Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

[daggz68]

Hi all. Sorry for this 1st post but I am a little confused regarding these people.

Excuse the long thread

I had a letter from the police regarding an outstanding amount, £8.49 ish!
I paid online in February, yet I had the police come to my house to supposedly arrest me for non payment of this and only this.
I was out at the time but rang them regarding the matter.
I do remember another letter saying I owe £80 but didn't have the money at the time to pay
Today they rang back and said sorry, but the courts are behind with their paperwork and it has actually been paid. I also asked about the £80 but they knew nothing of this

NOW..before this I had a letter hand delivered late at night, but I was at work on shifts from Philips Collection Services Ltd saying I owed them?? £260ish towards fines not paid.

Today..after I had come back from an interview ( Ford laid temps off last week, myself being one of them ) I have come back to another letter stating I owe £460 and that in the inventory there is a car that does NOT belong to me on it.
It belongs to some one else in the house.

I got through to the original court and asked them what I owed. They said 2 outstanding amounts of £80 each. I said can I pay this now but they said no as it had gone to Philips. I said I was not prepared to pay them £300 for nothing. They guy at the court said dont and it will be returned to court and I will only have to pay the £160 due. I also told them about the car not being mine on the inventory. They said if they take it then it would be theft, which is correct. Seems weird that any car could be parked outside, on the drive or street could be taken because they think it is mine. Surely they should do their homework and find that out 1st?

Should I contact them, or let them come back for yet another wasted journey? Or even better still report them to the police in case they do take/steal the wrong vehicle?

[mohmmad786]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

Hello daggz68 and welcome to Legal Beagles forums. I am not as experienced and i am sure the more experienced members can tell u more Now am i right in thinking that u r unemployed right now as u mentioned u have been laid off? As for contacting(again more experienced member would know better) but if you contact them than always do it in writing and keep a record of what you have sent them. Have you kept all the paperwork you received from the court? The letter which you received from the court for £80, does it say Further Steps Notice? i am sure other members can shed more light on it but if u are unemployed than you fall in the category of potentially vulnerable who is currently unemployed so they would have to stop the bailiff action against you and return the fine back to the court.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

Whilst it is usually true to say that all contact with debt collectors - and bailiffs in particular - should be in writing, a case could be made for 'phoning those idiots if one wished to cause trouble for them.

Just tell the bailiff that you were out at a mate's when he called and that you don't give a flying f:censored:k if he takes away your <description of car> because you never really liked it anyway. Use a public payphone in as noisy an environment as possible.

If the bailiff is even slightly more intelligent than the average house brick, he might suspect something was amiss and that he might have goofed. If he is the usual type of bailiff, however, such thoughts will not bother him - he'll just grab your house-mate's car in the hope of selling it to pay even more ludicrously over-inflated fees.

[bluebottle]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

Whilst it is usually true to say that all contact with debt collectors - and bailiffs in particular - should be in writing, a case could be made for 'phoning those idiots if one wished to cause trouble for them.

Just tell the bailiff that you were out at a mate's when he called and that you don't give a flying f:censored:k if he takes away your <description of car> because you never really liked it anyway. Use a public payphone in as noisy an environment as possible.

If the bailiff is even slightly more intelligent than the average house brick, he might suspect something was amiss and that he might have goofed. If he is the usual type of bailiff, however, such thoughts will not bother him - he'll just grab your house-mate's car in the hope of selling it to pay even more ludicrously over-inflated fees.

...and go for a ride in a white taxi*, wearing a pair of steel bracelets and being called names like "Prat" (This is one of the more civilised things police officers call prisoners.) for theft of a motor vehicle.

* A "White Taxi" is the vehicle in the picture I use as my avatar.

[wales01man]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

I would go one better get a friend to phone baliff telling him to take car,
when call is made be in a very public place with witnesses for a good alibi,when baliff steals car follow him and call police expecting them to catch and arrest the idiot,insist charges are made and watch the results .
I find it unbelievable baliffs can act in the way described so often on these pages if normal people acted the same they would be in the white van and up before the beak,until the lawmakers realise these thugs prey on vulnerable people and often innocent ones this will carry on.
I would love to hear more examples of people fighting back on here,As im one who is deep in debt and have no way of paying even a small percentage of it over the rest of my lifetime i will not be intimidated by a baliff thug and hope others dont take what ever action you feel is right to stop them in their tracks.
Sorry if this is a rant but i for one feel strongly about the subject of harrassement

[daggz68]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

Just a quick reply to the 1st guy that answered. Yes I'm now out of work

[labman]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

Please can you give aclear breakdown for each of these fines and what exactly has been charged for each one. Once it is clearly broken down we can help you. I'm assumin al are for PCN's and all are outside the 14 day 50% discount time. I'm also assuming, though possibly incorrectly as you state this was February, that all have passed the 36 day time limit to pay the full amount, so the court has therefore instructed bailiffs.

As you can see I'm making more assumptions than I'm comfortable with, so a really clear breakdown of dates, fines, what for, amount, letters from bailiffs, further bailiff action etc... would be really useful.

Cheers!:beagle:

Excuse typos - think keyboard is getting near to needing replacing!

[daggz68]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

Both £80 fines would have been for not turning up for Community Service. That's all finished with and finished sometime last Summer! I only had letters relating to an outstanding fime of £80 and another of £8.50ish. The £8.50ish I paid. At the time I didn't pay the £80 as I hadn't got the spare cash. I had one letter I think through the post from Philips asking to pay £280. I through it away as there was no date on the letter. Then they turned up gone 10pm and hand delivered ( through the letter box ) another asking for £480. Then Friday morning they must have either delivered again through the post or gave the letter to my land lady another letter for £480 plus on this letter saying about the car that does not belong to me

[labman]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

To clarify:

You had two £80 for not doing Community Service. Both these have been paid and did not involve bailiffs.

Since then you have had a letter relating to a third £80 fine, but you have not paid this and do not know what it is for.

You also received a letter for £8.50 from the police which you paid. Are you sure this was from the police, not the court or bailiffs? Are you sure it was fr about £8.50 and not £11.20?

You've then had various fees from Philips relating to this third £80 fine.

Is this correct?

Sorry - it's probably me, just trying to get things straight.

[daggz68]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

No you got it wrong lol
I have not paid either £80 fines ( I only knew there were 2 after I rang the courts Friday )
I only had 1 letter about an £80 fine which I have not paid from the courts ( back in Feb I think )
I did have a letter from the courts ( sorry, not police ) for £8.50ish which I paid. Why do you ask £11.20?

[labman]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

£11.20 is what a bailiff is allowed to charge for sending a letter! Will look through the rest in the morning when I'm more with it!:beagle:

[labman]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

Unfortunately for you they are allowed to charge an £85 Administration Fee and a £215 one off Attendance Fee which gives you your £300.00. It is above board and legitimate.

If the Warrant has been issued and you cannot pay, then you should contact the Fines Officer of the Court to arrange for a Means Enquiry Hearing. In this, you'd be asked to complete a simple Income nd Expenditure sheet in order that the Magistrates can agree an affordable repayment level. It is in your interests to arrange this as soon as possible.

You should at least have the opportunity to inspect the Distress Warrant if you have any doubt about it before this hearing. A bailiff does not have to carry this with him, but does need to tell you where and when it can be inspected.

Hope this helps. Please make sure you contact the Fines Officer, as doing nothing is likely to lead to further trouble.

[daggz68]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

Can that be done at ANY court as I no longer live in the area the fine was sent from?

[labman]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

I'm slightly puzzled as you stated the police came to arrest you at your current house. The bailiffs are clearly enforcing in the area in which you live as mentioned in Post 1. I would imagine the local court would be able to help you, as it sounds as though they must be involved is this action is taking place at your current address.

[daggz68]

Re: Philips adding £300 plus wrong vehicle?

The local court only know about the £8.50ish. Not had time to call them or the other court today