HCEO

[sheshee]

I had a ccj for tv licence to the amount of £325 , this has been passed to HCEO with their costs which is now £650. I thought HCEO's only took on debts over £600, so by adding their own fees I am now in their hands, Is this right, or ethically correct? Help please:tinysmile_aha_t:

[josephbloggs]

Re: HCEO

this will be a magistrates court fine, warrant of control.
it will be certificated enforcement agents not high court enforcement officers.
the logo will likely say marstons/collectica/swift/excel certificated enforcement agents and hceo's. its just the logo.

[sheshee]

Re: HCEO

it is Marstons, do they have the right to enter my home ? He arrived thursday 29th oct,while I was at work with a Removal Notice, and early on monday morning 3 nov at 7.30 am , silently slipped an unaddressed and nameless envelope through the letterbox (we were all up and have 4 dogs) and didn't hear a thing ... with a 2 day removal notice !! I phoned the number and he ws rude and nasty told me i should start ringing friends and family for the money.

[sheshee]

Re: HCEO

..also meant to add I didn't get a first enforcement notice, and only been given 6 days !!

[josephbloggs]

Re: HCEO

do they have the right to enter my home ? - yes, in certain circumstances.

tribunals, courts & enforcement act 2007, schedule 12 part 18 (b)
he is acting under an enforcement power conferred by a warrant of control under section 76(1) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 (c. 43) for the recovery of a sum adjudged to be paid by a conviction;

the warrant of control allows for reasonable force for entry however, the following criteria must of been met:-
-it must be at the address on the warrant
-there must of been an element of refusal to pay (includes ignoring it)
-hmcts must be ok with it (doesnt require a seperate warrant contrary to popular belief)
-there must be sufficient assets to cover the debt, costs and extra costs involved
-the police will have to be in attendance.
-executor of the warrant must be a certificated enforcement agent
-reasonable force can be used means a locksmith, not against the debtor themselves.

[sheshee]

Re: HCEO

oh, so no point in refusing entry tomorrow then? But he's guven me just 6 daysto sort it our

[Kati]

Re: HCEO

I'm sure I will be corrcted if I am wrong ... but surely you don't have to let them in?!?
Are you wanting to come to an arrangement to pay? This can be done just as easily on the doorstep as in the living room
K x

[josephbloggs]

Re: HCEO

the seven days you are referring to is the notice of enforcement, and this will of been sent by marstons office, not the enforcement agent himself.
that is when £75 is added as the compliance stage fee, giving you time - 7 days, to pay or come to an arrangement with their offices.
this letter has a binding effect on your goods, so you are not allowed to sell, dispose of, or change ownership of your assets whilst the warrant is in force. - TCE 2007 (4) & (5).
as the enforcement stage has begun and you have had a visit, you have the £235 visit fee on as well. any further time to pay is purely at the discretion of the enforcement agent him/herself.
if they re-attend with the intention of removing goods, they can add another £110 on as well.

As far as refusing entry, that is up to you, however i have given you the info as set out in the regulations, and made you aware of the possible outcome of non payment.
I will add, that forced entry is rare, and not used very often at all.

[sheshee]

Re: HCEO

Kati, apparently becuse its a warrant of control I must , but they've not gone through the proper procedure, and not sure waht to do. I recieved no Enforcement Notice from them, and first I knew was thursday last week, with a removals notice, then a 2 day notice (handwritten) on a Marston Headed A5 official card with details, coming tomorrow ...5 days!! as apparently the first day doesn't count as does sunday ...

[Guest]

Re: HCEO

Was you aware of the fine? Did you actually attend court? Did you ever admit to not having a licence?

If you didn't receive the notice of enforcement (NoE), you need to do a Statutory Declaration today.

Not actually sending the NoE is a favoured tactic of the bailiff, especially Marston's.

Don't let them in at this stage. Bailiffs collecting certain magistrates’ court fines, have the power to break into your home and other premises to take your goods, even if they have not been into your home before. The rules say this power should only be used if it is reasonable to do so. It is not likely that the bailiffs will use force to break in, but it is possible under the rules.

[Milo]

Re: HCEO

Kati, apparently becuse its a warrant of control I must , but they've not gone through the proper procedure, and not sure waht to do. I recieved no Enforcement Notice from them, and first I knew was thursday last week, with a removals notice, then a 2 day notice (handwritten) on a Marston Headed A5 official card with details, coming tomorrow ...5 days!! as apparently the first day doesn't count as does sunday ...

The government are seeking to reduce the almost £1 billion owed in unpaid court fines and yours in one of many thousands...the vast majority of which relate to dreadful TV licence fines.

With court fines there is the right to force entry and although this is supposed to be used very rarely the reality of the matter is that it is used. The problem with court fines as well is that if the debt has got as far as a personal visit it is so much more difficult to get a payment arrangement set up given that 'supposedly' all previous notices were ignored.

For example, you should have received a summons and if you had not responded the matter would have been decided in your absence and you should have received a Notice of Fine/Collection Order.

If payment was still not forthcoming or a payment proposal made you should have received a Further Steps Notice from the court. The is a legal document and is a final opportunity to address the matter and a warning is provided on that notice a warrant of control will be issued and additional costs of 'up to' £310 will be applicable.

If you had not received the above notice from the court and had not also received an initial letter from Marston Group then it is usually the case that all documents had been sent to a wrong address. If so, you need to contact the Magistrates Court and a Statutory Declaration can be made. Changes to statutory declarations have recently been made.

[sheshee]

Re: HCEO

thankyou Milo, I'm not too good with these official ways, so I phone up Mgistrates with the statutory declaration, do I speak with a clerk or receptionist? And no, apart from knowing it went to court after recieving a letter with the fine, I have recieved no other communication regarding this matter , apart from Marstons turning up when I wasn''t there. No Enforcement Notice has arrived at this address...saying that a lot of my mail goes missing, due to the fact there are around 3 places in this vicinity with the same or similar first line of address .

[Guest]

Re: HCEO

thankyou Milo, I'm not too good with these official ways, so I phone up Mgistrates with the statutory declaration, do I speak with a clerk or receptionist? And no, apart from knowing it went to court after recieving a letter with the fine, I have recieved no other communication regarding this matter , apart from Marstons turning up when I wasn''t there. No Enforcement Notice has arrived at this address...saying that a lot of my mail goes missing, due to the fact there are around 3 places in this vicinity with the same or similar first line of address .

The stat dec needs to be witnessed by a solicitor (costs £5) and this will need to be sent to the court. If you didn't attend the original court hearing then they clearly haven't done a means test before applying the fine.

Ask the court for the address they sent any correspondence to.

Do you work, or are you on any benefits? If you have a low income or are on benefits, your original fine may be reduced.

[Milo]

Re: HCEO

thankyou Milo, I'm not too good with these official ways, so I phone up Mgistrates with the statutory declaration, do I speak with a clerk or receptionist? And no, apart from knowing it went to court after recieving a letter with the fine, I have recieved no other communication regarding this matter , apart from Marstons turning up when I wasn''t there. No Enforcement Notice has arrived at this address...saying that a lot of my mail goes missing, due to the fact there are around 3 places in this vicinity with the same or similar first line of address .

Having answered many thousands of questions on various forums I have learned the importance of asking some background information before responding and your answer above is proof of the importance of this given that you have now mentioned that you had indeed been aware of the court fine as you state that you had received a letter from the court. A Statutory Declaration can only be made in cases where you had not been aware of the offence.

After receiving notice of the fine from the court did you contact the court?

Did you make any payments to the court in relation to the fine?

Did you receive a Further Steps Notice?

PS: It may be possible that you fall into the category of 'vulnerable' and this can be looked at shortly. If you could respond asap that would be great.

PS: Try not to worry....

[sheshee]

Re: HCEO

I have spoken with the court regarding the initial hearing and fine, and spoken truthfully, was told to contact the local magistrates court which I have done. Pretty helpful people might I add, been advised they don't think I'm able to get Statutory Declaration, but the court may be able to help in another way. Advised to and have sent email to the court legal representative with the details surrounding Marstons failure to send an Enforcement order and why it spiralled to this point, by not allowing me to set up a payment plan with them. I am at the moment awaiting an email back from the court letting me know what direction I now should take .
I am worrying though