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collectica demand for already paid fine

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  • collectica demand for already paid fine

    Hi, I hope somebody will be able to help us.
    My husband has a court fine, which he paid off about 4 years ago in part payments to company called Phillips. We have not heard from them for years, in a mean time we moved house and to be honest we forgot about the whole situation as it was paid off in full.
    Just over a month ago my husband has received a message on his mobile from Collectica, who demanded £1500 for unpaid fine. We have never received any letters on the old address (we were living there for 3 years after the debt was paid off), nor to the new address.
    We found out that the Phillips was either taken over or merged with Collectica and just assumed that there is a mistake in their data base.
    My husband called the Court the fee was issued by and confirmed that it was paid in full. We contacted the Collectica and provide them with a ref no given by court and they confirmed it was a mistake on their behalf.
    We just received Removal visit note form collecticas enforcement agent who is demanding £1510 paid in full or may remove goods even in our absence.
    What should we do? Is there any way to complain to court that they demanding another payment? Can they enter our property when we are not at home? We are renting an apartment - can they contact our landlord to gain access?
    Has anybody been in a similar situation?
    Please help - Magda

  • #2
    Re: collectica demand for already paid fine

    Contact the court manager again, and say that Collecticrap are still insisting that the fine is still active to the tune of £1500 or so including various fees, and that unless it is resolved you will be sending a Formal Complaint to the court manager copied to MP, it might be worth calling in to the court if it is local with copies of all the paperwork (keep the originals safe) and ask them what is going on.

    A letter of complaint to Collectica with the evidence of payment, copied to MP with this fact clear in the complaint.

    Other Beagles will no doubt be along soon with better advice.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: collectica demand for already paid fine

      Thank you so much bizzybob. That what we are planing to do. We don't have any paperwork confirming the full payment. I don't think we ever received any. My husband was using an online system to make a payments. But we can't login to Philips website as they don't exist any more to get any confirmation.
      I slept maybe one hour, because I am so worried that the EA will try to get in when we are at work and I am so angry with Collectica. I don't understand how they can have such a mess that they are asking now again for money we paid years ago (or is it done in purpose to push people to make extra paymants)?!
      I'm grateful for you advice. Thank you

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: collectica demand for already paid fine

        You say in your iniial post that the court confirmed that the fine had been paid in full. It is vital that you speak with the court to find out what is going so.

        The problem that you have is that Collectica (like all bailiff companies) cannot 'go behind the warrant' and are under a duty to the court to enforce the warrant. It is therefore for the court and not Collectica ot sort this mess out.

        In fact Philips was acquired by Serco on October 2011. Collectica are part of their group of companies.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: collectica demand for already paid fine

          A quick update: It was actually the court who has duplicated the warrant. They confirmed and apologised. They promised to sort it out with Collectica. Lets hope that it is an end of it.
          We contacted Collectica and the EA with the reference number.
          Does it mean that my husbands credit score will be affected for longer now? Is there anything we could do to avoid that?
          Thank you all for your advice on the forum and through private msgs. It so good to know that there are people there, who take their time to help others for free!!! Thank you so much!!!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: collectica demand for already paid fine

            Originally posted by Magdan View Post

            Does it mean that my husbands credit score will be affected for longer now? Is there anything we could do to avoid that?
            When a court fine remains unpaid the Fines Officer has discretion to follow one or more of a series of 'Further Steps' to enforce the debt. The most common 'step' is to issue a Warrant of Control. Another 'step' is to register the unpaid fine with Registry Trust. However......I have never once come across a case yet of this happening. Has your hubby checked his credit file with Equifax etc and is this fine recorded?

            I would be very interested to know.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: collectica demand for already paid fine

              By the sound of it, there needs to be an urgent audit carried out at the court involved in Magdan's husband's case. Given, human beings do make errors - they wouldn't be human if they did not - but where there is a high incidence of the errors as in Magdan's husband's case, or a higher-than-average incidence, then this needs looking into as a matter of priority.
              Life is a journey on which we all travel, sometimes together, but never alone.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: collectica demand for already paid fine

                We will be checking his credit score and I will post if it is affected by this error. Milo please be patient however because we are so busy recently that probably will need to look into this over the wknd.
                Bluebottle - is the audit something we should enquire about or is it done by the court if they have x amount of errors?
                I work in pharmacy and we have random audits done by the industry or if we notice a pattern or increased amount of errors we carry one ourself. Does it work on the same principle in courts?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: collectica demand for already paid fine

                  Originally posted by Magdan View Post
                  Bluebottle - is the audit something we should enquire about or is it done by the court if they have x amount of errors? I work in pharmacy and we have random audits done by the industry or if we notice a pattern or increased amount of errors we carry one ourself. Does it work on the same principle in courts?
                  Hi Magdan,

                  Working in a pharmacy, you will know that some drugs are Controlled Drugs, some are Prescription Only and others can be purchased over the counter. I suspect the audits carried out where you work would be to ensure the Controlled and Prescription Only drugs are being dispensed and stored in accordance with relevant legislation.

                  Where a court would be concerned, if it was noticed that the number of Distress Warrants being issued in error was abnormally high or higher-than-average when compared against another court with a similar caseload, this might indicate that -

                  a. correct procedures are not being complied with; or
                  b. court records are not being kept up to date; or
                  c. corrupt or incompetent court staff.

                  If you wished to find out how many Distress Warrants had been issued in error for one court over, say, a period of one year, you would need to apply to the Data Access Unit at H.M. Courts and Tribunals Services under the Freedom of Information Act (FIOA Request).
                  Life is a journey on which we all travel, sometimes together, but never alone.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: collectica demand for already paid fine

                    Hi Bluebottle.
                    Thank you so much for as always super quick reply. I don't think we will be checking that. I would hate for anybody else going through the stress and confusion we went through, but I know so little (or rather nothing) about the law, I wouldn't know what to do with that info.
                    Thank you again for your help via private message. Keep up the good work you doing by shearing your knowledge with those who need help and guidance.
                    All the best
                    Magda

                    Comment

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