Wrongly accused of a fine from Marston Group

[Stephen_T]

Hi all,

I am in desperate need of help, I received a letter from Marstons Group in April of this year claiming that I owed them around £600 for a fine from Greater Manchester Court. I have never been to Manchester and had no idea what it was about and so assumed it was spam. I attempted to call them but was unsuccessful so went to CAB. They told me to write to them asking for information about the case.

I wrote the letter to Marstons but as this was not something I had done I left it aside. Marstons wrote back in May claiming that i needed to get all relevant information from Manchester Court and that the fine was still pending.

I was unfortunately not in the country when this letter arrived and on 23rd July 2014 bailiffs arrived at my flat. They demanded for £867 and said they would force entry and take my furniture if it was not paid. I panicked and paid the full amount.

I then got in contact with Manchester court who then told me to call the magistrates court in Bolton - they then explained that a train fine was issued under my name in Rochdale and all correspondence was sent to an address in West Yorkshire (I have no connection with West Yorkshire)

I have since made a statutory declaration to say that i have never been to Rochdale and on the day the fine was issued I was at work in London. I now need to go to Bolton to clear my name.

But i am still £869 out of pocket and needed to buy train tickets to Bolton and hotel accommodation and take time off work. How do I get this money back?

It seems that when Marstons Group bought this case from Bolton Magistrates court they chose my address and decided that I was to pay somebody else's fine.

I have no idea what to do. Please any advice would be really helpful.

Thanks

[PAWS]

Re: Wrongly accused of a fine from Marston Group

Hello Stephen!:yo:
It sounds like a cock up from start to finish but you already know that! Try not to worry; one of the clever Legal Beagles will be along soon to help.

[bizzybob]

Re: Wrongly accused of a fine from Marston Group

Another faulty trace by Marstons, you should have sworn the Statutory declaration at the time of first contact, but you were not to know that,, and Marstons bailiffs are bullying anal retentives at the best of times. Once the Stat Dec is accepted, Marstons, or rather the court will have to refund your money, and you could claim your expenses incurred.

Other Beagles will be able to advise you better, but rest assured you will get your money back in the end.

[bluebottle]

Re: Wrongly accused of a fine from Marston Group

I feel the best thing to do is formally complain to the Court Manager and seek reimbursement of all costs and expenses. If you appear to be getting nowhere, you will need to write to the following address -

Correspondence, Complaints and Litigation Unit
H.M. Courts and Tribunals Service
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ

[bluebottle]

Re: Wrongly accused of a fine from Marston Group

Hi all,

I am in desperate need of help, I received a letter from Marstons Group in April of this year claiming that I owed them around £600 for a fine from Greater Manchester Court. I have never been to Manchester and had no idea what it was about and so assumed it was spam. I attempted to call them but was unsuccessful so went to CAB. They told me to write to them asking for information about the case.

I wrote the letter to Marstons but as this was not something I had done I left it aside. Marstons wrote back in May claiming that i needed to get all relevant information from Manchester Court and that the fine was still pending.

I was unfortunately not in the country when this letter arrived and on 23rd July 2014 bailiffs arrived at my flat. They demanded for £867 and said they would force entry and take my furniture if it was not paid. I panicked and paid the full amount.

I then got in contact with Manchester court who then told me to call the magistrates court in Bolton - they then explained that a train fine was issued under my name in Rochdale and all correspondence was sent to an address in West Yorkshire (I have no connection with West Yorkshire)

I have since made a statutory declaration to say that i have never been to Rochdale and on the day the fine was issued I was at work in London. I now need to go to Bolton to clear my name.

But i am still £869 out of pocket and needed to buy train tickets to Bolton and hotel accommodation and take time off work. How do I get this money back?

It seems that when Marstons Group bought this case from Bolton Magistrates court they chose my address and decided that I was to pay somebody else's fine.

I have no idea what to do. Please any advice would be really helpful.

Thanks

With regard to travel costs, contact the court and ask if they can provide you with a travel warrant to cover the cost of the train journey to Bolton. Also, ask if they know of any guest houses in the Bolton area where people attending the court can stay overnight at reasonable cost. Most courts have such information on file, mainly for witnesses attending hearings and who have to travel long distances.

Hope this helps.

[Milo]

Re: Wrongly accused of a fine from Marston Group

I feel the best thing to do is formally complain to the Court Manager and seek reimbursement of all costs and expenses. If you appear to be getting nowhere, you will need to write to the following address -

Correspondence, Complaints and Litigation Unit
H.M. Courts and Tribunals Service
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ

BB...I am somewhat surprised to see that you are providing this contact point.

The MOJ Litigation Team are hardly going to be agreeing to ANY reimbursement of costs and expenses in this particular case and you will know as well as I do that this contact address is commonly given to debtors on another forum. And yet.....there has not been any evidence whatsoever that this dept had settled a single 'redress' claim. Instead, you will commonly be told that such 'redress' claims were ALL subject to a so called 'gagging order'. Debtors should not fall for this nonsense.

[Milo]

Re: Wrongly accused of a fine from Marston Group

Hi all,

I am in desperate need of help, I received a letter from Marstons Group in April of this year claiming that I owed them around £600 for a fine from Greater Manchester Court. I have never been to Manchester and had no idea what it was about and so assumed it was spam. I attempted to call them but was unsuccessful so went to CAB. They told me to write to them asking for information about the case.

I wrote the letter to Marstons but as this was not something I had done I left it aside. Marstons wrote back in May claiming that i needed to get all relevant information from Manchester Court and that the fine was still pending.

I was unfortunately not in the country when this letter arrived and on 23rd July 2014 bailiffs arrived at my flat. They demanded for £867 and said they would force entry and take my furniture if it was not paid. I panicked and paid the full amount.

I then got in contact with Manchester court who then told me to call the magistrates court in Bolton - they then explained that a train fine was issued under my name in Rochdale and all correspondence was sent to an address in West Yorkshire (I have no connection with West Yorkshire)

I have since made a statutory declaration to say that i have never been to Rochdale and on the day the fine was issued I was at work in London. I now need to go to Bolton to clear my name.

But i am still £869 out of pocket and needed to buy train tickets to Bolton and hotel accommodation and take time off work. How do I get this money back?

It seems that when Marstons Group bought this case from Bolton Magistrates court they chose my address and decided that I was to pay somebody else's fine.

I have no idea what to do. Please any advice would be really helpful.

Thanks

Your query is rather complicated and I am very confused as to WHY you are saying that you 'need to go to Bolton to clear your name'. This is almost certainly NOT the case and if the court have told you that this is so they are sadly wrong.

From reading your question it would seem that your name had been given by somebody when they had been stopped on a train and a wrong address had been given. Sadly, this is a frequent problem and I personally had an identical situation around 5 or 6 years ago when my own son received a Further Steps Notice from the court regarding a 'fine' for travelling on a train without a valid ticket. At the time my son was living 150 miles from our home as he was boarding at School. The enquiries with the court established that 'my son' had travelled from London to a small station on the outskirts of Gloucester. I did not even recognise the name of the station...although my son did and it was discovered that the 'person' who had been caught was a young lad in my son's own boarding house and he had provided my son's name and address when stopped on the train. That same person did the very same to two other people at the School. Naturally we arranged a Statutory Declaration and the matter was closed (although further action was taken against the young lad by the Headmaster!!) It beggars belief that train inspectors do not request proof of identity (and address).

Sadly, the court will not be too sympathetic with you given that you had not addressed this matter at an earlier stage when first contacted by Marston (who by the way do NOT purchase the debts from the Courts).

You say that you have a Statutory Declaration and from your post I am assuming that you are of the opinion that you will need to travel to Bolton to have this heard. In fact this is not the case and instead, Bolton would need to transfer the file to your local Magistrate Court.

You could possibly encounter another problem and this is that a Statutory Declaration should normally only be accepted by the court if made within 21 days of 'becoming aware of the event'. The 'starting point' for when the 21 days should apply appears to be when advised in May to contact Manchester Magistrates Court.

The Magistrates have 'discretion' to allow further time and it is for you to explain why you failed to apply for a SD at that time. Given that it seems a clear case of mistaken identity I would hope that common sense prevails and the court are willing to agree your 'late' application.

The CORRECT course of action is for you to make an appointment at your LOCAL Magistrates Court to hear a Statutory Declaration and that court will then apply to Bolton to request a transfer of the file.

You do NOT need to travel to Bolton to 'clear your name'.

If the court agree to accept your statutory declaration 'outside of the 21 day period' then the court will refund the amount of the fine and will instruct Marston Group to refund the balance.

Please feel free to post back with any further queries.

[Stephen_T]

Re: Wrongly accused of a fine from Marston Group

Hi Milo

I think you have misunderstood the post - I have already made a statutory declaration at my local magistrates and it was accepted despite the fact that i was outside of the '21 days of becoming aware of the event' The judge then made an appointment for me to go to Bolton on 22nd August. So my issue is that I now have to go to Bolton by train and pay for a hotel as the hearing is at 9am.

I apparently have to go to court in Bolton as the original case was heard there and then i will be able to clear my name as at the moment this is going to effect my credit rating.

The situation is incredibly stressful and i don't understand why i have to pay to go to Bolton for a case that has nothing to do with me.

[Milo]

Re: Wrongly accused of a fine from Marston Group

Hi Milo

I think you have misunderstood the post - I have already made a statutory declaration at my local magistrates and it was accepted despite the fact that i was outside of the '21 days of becoming aware of the event' The judge then made an appointment for me to go to Bolton on 22nd August. So my issue is that I now have to go to Bolton by train and pay for a hotel as the hearing is at 9am.

I apparently have to go to court in Bolton as the original case was heard there and then i will be able to clear my name as at the moment this is going to effect my credit rating.

The situation is incredibly stressful and i don't understand why i have to pay to go to Bolton for a case that has nothing to do with me.

Stephen T

Thank you so much for returning. I do apologise. I did not read into your post that the court had accepted your Statutory Declaration. In that case...well done.

I am now confused further as to the reason WHY the Magistrates Court are saying that you have to go to Bolton Magistrates on 22nd August.

The effect of accepting the Statutory Declaration is that the warrant is revoked. If for instance (which does not apply in your case) you had penalty points imposed on your driving licence (normally for speeding offences ) then acceptance of a valid Statutory Declaration will mean that the penalty points will be re-instated.

When a court fine is issued ONE of the 'Further Steps' that the Fines officer can take is to register the fine on the register of County Court Judgments. By saying that your credit rating is affected I am assuming that you have evidence that such a step has taken place. If this the case?

Did the Magistrate give you a copy of Statutory Declaration signed by the Magistrate ( as confirmation that it has been accepted?)

By the Magistrate accepting the Statutory Declaration that is the matter closed and the court will then advise Registry Trust and if the fine had been registered against your records, that entry will be removed.

Can you explain exactly WHY the Magistrate made an appointment for you to go to another court AFTER already revoking the Warrant by accepting the Statutory Declaration?