Please can someone help me :(

[Scottatt]

Hello, can someone please help me I'm currently paying £200 a month to Marstons for an unpaid court fine and then on Friday I received a call from Newlyns saying I owed them £441.04 for an unpaid pcn
I do not even remember getting this pcn.
Newlyn informed me a letter had been sent although I never receibed it and that a baliff attended my house last Saturday 15/06/2013 i was in all day on this day with my dad and niece and no bailiff attended.
They said they was going to clamp my vehicle if I didn't pay them.
I was really worried because i use my van for work ( I do deliveries in it)
They said I could pay £50 a week and my vehicle wouldn't be clamped
I paid the £50 because I was so scared but I can't afford £50 a week. Do they have to accept a lower offer or can they refuse?
They told me to email them to complain about the bailiff not attending my property but said unless I had CCTV outside my house to prove the bailiff didn't turn up then as far as they are concerned their records say the bailiff did.
After reading this forum I also believe they are charging too much
Please advise me on what I can do

[charitynjw]

Re: Please can someone help me

Hello, can someone please help me I'm currently paying £200 a month to Marstons for an unpaid court fine and then on Friday I received a call from Newlyns saying I owed them £441.04 for an unpaid pcn
I do not even remember getting this pcn.
Newlyn informed me a letter had been sent although I never receibed it and that a baliff attended my house last Saturday 15/06/2013 i was in all day on this day with my dad and niece and no bailiff attended.
They said they was going to clamp my vehicle if I didn't pay them.
I was really worried because i use my van for work ( I do deliveries in it) Is it signwritten? Do you have 'business' insurance?
They said I could pay £50 a week and my vehicle wouldn't be clamped Can you move the vehicle to a safe place? (ie a friend's house, etc)
I paid the £50 because I was so scared but I can't afford £50 a week. Do they have to accept a lower offer or can they refuse?
They told me to email them to complain about the bailiff not attending my property but said unless I had CCTV outside my house to prove the bailiff didn't turn up then as far as they are concerned their records say the bailiff did.
After reading this forum I also believe they are charging too much
Please advise me on what I can do

Hi Scottatt, & welcome to Legal Beagles.

As it's quite late on Sunday night/Monday morning, you may not get an immediate response from our resident bailiff experts.
I'm sure you will have plenty of replies in the morning.
In the meantime, could you answer the above questions?

[Scottatt]

Re: Please can someone help me

Hi, thank you for your reply.
No it's not a signed vehicle, and I don't have business insurance. I am self employed but am contracted by a delivery company, they pay me monthly
hope that helps

[charitynjw]

Re: Please can someone help me

Hi

Unfortunately, it doesn't help you.

Bailiffs love to levy on vehicles - it means they don't have to gain 'peaceable' entry* into your house, & immobilising your vehicle (ie wheelclamp - yes they can, even if it is on your driveway) increases their chances of getting paid, plus it often adds another large charge to the bill (ie for a tow-truck).

Although they shouldn't levy on a vehicle used by you for business purposes, you would need to prove that fact.
& if it is not signwritten, & you have 'ordinary' vehicle insurance, it is fair game.

Can you move it to a safer place?

*The advice here is, don't let them in the house - they have been known to lie (can I use the loo?, etc) - lock all doors & windows & if you have to converse with them, do so via the letterbox, or from an upstairs window

[bizzybob]

Re: Please can someone help me

You need to find details of the PCN, and file an Out of Time Submission with the Northampton TEC stating that you knew nothing about the PCN until the bailiff fetched up. Other Beagles will help further.

How did you pay the bailiff? did you pay him over the telephone by debit or credit card? If so it may be better to cancel that card, and get another one from the bank as it is possible the bailiff or Newlyn may keep charging the card and empty your account.

Either way, if the OOT is accepted all bailiff charges are removed and the PCN is set back to 5the original amount and you can pay ior contest it. At that point the bailiff would have to refund the £50.

[Scottatt]

Re: Please can someone help me

My sister paid the £50 on her debit card, she won't be able to cancel it because she has all her direct debits etc
do Newlyn have to give me the pcn details? Or where else could I get this info from?
Also I'm slightly worried because I've paid the first amount does this mean I've accepted the payment amount?
I always have my delivery invoices with me and generally have the stock in the van and city bonds can verify I work for them?

[bluebottle]

Re: Please can someone help me

Firstly, the onus is on Newlyns to prove the veracity of their claim that a bailiff attended, not you. He/She should have left a Notice of Attendance as evidence of their visit. No Notice of Attendance, no evidence of a visit, regardless of what may or may not be on their records, therefore, no fee can be charged until they can prove a visit took place. As for vehicles, basically, if a vehicle is used in connection with a debtor's employment, business or vocation or is owned by a third party, e.g. a finance company, Motability, the bailiff attempts a levy or seizure at their own risk. If a vehicle is used purely for social, domestic and pleasure purposes, then, unfortunately, it is fair game and can be levied on and/or seized.