Please help !! First time bailff letter to recover (without any prior communication)

[itsvinod2k]

Hi
I am at work and got a call from wife about a letter from Bailiffs (JBW) stating no background information but goods to recover the cost (£221). There were few reference number and called JBW they informed this is related to a PCN notice from Newham council. Then called Newham council because I remember paying the fine online when I got a notice in Aug 2011. Now I found that there were two PCNs in my name for the same offence (driving through browning street which is restricted to taxis/buses on one particular direction) but different dates. Though I am pretty sure I did not drive through again on the same route but stopped at the start of the road realising what I did last time, reversed and went the other way.

For the second PCN for this the bailiffs are now called, I did not receive any notification because I moved home in Dec 2011 and later on sold my car for which the PCN is raised. Only today, I think the Bailiffs have tracked my correct address and send the letter but without any background and straight away wanting to recover goods from my property !! I spoke to newham council but they can't do anything because it is now with the bailiffs, when I spoke to JBW they did not have any record of sending a letter to my present address.

I am really confused and feeling frustrated and looking for help to find a way out.
The key question for me is will this warrant which Bailiffs have will have a negative record for me ??
I do not have any issue paying the fine amount but will that mean i accept the mistake and becomes a record in court ??
Can anyone help how to deal with this situation ?
Whom should I contact to get professional help can you recommend someone or company ??

Thanks a lot in advance to each of your help...
Vinod

[ploddertom]

Re: Please help !! First time bailff letter to recover (without any prior communicati

At the present time nothing is marked on your credit history and it is not a criminal matter. If you moved house and knew nothing of the PCN then you should contact the Traffic Enforcement Centre. They should send you some forms to fill in - via email - and if you return them then all Bailliff action is put on hold while it is looked at.

[itsvinod2k]

Re: Please help !! First time bailff letter to recover (without any prior communicati

At the present time nothing is marked on your credit history and it is not a criminal matter. If you moved house and knew nothing of the PCN then you should contact the Traffic Enforcement Centre. They should send you some forms to fill in - via email - and if you return them then all Bailliff action is put on hold while it is looked at.

Thanks a lot for your response and helpful advice. I assume it will be the local centre close to my current address ?? I live in Milton Keynes and the closest one seems to be in Northampton, I also found that they have forms to download and get a declaration done to process my appeal. However, it seems like the Bailiffs will not wait until the process my application. Therefore I am planning to pay the cost information that I am not accepting it but only paying to with the view to appeal in TEC, the reason I am thinking of doing this is for peace of mind and keep the Bailiffs out of the equation. After doing this, I am planning to submit the evidence that DVLA was notified of address change and also the fact the Newham council has been sending notices to wrong address to revoke/cancel the warrant. I hoping this will be sufficient to get this issue resolved. Do you know if there is any chance of getting the declaration done over the weekend, will the courts or anyone be available? I know it is long weekend but I will certainly regret not asking this stupid question if I later come to know that it was possible, I hope you will understand my situation.

If you have any comments please let me know.

Thanks so much...
Vinod

[ploddertom]

Re: Please help !! First time bailff letter to recover (without any prior communicati

THE TEC won't be open again until Tuesday. One thing you do need to know is what is the exact address that is on the Warrant the Bailiff has. If it is your old one then the Bailiff knows very well he cannot "data cleanse" the Warrant but must return it to the Council.

[tattybogals]

Re: Please help !! First time bailff letter to recover (without any prior communicati

true ploddertom they will need a warrant for the new address before they can chase the debt. if the council that issued the parking fine sent all court order notices to the old address you might have a good chance of it been treated as a mistaken warrant and they'll allow you to pay without fuss.. however the parking fine is generated on the address that the car is registered to and not informing dvla of a change of address is a wee bit naughty.. many dont to avoid paying fines??!! but this is not your case as you say you did so the council should be happy to play ball

[CleverClogs]

Re: Please help !! First time bailff letter to recover (without any prior communicati

THE TEC won't be open again until Tuesday. One thing you do need to know is what is the exact address that is on the Warrant the Bailiff has. If it is your old one then the Bailiff knows very well he cannot "data cleanse" the Warrant but must return it to the Council.

If it's an old warrant, won't it have expired by now?

[itsvinod2k]

Re: Please help !! First time bailff letter to recover (without any prior communicati

THE TEC won't be open again until Tuesday. One thing you do need to know is what is the exact address that is on the Warrant the Bailiff has. If it is your old one then the Bailiff knows very well he cannot "data cleanse" the Warrant but must return it to the Council.

Okay. That is a very important point you mentioned, I will check that. I haven't seen the warrant, it was only a letter from JBW (bailiffs) with the subject "Notice of Removal" and the first line stated "Our bailiffs have visited and confirmed your address". And when I spoke first time to the JBW customer support the lady mentioned that they have not sent any previous notices to my current address and mentioned they only had my old address in their system. I was asked to confirm my new address which I did. The next day (04-May-13), I called to make a payment under protest the other support lady denied the previous information and said they have sent notices to by present address. This completely confused me and surely have not received anything before from JBW or newham council at my current address.

I will contact TEC tomorrow and will check the correct address in the warrant and the steps to take further. Thanks so much for your help !

[itsvinod2k]

Re: Please help !! First time bailff letter to recover (without any prior communicati

Yes, I did inform DVLA as soon as I moved into my new address (2nd week of Dec'11). I received my new license with issue date 30-Dec-11. My V5C received from DVLA does not show issue date but on the 2nd page bottom marked for "Official use only" states date as 11-Jan-2012. Also, after I sold my car I have a DVLA letter stating the owner has changed this was Jul'2012. I hope this is sufficient.