Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

[stevelanders]

I have returned home, after 2 weeks away, to find among my post a mysterious and rather ominous and threatening letter from a company called MARSTON (High Court Enforcement Officers & Certificated Bailiffs).

I have attached a redacted photograph of this letter for others to see.

The letter refers to an unpaid fine. What fine?! I have NEVER had any dealings or involvement with the police or courts. I have no criminal record, have never had any endorsements on my driving licence. Not had a parking ticket for nearly 8 years (which was promptly paid), etc etc. So I am bewildered as to what fine they refer to.

The ONLY 'issue' in my personal circumstances I do HOWEVER have is that I have, following a dispute, an unpaid debt (overdraft of £300) with Llloyds TSB from more than 3 years ago. My strategy at that time was to simply 'walk away' from them and let them go to h**l. Yes I inevitably got a whole sequence of letters from Lloyds and then subsequently from debt collectors. At no time did I reply to any or enter into any communication with ANYONE on this matter. After a while things went quiet and I have heard nothing since. The account was of course closed long ago.

Thus, the ONLY possible thing I can think of that this letter MAY relate to is that particular issue. Another possibly purely coincidental clue is that, at the bottom of the letter, there is reference to Lloyds TSB Head Office Collection account.

Even IF this is ultimately what the letter is really about, the question is..... Is this a bona fide and genuine court ordered demand for payment OR just another 'scam' attempt' to frighten me into making contact and paying up (albeit the most 'sophisticated' so far).

IF it is real I assume I can continue to ignore it, in teh sense that I refuse to allow entry IF anyone does turn up - I lost count of how many threatening letters I received 2 or so years ago perpetually warning me of personal visits to collect payment.

The simplest way to settle things, ideally, would be IF one can check online for details of fines that courts have issued. Do HMRC have such an online service?

Does anyone else have any similar experience of such letters? and/or any advice as to whther I should regard this as bona fide? I HAVE NO INTENTION of engaging in any communication/correspondence with ANYONE demanding money from me - unless they turn up at my door wearing a police uniform!

Thanks in advance

[miliitant]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

you need to phone up HMCS and enquire

i believe a statutory declaration may be in order but we have experts on baliffs who will advise

phone your local magistrates court and enquire whats going on in the first instance

do it now as marstons will not hang about and update your thread

[ploddertom]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

I can only re-iterate what Militant has said - you will need to contact HMCTS to find out what this is about. From the size of the fine I would hazard a guess you were found "guilty" in your absence - please note if you have a common name this could be mistaken identity or even fraud. Contacting Marstons themselves will involve some very rude & unhelpful staff on the other end of the phone.

[stevelanders]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

Thanks for the thoughts/advice. I wont be able to contact a local court till Monday now. So IF anythings gonna happen before then, well so be it.....

My curiosity is that I would have assumed that IF someone does somehow get involved in the judicial system in some way, even if they don't know about it personally (i.e in their 'absence') then at least there would be an initial string of letters/communications from the court concerned?? And ONLY after they received no response and followed the due process in abstentia (correct term?) would Bailiffs or other agents of the court be introduced into the process?

The fact that I have not received ANY letters or communications from ANY court before now makes me very suspicious about this letter? On the other hand, even knowing the sorts of 'shenanigans' (to be too generous!) that bailiff and debt collection firms get up to, I tell myself that "surely they wouldn't risk making claims in a letter that are outright lies?" (i.e that there is no such court order that has been issued, etc).

My post was as much an open question anyone here who has received any such similar letter(s).

So I am going to have a very long weekend waiting till Monday......

[bluebottle]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

Please be assured that HMCTS have and still are going through a period of people receiving Threat-O-Grams, such as you have received from Marston Group, because someone, somewhere has spectacularly cocked-up. This has resulted in a lot of court hearings being Statutory Declarations. If you had been fined, you would have received from the court involved -

Fine Order + Details of How and Where to Pay -> Further Steps Notice

The Further Steps Notice is a legal requirement and means bailiffs cannot be involved unless it has been sent to an alleged fine defaulter. The relevant legislation is Rule 52.2, Criminal Procedures Rules 2011.

Don't put it past Marston Group to have mucked-up. They have form for it.

First thing Monday morning, ring the court, ask for the direct telephone number of the Area HMCTS Enforcement Manager, who is responsible for HMCTS Warrant Officers, Court Bailiffs and, poor sod, certificated bailiffs under contract to HMCTS, and ask them to explain what is going on. Do not be surprised if they ask you to attend the court and swear a Statutory Declaration.

[stevelanders]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

First thing Monday morning, ring the court, ..........

Which Court? The letter (see the attachaed picture) doesn't even specify what court, let alone what the fine is purported to be for!!! I was merely going to go a the nearest magistrates court to where I live and show it to someone there in the hope they can help. BUT past experience of dealing with bureaucracy (let alone government related) tells me I am going to waste a morning dealing with this! This is why I normally bin this cr*p and ignore it, never bother calling anyone at specified numbers, etc - I just walk away from it all! If you dont talk to them then as far anyone knows I could be long since dead in ditch somewhere or already living on the other side of the world (which actually in 4 months time will be pretty much spot on!). SO F**K 'EM.

[bluebottle]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

Contact the nearest magistrates court and ask for the direct telephone number of the Area HMCTS Enforcement Manager. Don't go to the court and speak to the clerks as you will be given the runaround - I can guarantee it. There is something defective with the document in that it does not state for which HMCTS area they are acting. It certainly needs querying. The Area HMCTS Enforcement Manager is the best person to speak to in this respect.

[ploddertom]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

There is something defective with the document in that it does not state for which HMCTS area they are acting. It certainly needs querying.

I think this is something they do on purpose to stop people trying to chase it up. I wonder if this is one of those cases where "we have found Mr Smith, he fits the bill, so we'll get the money out of him" - in other words they don't actually care whether you are the proper person or not.

[BAILIFFCHASER]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

If you speak to the magistrates court they will give you a number for fines and then take it from there.

[bluebottle]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

If you speak to the magistrates court they will give you a number for fines and then take it from there.

Sorry, I disagree, BC. The Area HMCTS Enforcement Manager is the correct person to contact, in the first instance, when something like this happens. The Enforcement Manager is directly responsible for certificated bailiff companies under contract to HMCTS. I agree with PT that it sounds very much that Marston Group are trying to obtain money from a person that does not owe any money. The last time this happened, an innocent person ended up seriously-injured because of the actions of one of Marston Group's certificated thugs.

Marston Group are subject to an OFT Debt Collection Licence and have had a large number of complaints made to OFT Credit Fitness Team in the last few months because of the actions of their bailiffs and the company not taking complaints seriously or just dismissing them out of hand. Certainly, you should contact the HMCTS Enforcement Manager and find out what is going on. Once you have done that, come back onto this thread and we'll help you to lodge a complaint with OFT Credit Fitness Team.

[miliitant]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

i must agree with blubottle on this

a few years ago i received a police parking ticket, my own fault but for some reason the ticket was not on my car when i returned and the first i became aware was a letter from the baliff. when i contacted the court, it seems the court were sending all correspondants to an address i had no knowledge of for some reason. i was not informed of the follow up to a baliff because of this. at the magistrates court, the staff let me phone this chap who was the enforcement manager based some 30 miles away. he discovered it was the courts fault and let me pay the original parking fine their and then at my local court. i just had to read back the receipt number to him. he even contacted the baliffs on my behalf.


the moral of this
go direct to the organ grinder, not the monkey

[bluebottle]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

i must agree with blubottle on this

a few years ago i received a police parking ticket, my own fault but for some reason the ticket was not on my car when i returned and the first i became aware was a letter from the baliff. when i contacted the court, it seems the court were sending all correspondants to an address i had no knowledge of for some reason. i was not informed of the follow up to a baliff because of this. at the magistrates court, the staff let me phone this chap who was the enforcement manager based some 30 miles away. he discovered it was the courts fault and let me pay the original parking fine their and then at my local court. i just had to read back the receipt number to him. he even contacted the baliffs on my behalf.


the moral of this
go direct to the organ grinder, not the monkey

Absolutely, Miliitant. When I spoke to the Area HMCTS Enforcement Manager at my local magistrates court recently about the actions of one of Marston Group's thugs, he advised me that ALL matters relating to HMCTS Warrant Officers, Court Bailiffs and certificated bailiff companies under contract to HMCTS should be directed straight to the Area HMCTS Enforcement Manager, not the Court Manager or Fines Officer.

There are, I understand, a number of HMCTS Contract Managers around the country who monitor the certificated bailiff companies who collect fines on behalf of HMCTS. The fines collection contract is, I understand, up for renewal in 2013.

[Sarahx]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

Hi, I have received a letter from Marstons claiming I owe them a fine of £779.00 (of which I have no knowledge) also threatening me with Bailiffs. You have mentioned the Area HMCTS Enforcement Manager - how do I find the contact number for this person, do I just call my magistrates court? Bit mystified and worried about the Bailiff threat.

Hope someone can advise.

[bluebottle]

Re: Mystery letter from a company called MARSTON

Hi, I have received a letter from Marstons claiming I owe them a fine of £779.00 (of which I have no knowledge) also threatening me with Bailiffs. You have mentioned the Area HMCTS Enforcement Manager - how do I find the contact number for this person, do I just call my magistrates court? Bit mystified and worried about the Bailiff threat.

Hope someone can advise.

Ring the switchboard number for the magistrates court concerned and ask for the name and telephone number of the HMCTS Enforcement Manager. Explain to them what has happened. Do you have any idea who the originator of the fine could be? DVLA are well-known for this sort of thing and have had to engage in some serious arse-kissing lately because of their cock-ups and Marston Group bailiffs behaving like the morons they are. The HMCTS Enforcement Manager should be able to help you sort this out.