supposed to write to you first giving you the opportunity to either pay or make an acceptable offer. As others have said have you moved since the original fine? Also if you back on JSA then I believe you should be able to attend Court for a Means Hearing?

[simon52]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

no i havent moved at all and im not disputing the £135 that is still owned to the court and would pay this off as soon as im able too its the bumped up costs of the so called visit by the bialliff that i will not pay, the total cost with bailiffs amount is £410 so i said that i would be willing to pay that off in 3 instalments but i was not going to pay the other £275 in bailiffs cost, i know they cannot have been to my house coz i am always in at the time they said and why should i have to pay that amount to them even when they are saying that they send me two letters and then the bailiff visit of which i have not had any letters of any kind and nothing through the door

[labman]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

I was under the distinct impression that before the Bailiff is employed the Court is supposed to write to you first giving you the opportunity to either pay or make an acceptable offer. As others have said have you moved since the original fine? Also if you back on JSA then I believe you should be able to attend Court for a Means Hearing?

I thought Magistrates' Courts collecting road traffic penalties don't tend to accept installments. A County Court can accept installments, and a High Court can order installments, but the OP specifically states this is Magistrates' Court. :confused2:

[ploddertom]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

I thought Magistrates' Courts collecting road traffic penalties don't tend to accept installments. A County Court can accept installments, and a High Court can order installments, but the OP specifically states this is Magistrates' Court. :confused2:

This isn't a traffic penalty as such but a criminal fine for the offences that were committed. Magistrates Courts can accept payments paid by various means and in this case was originally being paid off by an Attachment to Benefits. As the monies were deducted at source and paid over there was no problem. The OP only ran into difficulties when his JSA stopped.

As said previously I was under the impression the Court should have sent out a notice asking that payments be brought back up to date or paid off. It appears that for some reason that if this was sent out no reply was made and the Courts rightfully have handed it over to the Bailiff to enforce.

Seemingly the agreement the Bailiff has with the Court is to apply an Admin/Letter Fee of £75 initially - mind they do actually have to send the Letter. This is then followed by a series of Visit Fees at £200 a pop.

Much has been said about letters not being received and think it may pay for the OP to ask the Court if the Further Steps Notice was sent and if so to what address - there is always the chance they could have this wrong which could then explain the non appearance of letters from the Bailiff. The fact the Bailiff has now turned up at the OP's address may be down to tracing which they will probably not admit to.

Just thinking out loud.

[labman]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

Sorry, I'm confused. The fine was for speeding and talking on a mobile phone while driving, but these aren't deemed traffic penalties.

I'm not doubting your word as I'm sure you're correct, and as you know I have vast respect for your knowledge. It just seems illogical to me. If I was done for speeding I would think I'd been done for a traffic offence rather than being fined for committing a criminal offence.

[ploddertom]

Re: so called visit by the bailiff

Sorry, I'm confused. The fine was for speeding and talking on a mobile phone while driving, but these aren't deemed traffic penalties. They may be traffic violations but they are criminal offences, parking tickets issued by the Police or a Traffic Warden are the same, where Parking offences have been decriminalised then the Councils employ their own Civilian Enforcement Officers on the streets, also think CCTV & camera cars and issue PCN's to offenders. Those that then go unpaid are referred to the TEC for further action - think JBW and the like.

I'm not doubting your word as I'm sure you're correct, and as you know I have vast respect for your knowledge. It just seems illogical to me. If I was done for speeding I would think I'd been done for a traffic offence rather than being fined for committing a criminal offence.

Hope that helps a bit.