Appeal with the bailiffs

[keef82]

Hi All,

I had a speeding fine from a few years ago. I had missed it and it caught up with me this year. I had filled an declaration of earnings and was paying it off monthly. I missed a payment and got a letter from the court asking for it to be paid in full. I waited until my payday and went online and paid the fine in full £170.
I never heard from anyone for another three weeks when a Marston Enforcement agent called at my house saying he had a warrant of control for the amount of £310. (£75 compliance stage and £235 enforcement stage) I did not owe any of the original fine, just bailiff charges. I asked for some time to speak to the courts. He gave me two days. I contacted the court and they said that my fine was paid in full but it went to Marstons the day before I paid it.
I contacted the enforcement agent and explained the situation and that I hadn't got any information about the fee's. He said that if I didn't pay he would get a locksmith and come a seize my goods, this would incur another charge. I asked if he could legally do this to recover the bailiff fees as the court fine had already been paid. he said he could. He said my only option was to pay the fine then I had 14 days to appeal it. Normally I would not but as I share my home with another person I felt it was inappropriate to force them to live under the threat of a bailiff so I paid the £310.
I have contacted Marston and said I want to appeal, they directed me to the email address customer.care@marstongroup.co.uk
Can anyone with more knowledge in this area assist me in what information I should include in this appeal?

Thanks

[Sir Vere Brayne d'Emmidge]

Re: Appeal with the bailiffs

I am afraid there isn't much you can do. Once the warrant is issued (the day before you paid the outstanding amount to Court) £75.00 is added.

When you paid the Court £170.00 the Court would have forwarded that money to Marston . . . . now comes the tricky bit:

Marston kept £75.00 of that payment and split the £95.00 balance like this: £38.50 to their clients' account and £56.50 into Marston own coffers.

When you paid the £310.00 it cleared the £126.50 due to Court and £183.50 went to Marston.

Since the change of legislation April 2014 until the last penny due on a Warrant of Control the original fine is not paid in full.

You can write to Marston, but you won't get a reply wich is going to make you happy.

This is the second down thread in the stickies: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ion-under-TCGR

[Milo]

Re: Appeal with the bailiffs

Hi All,

I had a speeding fine from a few years ago. I had missed it and it caught up with me this year. I had filled an declaration of earnings and was paying it off monthly. I missed a payment and got a letter from the court asking for it to be paid in full. I waited until my payday and went online and paid the fine in full £170.Thanks

You have received an excellent reply from Sir Vere but I will add a further few points.

The letter that you received from the court should have been a Further Steps Notice. That notice is a statutory one outlining the 'further steps' that WILL be taken by the Fines Officer if payment is not made within the deadline given (10 working days). Although there are a range of 'further steps' than can be imposed, the most common step is to issue a warrant of control.

The warrant would have been transferred electronically to Martson's and the Compliance Fee of £75 would then be added.

Every day courts around the country are sending out identical letters to debtors who make payments direct to the court to advise them that their payment has been transferred to either Marston's, Collectica, Excel or Swift and that bailiff fees must be paid to settle the debt.

From your post you appear to be saying that you did not receive any correspondence at all and that the visit from the bailiff was a surprise. As mentioned, you should have received a letter from the court advising that your payment had been transferred to Marstons. In addition, you should have received a statutory Notice of Enforcement from Marston Group advising that they were in receipt of the warrant of control.

As you had not received correspondence from two separate sources you need to check with the court that your address is recorded correctly.

[keef82]

Re: Appeal with the bailiffs

Thanks for the reply's guys.

Looks like there is nothing to appeal and I'll have to take the hit on it.

Seems very dodgy that the court can take a payment made to them and give it to a third party without the payers consent.

[Milo]

Re: Appeal with the bailiffs

Thanks for the reply's guys.

Looks like there is nothing to appeal and I'll have to take the hit on it.

Seems very dodgy that the court can take a payment made to them and give it to a third party without the payers consent.

In my post yesterday I did say that you should call the court to make further enquiries. This is important as you should have received a letter from them after making payment (and certainly one from Marston Group as well).

Since the new regulations came into effect in April 2014 it has been the case that once a warrant has been authorised by the Fines Officer that any payment made to the court to settle the fine amount only will result in a letter being sent by the court advising that the payment has been forwarded to Marston Group/Collectica etc and advising how to make contact with the company. If you had contacted Marston's after receiving that letter the only additional fee that you would have been liable for would have been the Compliance Fee of £75.

The letter from the court would normally have advised you of the relevant legal case (being R v Hereford and Worcester Magistrates' Court ex part MacRae).

Conflicting opinion exists about this case but the Magistrates Courts opinion (and indeed that of earlier Stones Justice Manuals) is that Lord Justice Simon Brown's comment below means that once a warrant is in the hands of a bailiff that it can only be cancelled or withdrawn if a statutory declaration is accepted.

"once the warrant was issued the court was functors officio (in other words had finished its job and had no more to do with it). It followed that the justices had no jurisdiction at that stage to suspend the operation of the warrant, the matter had by then left their hands".

PS: Out of interest, how many days after receiving the Further Steps Notice did you make payment to the court?