Marstons Bailiffs

[lach90]

Hi..

I had a Marstons bailiff turn up at the house the other day demanding £622.20 for an unpaid train ticket of £2 (ish).

Long story cut short, is that i was given a train ticket fine £20, which i was about to pay before some senior ticket 'man' decided he wasn't going to let me pay it and make my case go to SW Trains for them to decide. I was the only one picked out of 20 odd people.

The matter was meant to go to court, as SW Trains wanted £322.20 which is insane. I never received my summons back in 2010, the court agreed and sent me a date for me to sign a stat declaration to confirm this. I couldn't make that date or another date they gave me due to university commitments. Instead of asking me when i could make it and arranging a date, they said i have to now apply back to the original court (i had the stat dec signing moved to where i live). I have all the correspondence up until this point where i was instructed to write to the original court.

I wrote to the court sometime in early 2011, and i never heard anything back. (No i don't have proof of postage, not that i can remember anyway, i doubt i still have it lying around)

I then received a Final Steps Notice in March 2013, which arrived 3 weeks later than the date on the letter. The 10 days had evidently already passed for my response, i quickly sent them a letter signed for, telling them what has happened. I received a letter back stating that the matter will now be passed to Marstons, however they crucially put a line through the letter - obviously upon receipt of my letter.

Thus i was waiting upon further correspondence, next thing i know this Jaime Milner is at my house demanding £622.20, i cannot find him on the certificated register.

He has since come again, threatening that an arrest warrant will be placed on my head and phoned me a few minutes ago monotonously saying 'Mr x, you will pay by the end of today'.

What do i do?

I am not paying them, as i never received my right to fight this issue in court in the first place! I'm not happy with SW Trains treatment of me compared to the other citizens who were stopped, based on various factors which won't be delved into here, let alone having to pay these bullies.

[lach90]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

Oh, it was issued by the HMCTS Surrey by the way.

[wales01man]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

With the risk of upsetting the OP they did have a right to fight it in court they say they couldnt make the hearing and then the court would not arrange a date to suit the OP for a £2 fare dodge i think they got what they deserve from the court bailiffs fees should be disputed but lets no forget that in their first post thery admitted having no ticket when caught

[lach90]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

With the risk of upsetting the OP they did have a right to fight it in court they say they couldnt make the hearing and then the court would not arrange a date to suit the OP for a £2 fare dodge i think they got what they deserve from the court bailiffs fees should be disputed but lets no forget that in their first post thery admitted having no ticket when caught

If you read what I wrote correctly, you'd see that I was never given a summons! I never had a chance to turn up in court. Which is why I was told to sign a statutory declaration, which yes I couldn't make the dates they gave me. What was I just supposed to skip laboratory work at university that cannot be completed outside of those hours allocated to us? No. Hence why I asked for a new date and never received any correspondence.

Punctuation would also be nice.

[wales01man]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

not aving a benefit of a university education and being thick im sorry for punctuation mistakes mind you I pay my rail fares
thankyou
i support you against the bailiffs rip off charges but the fines and court costs are down to you to pay or appeal

[lach90]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

not aving a benefit of a university education and being thick im sorry for punctuation mistakes mind you I pay my rail fares
thankyou
i support you against the bailiffs rip off charges but the fines and court costs are down to you to pay or appeal

I think you're some what missing the point here.

I've obviously come here for advice on how to appeal this, and move forward. I never received my initial summons, so surely i cannot be expected to pay anything to the court or SW Trains until my case has been heard.

If you don't know the full story, then don't comment. I am not a fare dodger, in fact i still have a few of the tickets from 2010:

I actually threw away my ticket as i was leaving the train, my fault entirely. However i did offer the ticket attendant to ask the train driver to check the bin in the last carriage however he didn't want to listen. Plus there are other things that happened, that aren't for this forum, and will be used in court against SW Trains.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

Not having the benefit of a university education and being thick, I'm sorry for punctuation mistakes; mind you I pay my rail fares.

I had the impression that English grammar was taught in school, but it may have been considered old-fashioned when you were warehoused as a child.

I support you against the bailiffs rip off charges but the fines and court costs are down to you to pay or appeal

You know that I hardly condone abuse by bailiffs, but the charges here are (so far) no more than permitted under their contract with HMCTS.

Mind you, the threat to arrest the fine defaulter was excessive and almost certainly unlawful.

[labman]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

This sets out the procedure for Magistrates' Court fines - it is very rigid:

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...s-Courts-Fines

Actually there is, as you can see, a clear power to arrest you at the right stage, but only in order to take you back to the court.

[wales01man]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

If this guy didnt allegedly thropugh away the ticket he would not be in the DO DO he may be clever but still a law breaker and as said on here maybe subject to arrest

[CleverClogs]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

If this guy hadn't allegedly thrown away the ticket, he would not be in the DO DO

True but, if he had paid by a credit card or debit card, there would still be evidence that he had paid the requisite fare.

he may be clever but still a law breaker and as said on here maybe subject to arrest

Poor you!

It really must have been a major strain on you to post supporting a bailiff ! :grin:

[wales01man]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

Cleverclogs im not supporting the bailiff im supporting the law arrest may be an option if ordered by the court, If i knew i may face a court case i would make sure i knew when it was and be there with my defence .Not happened yet unless being in debt becomes criminal

[CleverClogs]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

Cleverclogs, I'm not supporting the bailiff

Oh, good. I worried you might have injured yourself.

I'm supporting the law; arrest may be an option if ordered by the court.

Which it plainly has not been in this case.

If i knew i may face a court case i would make sure i knew when it was and be there with my defence.

Didn't the OP aver that he had not received any summons?

What we do not know (and that's because the OP won't tell us) why South West Trains would not just accept payment of the "excess fare". Might the OP have been inebriated at the time?

[wales01man]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

dont think the OP will tell us the whole story He says he never received summons? says he threw ticket away? He now has the chance maybe to fight a case good luck to him or her.showing loads of tickets from other journeys means diddly squat its like saying i never drove drunk when your done for being over the limit

[labman]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

Hi..

I had a Marstons bailiff turn up at the house the other day demanding £622.20 for an unpaid train ticket of £2 (ish).

Long story cut short, is that i was given a train ticket fine £20, which i was about to pay before some senior ticket 'man' decided he wasn't going to let me pay it and make my case go to SW Trains for them to decide. I was the only one picked out of 20 odd people.

The matter was meant to go to court, as SW Trains wanted £322.20 which is insane.




I am not paying them

I'm puzzled here lach90. Why did the man decide he was not going to let you pay £20.00? What reason did he give for doing so?

Were you given a reason why this should go to court rather than receive the normal fine? If you weren't given a reason, is there an obvious reason which we have not been told here yet?

Why when you knew you had to go to court did you not pursue the court when you didn't hear back from them? They'd been very reasonable with you - I don't understand why you didn't chase the court up and ensure you got the hearing you are so adamant you should have had - it was your responsibility to do so.

As for the last piece of the part I've quoted, I think that is rather a foolhardy attitude. I think telling the court or declaring on the internet you are not going to pay a fine for an alleged criminal offence is madness. I don't believe you are in a position to dictate whether or not you are going to pay.

On the positive side, if you are arrested, you will get your moment in court and you will be able to explain everything you wish to put before them. It may be a good idea to get in touch with the court first and see if you can get a hearing voluntarily before you have one forced on you.

[wales01man]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

Labman
I think you and i are asking almost the same questions? my feeling is the OP may be thinking the law of fare evasion is not applicable to them, showing old used tickets and declaring they are not paying a fine etc strikes of arrogance to me.I read earlier on another forum a question where someone asked if fare evasion is a criminal offence the answer was yes.many comments after were far from complimentary most saying pay up or get caught others pay everone should its against the law not to