Marston Baliffs question

[mikesw15]

Hi
We have recently had a visit from a bailiff from Marston bailiffs who kindly started banging my door at 6.45 demanding i paid a court fine which was written of by the court i paid the money cause the guy threatend to send someone round to force entry and my wife was so scared so i just paid it, i rang the court and asked why they had still sent a bailiff round as i thought the fine was written of and they said it was error and would return the £45 for the cost of the fixed penalty notice and would let the bailiffs know to return the rest, is there anything i can do to try and get some sort of compensation from either the bailiffs or the courts for the stress and embarrassment they have caused cause the guy was banging and shouting my name so all my neighbours could hear ? thanks in advance for any help

[ploddertom]

Re: Marston Baliffs question

Any complaint must be directed to the Court. Regardless of what actually happened the Bailiff was only carrying out the Court's instructions. Of course you should mention what happened to them. I imagine any claim for compo will fall on deaf ears.

[mikesw15]

Re: Marston Baliffs question

ok thanks for your quick reply ;-)

[bluebottle]

Re: Marston Baliffs question

Complaints procedure for improper/inappropriate/unlawful/illegal enforcement by bailiff companies contracted to HMCTS -

1st Stage: Area Enforcement Manager (AEM) at the court involved.
2nd Stage: Senior Enforcement Manager (SEM) who covers a region
3rd Stage: Head of Enforcement Operations (North) or Head of Enforcement Operations (South)
4th Stage: Director of Enforcement Operations, HMCTS
5th Stage: CEO, HMCTS

If the fine was written-off, then someone at the court has seriously cocked-up. If the court is going to instruct Marstons to return the fees they took from you, then this should be done. If it isn't, then claim it from the court, as the fees were incurred as the direct result of their error. See what the court says first.

As regards compensation for distress, I have to be realistic and say that Ploddertom is, in all probability, spot-on when he says it is unlikely you would receive any. However, if damage has been caused to property or anyone has suffered injury, that is a different matter.