Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

[kim481]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

So basically the bailiff did not have the right to clamp my car in the first place then, just as I originally thought.

Tomorrow I will be on the phone to the courts to sort out this sorry mess.

The bailiff in question is A Chapman, I have been informed that his bailiff license expired on 17/1/12. It was issued at Ipswich county court.

I will telephone them tomorrow to find out if he has had it renewed but I doubt it as it is a whole year out of date and the records have not been updated on Ministry of justice website ad they could not find any record of him when I phoned them

[kim481]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

Plodderton - I have not seen the warrant myself and the police did have a copy but did not show me this. They also had a statement from the bailiff in question but did not show me this either.

[ploddertom]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

When visited by a Bailiff who is collecting for HMCTS you can ask to see the Warrant. Normally the Bailiff does not carry it with him but can tell you where it can be seen - this must be some place within reason. I have heard that Marstons Bailiffs refer you to their Head Office which in my view is totally unacceptable to anyone living say 20 miles or more away.

[bizzybob]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

Plodderton - The bailiff in question is A Chapman, I have been informed that his bailiff license expired on 17/1/12. It was issued at Ipswich county court. may be woeful for marstons and the police
I have not seen the warrant myself and the police did have a copy but did not show me this. They also had a statement from the bailiff in question but did not show me this either.

They seem to be digging a rather large hole for themselves, Ask marstons for sight of the Original Warrant as issued by the court.

[ploddertom]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

I understand there is a contract out to tender from the MOJ on behalf of HMCTS and I also understand it is envisaged just 1 enforcement company will be engaged.

[kim481]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

I have never seen the bailiff as I was always out when he came and he clamped my car at 6.20 in the morning and did not knock on the door. The first I knew of the clamp was when I went to the car out of my back door to take my children to school and saw the clamp on the car, and did not see the notice of distress as it was posted through the front door. I had not been through the front door so did not notice the notice of distress until afterwards.

[Somecamel]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

Just read the thread so far- WOW

Let's not forget that all this happened because of a TV Licence fine- Makes a mockery of the whole system

[ploddertom]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

If contacting the Court about the Certificate the questions to ask are:
1 - was the Certificate renewed to run immediately after its last expiry date
2 - was the Certificate still in force on the day he levied distress against you

Although the Register is now with the Bulk Centre at Northampton it is still woefully out of date. The MOJ have had 4 years since the online version was introduced and there is just no excuse for it being so out of date.

[ploddertom]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

Just read the thread so far- WOW

Let's not forget that all this happened because of a TV Licence fine- Makes a mockery of the whole system

Like yourself and otheres this happened to Marstons are only interested because of damage limitation - after all I bet they have been invited to tender as said in a previous post & do not want adverse comments being made. If they were indeed interested in sorting something out they would be taking an interest in these threads.

[kim481]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

Ok thank you plodderton I will ask these questions tomorrow, I am hoping I get somewhere with this tomorrow as last time I just got shoved from pillar to post, very frustrating!!

[gravytrain]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

Just a thought regarding the production of the warrant. The SI sates that a warrant must be shown, or if the officer does not have it and the debtor asks they must arrange for them to see it.

My thought is, given the fact that a warrant is usually regarded as proof of the authority to carry out a legal process, and in all other usages(that i can think of, search warrant etc.) it has to be presented at he time of execution.

Could the section be interpreted to mean that the warrant can only be enforced when the debtor has seen it, if he expresses the wish.

In other words if the bailiff called and did not have the warrant and the debtor asked to see it, wouldn't the bailiff have to show it to him before he could continue enforcement.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

I understand there is a contract out to tender from the MOJ on behalf of HMCTS and I also understand it is envisaged just 1 enforcement company will be engaged.

Equita?

[bluebottle]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

So basically the bailiff did not have the right to clamp my car in the first place then, just as I originally thought.

Tomorrow I will be on the phone to the courts to sort out this sorry mess.

The bailiff in question is A Chapman, I have been informed that his bailiff license expired on 17/1/12. It was issued at Ipswich county court.

I will telephone them tomorrow to find out if he has had it renewed but I doubt it as it is a whole year out of date and the records have not been updated on Ministry of justice website ad they could not find any record of him when I phoned them

Kim,

I'm going to send you a PM.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

Just read the thread so far- WOW

Let's not forget that all this happened because of a TV Licence fine- Makes a mockery of the whole system

Like yourself and others this happened to, Marstons are only interested because of damage limitation; after all, I bet they have been invited to tender as said in a previous post & do not want adverse comments being made. If they were indeed interested in sorting something out, they would be taking an interest in these threads.

I seriously doubt that they are even slightly interested in ameliorating what they do, as they largely rely on fear (or terror) to get their inflated fees.

[bluebottle]

Re: Marston bailiff clamped my car!!

Just a thought regarding the production of the warrant. The SI sates that a warrant must be shown, or if the officer does not have it and the debtor asks they must arrange for them to see it.

My thought is, given the fact that a warrant is usually regarded as proof of the authority to carry out a legal process, and in all other usages(that i can think of, search warrant etc.) it has to be presented at he time of execution.

Could the section be interpreted to mean that the warrant can only be enforced when the debtor has seen it, if he expresses the wish.

In other words if the bailiff called and did not have the warrant and the debtor asked to see it, wouldn't the bailiff have to show it to him before he could continue enforcement.

Any warrant issued by a criminal court must be produced on demand. The only exception I know of is in the case of arrest warrants issued for non-appearance before a magistrates court, aka Bench Warrants, as these go straight onto the Wanted/Missing Persons Index on the Police National Computer and the police can check at any time, simply by radioing through to their control room and asking if a person is wanted.

As to whether a private-sector bailiff enforcing a Distress Warrant issued by a magistrates court could get away with a Mickey Mouse warrant they've knocked up on Microsoft Word, I very much doubt it. IMHO, an alleged debtor would be within their rights to ask to see any alleged warrant before entering into any dialogue with any bailiff claiming to be acting on behalf of HMCTS. If the warrant is not an exact copy of the actual warrant as issued by the court, bearing the Royal Crest, I would be tempted to tell the bailiff to take a hike.