Enforcement agent

[Fargo]

Door rings this morning at 08:55

Marston recovery agent stood there saying I owe £619 for an unpaid Dartford crossing both ways in a day (£6) which I seemingly forgot to pay a year ago.

Because of a house move I have my post redirected and genuinely have never received any letters from them.

Agent was very polite and explained things but told him I’d ring him Friday as was too busy now to sort.

Do I just pay the hideous £619 and forget about it or is there anyway to lessen the debt? Stupid to have forgotten to pay it and fault is on me but what a crazy amount of money for £6 I didn’t pay for some reason.

 

[old'un]

Don’t they need a court order before they can enter and remove goods?

To me this just looks like a debt collector trying it on, might pay you to talk to a solicitor.

[welsh1]

11 minutes ago, old'un said:

Don’t they need a court order before they can enter and remove goods?

To me this just looks like a debt collector trying it on, might pay you to talk to a solicitor.

This is real they have a court order to seize goods, but they cannot force entry to your house

 

29 minutes ago, Fargo said:

Door rings this morning at 08:55

Marston recovery agent stood there saying I owe £619 for an unpaid Dartford crossing both ways in a day (£6) which I seemingly forgot to pay a year ago.

Because of a house move I have my post redirected and genuinely have never received any letters from them.

Agent was very polite and explained things but told him I’d ring him Friday as was too busy now to sort.

Do I just pay the hideous £619 and forget about it or is there anyway to lessen the debt? Stupid to have forgotten to pay it and fault is on me but what a crazy amount of money for £6 I didn’t pay for some reason.

 

Have they left you any paperwork apart from this with a breakdown of their fees?
I have been out of the game for a while and the fee structure has changed but looking at various sites that figure may be wrong, here is one site explaining fees,I would ask for a breakdown of their costs.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/action-your-creditor-can-take/bailiffs/how-bailiffs-should-treat-you/check-bailiffs-fees/

Google forms TE7 and TE9 fill them in and email them to the enforcement centre (it's on the bottom of the form), do this asap, it will stop all enforcement while your appeal is ongoing, if you win you will still have a debt but it will be reduced, if you lose you will need to make arrangements to pay the bailiff company, they usually will take monthly payments.
Do all correspondance with the bailiff company by email or letter, do not have conversations on phone (they will not remember them, it is not in their interest to remember them)

 

[Fargo]

12 minutes ago, welsh1 said:

This is real they have a court order to seize goods, but they cannot force entry to your house

 

Have they left you any paperwork apart from this with a breakdown of their fees?
I have been out of the game for a while and the fee structure has changed but looking at various sites that figure may be wrong, here is one site explaining fees,I would ask for a breakdown of their costs.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/action-your-creditor-can-take/bailiffs/how-bailiffs-should-treat-you/check-bailiffs-fees/

Google forms TE7 and TE9 fill them in and email them to the enforcement centre (it's on the bottom of the form), do this asap, it will stop all enforcement while your appeal is ongoing, if you win you will still have a debt but it will be reduced, if you lose you will need to make arrangements to pay the bailiff company, they usually will take monthly payments.
Do all correspondance with the bailiff company by email or letter, do not have conversations on phone (they will not remember them, it is not in their interest to remember them)

 

Thank you sir

Just now, Fargo said:

Thank you sir

And no just this paper and asking me to pay today or “ he’ll have come back”

[welsh1]

4 minutes ago, Fargo said:

Thank you sir

And no just this paper and asking me to pay today or “ he’ll have come back”

What was his name? you can check to see if he holds a bailiff certificate to enforce orders from the court, sometimes they slip up and forget to renew or send out letter droppers who are not certificated to deliver lots of slips like yours in that case they could not legally charge enforcement fees.

[countryman]

I don’t have advice but if this is genuine what a Country we have now, that amount is utterly ridiculous for such a small amount you owe. I admit I am bitter at the moment as I have a large tax bill looming in January for the Government to give away to the wrong people.

[PeterHenry]

If there's a court order, wouldn't there need to have been service?

In that case, it wouldn't be just the initial letter about the fine you didn't receive - it would have been the served court documents as well.

That's also perhaps a procedural ground you may be able to dispute on?

*I'd be inclined to try and track down details of the court order from an independent source.

Edited October 4, 2023 by PeterHenry

[Fargo]

17 minutes ago, welsh1 said:

What was his name? you can check to see if he holds a bailiff certificate to enforce orders from the court, sometimes they slip up and forget to renew or send out letter droppers who are not certificated to deliver lots of slips like yours in that case they could not legally charge enforcement fees.

No ID given or badge on display and just a first name given. 

9 minutes ago, countryman said:

I don’t have advice but if this is genuine what a Country we have now, that amount is utterly ridiculous for such a small amount you owe. I admit I am bitter at the moment as I have a large tax bill looming in January for the Government to give away to the wrong people.

Very genuine.

 

[welsh1]

6 minutes ago, Fargo said:

No ID given or badge on display and just a first name given. 

Very genuine.

 

I would be asking Marston's for his full name and a copy of his certificate.
 

[12gauge82]

Disgraceful. Funny how they can't find you to pay the measly sum of 6 quid, but all of a sudden locate you no problem at all once it's completely overinflated to a ludicrous amount.

I really don't know how anyone could deliver a debt like that for their job, my principles wouldn't allow it.

[discobob]

5 minutes ago, 12gauge82 said:

Disgraceful. Funny how they can't find you to pay the measly sum of 6 quid, but all of a sudden locate you no problem at all once it's completely overinflated to a ludicrous amount.

I really don't know how anyone could deliver a debt like that for their job, my principles wouldn't allow it.

Plenty that will

did you know that the TEC is a court without a judge as well??

[12gauge82]

1 hour ago, discobob said:

Plenty that will

did you know that the TEC is a court without a judge as well??

No I didn't.

Its no wonder people are fed up. Practically used as cattle and a government that doesn't care about them.

[bottletopbill]

Pay it then quibble it as they will add extra fees for admin and  for coming back.

This is now English life you pay up all the time.

 

ONLY my own veiws

[discobob]

1 hour ago, 12gauge82 said:

No I didn't.

Its no wonder people are fed up. Practically used as cattle and a government that doesn't care about them.

 

1 hour ago, bottletopbill said:

Pay it then quibble it as they will add extra fees for admin and  for coming back.

This is now English life you pay up all the time.

 

ONLY my own veiws

I was a lifelong conservative - but it is all down to the privatisation of everything.

Forget Dartford or Jubilee bridge being "The Council" - it is Emovis that has been granted the rights to identify as the council

[McSpredder]

6 hours ago, Fargo said:

..... an unpaid Dartford crossing both ways in a day (£6) which I seemingly forgot to pay a year ago.

Because of a house move I have my post redirected and genuinely have never received any letters from them.

Perhaps worth considering:

• Is it probable that you did actually make the crossings on that day?
• Have you been provided with copies of the original demand and any reminders?
• What dates are shown on those copies, and to which address were they sent?
• Was post being redirected by Royal Mail, or was there just an informal arrangement with another person?

[Cranfield]

Not good news.
They will/should have a photo of your vehicle with the time and date of the crossing.
Its probable they will have found your address via the DVLC, and any delay you made in notifying the DVLC, will have had an effect on the delay in serving you this notice.
The small print on the T&C's will spell out the acceleration rate of the charge, so its probably all legit.

Consult a Solicitor, Citizens Advice, or try spelling out the circumstances to the Enforcement Agency and plead for mercy.

I don't think your predicament is anything to do with the Conservative Party , or the Government, despite what some posters think.🙂

[welsh1]

32 minutes ago, Cranfield said:

Not good news.
They will/should have a photo of your vehicle with the time and date of the crossing.
Its probable they will have found your address via the DVLC, and any delay you made in notifying the DVLC, will have had an effect on the delay in serving you this notice.
The small print on the T&C's will spell out the acceleration rate of the charge, so its probably all legit.

Consult a Solicitor, Citizens Advice, or try spelling out the circumstances to the Enforcement Agency and plead for mercy.

I don't think your predicament is anything to do with the Conservative Party , or the Government, despite what some posters think.🙂

If you mean marstons then it will fall on deaf ears. They will only listen to the courts or the person issuing the original fine (national highways).

They will have found his address through the electoral role and DVLA.

[Wymondley]

5 hours ago, 12gauge82 said:

Disgraceful. Funny how they can't find you to pay the measly sum of 6 quid, but all of a sudden locate you no problem at all once it's completely overinflated to a ludicrous amount.

I really don't know how anyone could deliver a debt like that for their job, my principles wouldn't allow it.

Because some people spend their lives just not paying for the things the rest of us do, often because they just don't want to, not because they can't afford to.

In the end everyone ends up paying, that's why debts need enforcing and that also has a cost.

I'm not suggesting Fargo has deliberately evaded paying, but it's happened and he's in the system now.

 

[12gauge82]

2 hours ago, Wymondley said:

Because some people spend their lives just not paying for the things the rest of us do, often because they just don't want to, not because they can't afford to.

In the end everyone ends up paying, that's why debts need enforcing and that also has a cost.

I'm not suggesting Fargo has deliberately evaded paying, but it's happened and he's in the system now.

 

Here's the problem with that. The people who go about not paying for things will not pay often without consequences. They won't pay the bailiffs either and will have nothing for them to take. The courts are unlikely to jail them and even if they do they've got very little to loose by it, they'll have been in before, have nothing outside to loose and will be like a boys club inside for the ridiculously low number of days they'll spend in there.

I think the problem is the world really doesn't work for those of us that work, we're born into a system that milks us dry and then we're chucked away when no longer any use to the system.

 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

I reckon it is done as an incentive to pay.

I keep my Dartag account in credit.

[Wymondley]

51 minutes ago, 12gauge82 said:

Here's the problem with that. The people who go about not paying for things will not pay often without consequences. They won't pay the bailiffs either and will have nothing for them to take. The courts are unlikely to jail them and even if they do they've got very little to loose by it, they'll have been in before, have nothing outside to loose and will be like a boys club inside for the ridiculously low number of days they'll spend in there.

I think the problem is the world really doesn't work for those of us that work, we're born into a system that milks us dry and then we're chucked away when no longer any use to the system.

 

I could have lost my house because of a business debt, the fact the Bailiffs were able to carry out enforcement prevented that.

The person concerned had more than adequate funds to settle, they ran their business constantly running up bills and avoiding payment, through arrogance.

They're not alone in this behavior, so I'm glad a system exists to enforce debts.

It's unfortunate that through an oversight Fargo is now in that system.

[Lloyd90]

9 hours ago, 12gauge82 said:

Disgraceful. Funny how they can't find you to pay the measly sum of 6 quid, but all of a sudden locate you no problem at all once it's completely overinflated to a ludicrous amount.

I really don't know how anyone could deliver a debt like that for their job, my principles wouldn't allow it.

I do think on the rare occasion that the American legal system has this right, in that (I believe) you have to be personally served a notice of someone taking you to court. 
 

The idea they can send all notifications etc to an old address, take you to court, win on the basis you didn’t turn up (as you had no idea it was happening) but then suddenly be able to find you no problem once they have the claim on the vastly inflated sum is very wrong in my view. 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

1 minute ago, Lloyd90 said:

I do think on the rare occasion that the American legal system has this right, in that (I believe) you have to be personally served a notice of someone taking you to court. 
 

The idea they can send all notifications etc to an old address, take you to court, win on the basis you didn’t turn up (as you had no idea it was happening) but then suddenly be able to find you no problem once they have the claim on the vastly inflated sum is very wrong in my view. 

Surely it is YOUR responsibility to keep your address up to date with any and ALL agencies?

[Lloyd90]

1 minute ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Surely it is YOUR responsibility to keep your address up to date with any and ALL agencies?

Some of these companies prey on the fact that they are sending the letters etc to the wrong address. 
 

As soon as they’ve won on a technicality they have no problem finding the right address. 
 

[ph5172]

A friend of mine had a parking fine (well his wife did) she ignored it and ignored it. 
In the end they said pay up or we will CCJ you. 
 

he took some advice and paid up. 
 

in not sure the ins and outs but that was the basic story he told us