Marstons and court fine

[Baby J]

Posted this somewhere else but not sure if here is better.

I am desperate for advice. My partner has an unpaid court fine (IN10). We have been in extreme financial difficulty and this along with many other things has gone unpaid.

It was passed to Marstons and he made one payment leaving the balance as £150. We contacted them today to try to re-enter an arrangement and were told that £215 had been added. We disputed this fee as we had no evidence of a visit and were transferred to the baillif who said he had attended today (he did not) and that we have brown front door (we do not).

We requested that the fees were removed as he obviously hadn't been here and then we could make a new arrangement. The baillif then hung up and 45 mins later turned up at our door!! We cannot pay the £365 he is asking for.

My partner is having his house repossessed and we can barely afford our daily expenses. Can we get this taken back to court for a means enquiry hearing and will this stop the baillif. Also the court dealing with it is Cheshire but we live over 100 miles away could it be transferred. Any advice would be very welcome.

Baillif has called and said if we don't let him in tonight he is a wilfull evader and he will call the police

[Milo]

Re: Marstons and court fine

Did your partner go to court?

Did he receive a summons?

Did he enter a "plea"

Did he complete a Means Enquiry Form?

What prompted him to make payment....was this because he received an initial letter from Marston Group?

Where was payment made (at the court, online to the court, online to Marston Group?

When was payment made?

Sorry about all the questions but they are important.

[Baby J]

Re: Marstons and court fine

The initial payment was made to marstons after their first letter.

We contacted them today because we were aware that we've not paid anything since (approx 6 weeks - 2 months) and that we needed to revise the original arrangement because we can't afford it. We hadn't heard anything from them so we were trying to be proactive. The baillif only turned up after we questioned the fees at about 3pm he turned up at 4.15pm.

He refuses to accept the offer of £10 per week and in his texts is not acknowledging that any offer has been made.

He's subsequently come back and says a locksmith is on his way. H says my partner is wilfully evading payment because we would not let him in to the house today.

[labman]

Re: Marstons and court fine

Could you answer the questions Milo asked please. The easiest way is to click 'Reply With Quote' at the bottom right of every post, and type your answers next to the question.

At the end outside of [/QUOTE] just type There you are or something similar. :beagle:

[Baby J]

Re: Marstons and court fine

Did your partner go to court?
No
Did he receive a summons?
For the original offence? Yes
Did he enter a "plea"
Yes

Did he complete a Means Enquiry Form?
No I don't think so

What prompted him to make payment....was this because he received an initial letter from Marston Group?
Letter fom Marstons

Where was payment made (at the court, online to the court, online to Marston Group?
To marstons

When was payment made?
£66 2/7/13

Sorry about all the questions but they are important.

Hope that is ok

[Baby J]

Re: Marstons and court fine

Just had another text from bailiff.

" .....We will attempt to close the door the best we can when we exit the property if you are not home. Enjoy your evening. Goodbye"

[labman]

Re: Marstons and court fine

Ignore the message - he is intentionally frightening you. He won't appear tonight, and probably not tomorrow. Make sure you keep all communications - texts, video him if possible (using your phone), record calls etc...

Thanks for answering the questions - that will be a big help. :beagle:

[Baby J]

Re: Marstons and court fine

Thank you.

[Sir Vere Brayne d'Emmidge]

Re: Marstons and court fine

Just had another text from bailiff.

" .....We will attempt to close the door the best we can when we exit the property if you are not home. Enjoy your evening. Goodbye"

Ignore the text, but keep it in your phone, it could come in useful later.

Unless you have really expensive furniture, nice paintings hanging on the wall and BIG television sets (which are not fixed to a wall), and expensive watches and or jewellery, it is very unlikely that he will get a Locksmith in, for which the bailiff will have to apply to Court for and leave you a "Locksmith" card after permission has been granted.

If the bailiff is sensible (some are, some aren't) he will enter in a payment arrangement with you, but it will be in the region of 30 to 40 pounds per week if not more.

If the bailiff gets permission to use force to enter your property it is his duty to make sure that the premises are secure upon leaving, also household goods can not be removed at the first entry, they must entered onto a detailed inventory, which lists serial numbers, colour, any damage and must be left with you for a minimum of six days, to give you time to come up with the money.

Worth bearing in mind that the vast majority of bailiffs don't fancy the work involved in removing household items.

[Milo]

Re: Marstons and court fine

Ignore the text, but keep it in your phone, it could come in useful later.

Unless you have really expensive furniture, nice paintings hanging on the wall and BIG television sets (which are not fixed to a wall), and expensive watches and or jewellery, it is very unlikely that he will get a Locksmith in, for which the bailiff will have to apply to Court for and leave you a "Locksmith" card after permission has been granted.

If the bailiff is sensible (some are, some aren't) he will enter in a payment arrangement with you, but it will be in the region of 30 to 40 pounds per week if not more.

If the bailiff gets permission to use force to enter your property it is his duty to make sure that the premises are secure upon leaving, also household goods can not be removed at the first entry, they must entered onto a detailed inventory, which lists serial numbers, colour, any damage and must be left with you for a minimum of six days, to give you time to come up with the money.

Worth bearing in mind that the vast majority of bailiffs don't fancy the work involved in removing household items.

Good advice.


Baby J. Please do not take what I am about to write the wrong way as I hope to not only give advice to you but to alert anyone else in the same position of the severe problems that are being encountered with court fines.

I started a thread about a week ago on Consumer Action Group regarding one of the popular TV Licensing Court hearings where 53 cases were being heard. Of all the cases heard, NOT ONE person attended the hearing. With the exception of just two people NOBODY ELSE responded to the summons...and finally.....with the exception of the two people who responded t the summons....NOBODY completed a Means Enquiry Forms. What this shows is a dreadful disregard to court fines in general and the way in which the public fail to deal with correspondence.

Coming back to the point above, what was very interesting indeed was that in the case of the two people who had bothered to response to the summons and completed a Means Enquiry Form the Magistrates gave credit for an "early plea" and took their "means" into consideration and both fines were lower than all of the others.

The other point that I wish to raise is that from a lot of experience going back many years it is the case that if contact is made with the court at an early stage they are excellent at agreeing a payment plan but please note that the very LEAST amount that would be accepted is £5 per week as this is the "benchmark" figure applied to anyone in receipt of benefits.

In your particular case given that you have not made any payments for nearly two months the bailiff company would then consider that you have no intention of paying and the account is then referred to an enforcement agent in order to seize goods. Attempting to get a payment arrangement at £10 per week would very likely fail.

In the property do you have many items of value. If not, then as long as the bailiff is able to ascertain this he can then return the debt.

Please post back regarding the goods in the property.

[Baby J]

Re: Marstons and court fine

Good advice.


Baby J. Please do not take what I am about to write the wrong way as I hope to not only give advice to you but to alert anyone else in the same position of the severe problems that are being encountered with court fines.

I started a thread about a week ago on Consumer Action Group regarding one of the popular TV Licensing Court hearings where 53 cases were being heard. Of all the cases heard, NOT ONE person attended the hearing. With the exception of just two people NOBODY ELSE responded to the summons...and finally.....with the exception of the two people who responded t the summons....NOBODY completed a Means Enquiry Forms. What this shows is a dreadful disregard to court fines in general and the way in which the public fail to deal with correspondence.

Coming back to the point above, what was very interesting indeed was that in the case of the two people who had bothered to response to the summons and completed a Means Enquiry Form the Magistrates gave credit for an "early plea" and took their "means" into consideration and both fines were lower than all of the others.

The other point that I wish to raise is that from a lot of experience going back many years it is the case that if contact is made with the court at an early stage they are excellent at agreeing a payment plan but please note that the very LEAST amount that would be accepted is £5 per week as this is the "benchmark" figure applied to anyone in receipt of benefits.

In your particular case given that you have not made any payments for nearly two months the bailiff company would then consider that you have no intention of paying and the account is then referred to an enforcement agent in order to seize goods. Attempting to get a payment arrangement at £10 per week would very likely fail.

In the property do you have many items of value. If not, then as long as the bailiff is able to ascertain this he can then return the debt.

Please post back regarding the goods in the property.

The first point for me to mention is regarding appearing in court - We live in Gloucestershire and the offence happened in Cheshire. My partner's car was seized and destroyed as we did not have the money to get it back. This meant that by the time the case came to court we had neither the means or money to get there. He entered a guilty plea and was fined £170 including costs.

We have been in extreme financial difficulty for some time now but none the less he has made payments on 2 other fines which occurred in the same period and have been cleared.

Regarding this fine (£170) my partner paid firstly £40 to the court and £66 to Marstons. So of the original fine he had only £64 remaining (now £365 with Marstons fees).

Regarding the items in my property - my partner has nothing here but his clothes. He has a house (which is in the process of being voluntarily surrendered back to the mortgage company) and contains his old furniture which is worth nothing at all. He is not on my tenancy agreement and everything here belongs to me or my children. Apart from furniture I own one TV and laptop. My children own 2 net books, tablet and xbox (bought for them by my mother).

Thanks.

[labman]

Re: Marstons and court fine

I believe your best way forward now, given that a warrant has been issued, and you cannot afford to pay the fine, is to contact the Fines Officer at the court and ask for a Means Enquiry hearing. The process means that once returned to the court, you'll have the chance to have one of these anyway, but it would be good to be seen to be proactive.

It is very much a case of, 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again.' If you have medical conditions, make the court aware of these and this will increase your chances.

Without any knowledge of your means, common sense dictates the court will award what it deems fit. I appreciate you don't have a car and it is a way away, but you do have internet and a phone. Cases can, and are moved to nearer courts.

Once you know what is happening with this issue, I would strongly advise you tackle your other debts. If these include priority debts such as council tax, rent/mortgage, gas and electric and any other court fines or pending court fines, then you need to post up about these NOW, before a court rules on the TV issue. :beagle:

[Baby J]

Re: Marstons and court fine

I believe your best way forward now, given that a warrant has been issued, and you cannot afford to pay the fine, is to contact the Fines Officer at the court and ask for a Means Enquiry hearing. The process means that once returned to the court, you'll have the chance to have one of these anyway, but it would be good to be seen to be proactive.

It is very much a case of, 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again.' If you have medical conditions, make the court aware of these and this will increase your chances.

Without any knowledge of your means, common sense dictates the court will award what it deems fit. I appreciate you don't have a car and it is a way away, but you do have internet and a phone. Cases can, and are moved to nearer courts.

Once you know what is happening with this issue, I would strongly advise you tackle your other debts. If these include priority debts such as council tax, rent/mortgage, gas and electric and any other court fines or pending court fines, then you need to post up about these NOW, before a court rules on the TV issue. :beagle:

Thanks for advice. We did contact the court 3 times to ask for this yesterday and they told us they would do nothing as it was with Marston's.

Incidently we did ask to have the hearing moved closer originally and were told that there was not enough time to do this.

South and East Cheshire Magistrates court has not been very helpful at any stage as you can see.

How do we insist on a means hearing at a local court? Or can we not?

[labman]

Re: Marstons and court fine

You can't insist. Normally, when the court is nearby, the advice is to be a thorn in their side and keep on and on turning up until they grant one. Medical grounds facilitate this. Froma distance I guess it's a case of emailing, trhough as they've stated clearly to you it is with the bailiffs, you will almost certainly now have to let the bailiffs see you do not have ample belongings to cover the fine, they will then return it to court (or they should - if they didn't you'd need to post up) and then you'd get your means enquiry.

The procedure for Magistrates' Courts is quite clear and is set out HERE. Scroll down and you'll see 'Procedure.':beagle: