Marston bailiff troubles

[kfrm]

Hi all - I'm sure it's probably pretty bad form to make an account and post a thread requesting help straight away but I can't get any hard and fast answers online and this forum seems like it's full of good advice. I'd just like your overall perspectives on my situation if you have any..

I had a warrant returned to the court due to insufficient goods in December 2012 and was offered a £20 a month payment plan. The bailiff was a decent guy (as decent as bailiffs can be, I guess) and I reasoned with him over the phone. He believed that I didn't have anything worth taking (I live in one room in a shared house and genuinely have no electrical goods or anything - I'm using a friend's laptop right now) so he returned the warrant to the court without visiting. This was obviously a huge relief.

I received the payment plan and payment slips through the door a few weeks after Christmas and started paying them every month. I thought it was a bit strange that the payment plan had changed from £20 to £10 a month but didn't question it. Now it turns out that the debt I was paying was a council debt and had nothing to do with the court repayment. They are claiming that they sent me a payment card for the court debt to use via the Post Office but they never did - I didn't receive anything like this. Now they have reactivated the bailiff order which seems stupid considering they've already returned it to the court as 'insufficient goods'. I've tried to reason with the fines officer at the court, telling him that I genuinely didn't receive any card - I only received some payment slips with the council emblem on the front and I assumed that was what I was waiting for. But he won't do anything for me.

I have decided to just let the bailiff come over. I genuinely don't have anything and I have a letter signed by my landlady to state that all the furniture belongs to her so he can't take it. I don't like the thought of a bailiff coming and I did my absolute best to avoid it, so it's a shame it's come to this but there's nothing else and I can do and this guy does seem reasonable. I'm just wondering if he's at all likely to take books? The only thing I have in my room is a big bookshelf full of books. None of them are antique or of value, but they're important to me.. They will not cover the entire debt either. But would he take them to be petty?

Any other advice would be good. He left a note saying he'd visit one day last week but he never did, so I'm like a sitting duck here.. I've seen that there's an N245 form which you can use to request a suspension of a warrant. Is it worth doing that or is it too late now?

Thanks in advance for your time.

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

Hi and welcome to LB if you have not already been welcomed

Please don't worry about starting threads and forum ettiqutte etc, our etiquete is you need help.. you ask.. we help as much as we can

I'm no bailiff expert myself, but we have plenty, and they are coming soon I promise, in the mean time there are a few stickies in the bailiff forums that you could have a read through, if you have any problem finding them, give us a shout and I'll guide you there

The help is coming hun, hang on in there.

[labman]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

Just for clarity's sake, what is the fine for from the Magistrates' Court? What are you repaying the Council for?

I would advise against letting any bailiff into the property at all. If you must speak to them, speak to them outside, but don't let them into the house. Also, if you have a mobile, try to get a voice recording of the conversation as evidence of what is said.

Once we know what the two separate debts are we will be better able to help you.

[kfrm]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

They are both for overpayment of housing benefit but I disputed both of them at the time and and attempted to appeal the decision. (In reality, they substantially underpaid me housing benefit, leaving me in debt with my landlady - all I was doing was taking what I was rightfully owed but they don't see it that way, of course.) I never received any reply on the appeals and the one which had been outstanding longer was sent to Marston without the council notifying me. I was pretty shocked when I first received the bailiff's notice but then I dealt with him over the phone and he was ok and stated that he believed that I didn't have anything.

I am now very reluctant to call him again. What is likely to happen if I don't let him in? As far as I'm aware he will continue to add attendance charges onto my debt each time he comes over..

[labman]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

Sorry, but I'm still confused. You are saying you have two claims against you for overpayment of housing benefit. One of these has gone to court (County or Magistrates?) and the other is still with the council.

The council is being paid via the payment book, but the other is with bailiffs who are chasing you for having paid them nothing?

Is that right?

Re Attendance charges - if they don't get access, and don't get any money from you, they have little choice but to return it to the council eventually.

[kfrm]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

Sorry, but I'm still confused. You are saying you have two claims against you for overpayment of housing benefit. One of these has gone to court (County or Magistrates?) and the other is still with the council.

The council is being paid via the payment book, but the other is with bailiffs who are chasing you for having paid them nothing?

Apologies, it is pretty confusing. Yes, that's right - only one overpayment was passed to the court, the other is still with the council. I didn't know this. When I got the payment slips through the door I assumed that they were the payment plan which the court had organised for both overpayments. This was not the case apparently - I should also have received a payment card from the court. I've tried to tell the fines officer that I never received it but he doesn't seem to care. Either that or he doesn't have the power to take the warrant back from Marston.

So, you don't think that the bailiff will eventually ask the police to attend to enforce the warrant? I've heard that's pretty rare, expect in repossession cases.. I must admit, I've spoken to friends of mine who've had some experience with this kind of thing and they have all told me not to ignore this guy and to call him again to talk on the phone.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

So, you don't think that the bailiff will eventually ask the police to attend to enforce the warrant?

As he is not enforcing a criminal fine, he cannot lawfully force entry even if some woodentops are there.

Unless the council has obtained a (rare) Shylock Order, the bailiff may not remove one of your kidneys or part of your liver to auction on the International Tissue Transplant Market.

[kfrm]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

As he is not enforcing a criminal fine, he cannot lawfully force entry even if some woodentops are there.

Unless the council has obtained a (rare) Shylock Order, the bailiff may not remove one of your kidneys or part of your liver to auction on the International Tissue Transplant Market.

Hah!

So, are you also of the opinion that I shouldn't let him in?

Is it normal for bailiffs to take books? I can just move them to another room if it's going to be an issue. I mean, I can't have him take them. It would be pretty distressing - some of them I've been collecting for ages, like entire back catalogues of psychologists' works and stuff. Like I said, they have no real value, but emotionally it would be deeply unpleasant.

[kfrm]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

Is there anyone else at the county court that I can appeal to/talk to aside from the fines officer (who was not very helpful)? (He told me to call Marston and give them the case number from December to prove that it's already been established that I have insufficient goods, but Marston just said that for all they know I could have won the lottery since December so they still have to send the bailiff!)

I've read about this N245 form which you fill in to ask the court to get the warrant back from Marston, but is there a particular person at the court I can ask to hand it in to or speak to in order to speed up the process?

[labman]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

You should ask the fines officer if they will assess your means (in a Magistrates Court it is called a Means Enquiry Hearing). They would then see that you are a can't pay, not a won't pay. I'm afraid I don't know if you have the right to one of these in a County Court and a very quick Google has not answered the question for me.

Unless the books are valuable, they would not seize those as (a) the levy has to cover the fine and associated fees (b) they would have to list each book separately on the inventory which would take them some substantial time by the sounds of things.

It may also be worth your while going to CAB to ask them to complete an Income and Expenditure form so you can send it to both the court and Marstons. They need to be made aware you have financial difficulties.

[bizzybob]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

Did the bailiff intimate he could force entry under the DCVA. and further was arrest mentioned?

[kfrm]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

Thank you so much, I feel better now. People have been telling me to go to CAB but I thought they wouldn't be able to help me as I went to them for some unrelated issue years ago and they were about as much use a chocolate fireplace. But if they can help me on this I will visit them tomorrow.

Thank you for easing my mind on the books. I thought that they couldn't take stuff unless it was worth the price of the debt but I just wanted reassurance.

The weird thing is that the bailiff said he'd visit one night last week and he never came. And he hasn't visited tonight either. I suspect that he remembers that he already gave my debt back to the court in December and so probably can't really be arsed to come visit as he knows I'm broke. *shrug* I'll try the CAB route and hope that he doesn't come until I've sorted it.

Thank you all

[kfrm]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

Did the bailiff intimate he could force entry under the DCVA. and further was arrest mentioned?

No, I've had no contact with him this time around.

I think I recall him saying that he would force entry the first time we spoke back in December but I knew that he was probably just trying to put the fear into me and then I just appealed to his better nature and he gave it back to the court as 'insufficient goods'.

[labman]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

CAB's are very mixed in terms of the quality of advice you receive. However, they should ALL be able to do an income and expenditure form for you.

[kfrm]

Re: Marston bailiff troubles

Well, once again, CAB were pretty much pants. They told me not to open to door to the bailiff but conceded that if I didn't open the door to him the fees would probably just keep rocketing upwards and he'd keep coming over until eventually he'd have to give it back to the court. They said that filling out an expenditure form wasn't worth it - that it would take ages and that, for one debt, it would be like 'using a sledge hammer to hit a walnut.' :tinysmile_hmm_t2:

Anyway, the bailiff hasn't actually turned up yet and it's now been over a week since he left a note through my door saying that he would visit. I'm wondering if it's a silly idea to call him and ask him if he is planning on visiting? (I've no doubt that he remembers me from December and recalls that he already declared 'insufficient goods' once, so he's probably not in any hurry to make this call as he knows he won't get anything out of it. But I'm like a sitting duck here, staying in every single evening waiting for him to pound on my door. Should I just ring him and ask him to come over and put me out of my misery?)

Thanks so much in advance for advice.