To ask if they can do this

[Moneyandworry]

Got a bailiff letter 2 weeks ago demanding £430. Had to take out a payday loan to pay it.

Now they have written again to say I owed another £157. And didn't pay it. And the debt has gone up to £235? Surely they can't do this.

Call the bailiff. Request a payment plan. From what I understand they will typically work with you to put one in place as they would rather you are attempting to clear the debt over time than simply ignoring it. Have a look at the money saving expert website - there is lots of advice there about dealing with this sort of thing.

Well that's why you need to find out what you've paid already, and what you're now being asked to pay - nobody can say if the £230 should be paid without knowing what charges have already been levied.

No, I paid the amount that was asked for on the letter (£420) now they want more. I know what I paid already Bailey. £420. Like I said.

You still need a breakdown to ascertain where the supplementary fees have come from. Did your bill for the £420 make any reference to full and final settlement?

Sooty I had a note through the door. It said how much I owed. So I rang up and asked if he would accept instalments. He said no. So I took out a loan for £300 and paid the £430. I thought that was an end to it.

Do you even actually owe any of the money, OP?

Your posts seem to suggest you just took them bailiff's letter at face value with little to no proof.

It seems bizarre that you'd take out a pay day loan without finding out (a) if it was even your debt (could be someone else with same name, numberplate cloned etc) and (b) what other avenues were available to you. There are TV programmes about this sort of thing, there's the CAB, there's google!

It was me.

I did try to contact the cab but couldn't get through. Then I rang step change. Then rang the bailiff on their advice.

CAB info on bailiffs.

The council won't deal with this now but you can request the bailiff passes it back to them. Best might be an official complaint

Have you ever had a county county claim for the money OP?

It would look just like this (except it's blue it black and white)

*county court

Do you have other paperwork, op? From the council, the courts etc? The way you are writing makes it sound as if the first you'd heard of it was when you saw the note through your door from the bailiff.

I think what pp are trying to ascertain is what the amount you've already paid was for and why they are now asking for more. What does the letter from the bailiff actually say?

Yes, you've paid £420 but you don't seem to know what you were paying for. That's why you need to get a detailed breakdown so you ascertain whether you've paid just the fine, the fine and court fees or the fine, court fees and bailiff charges.

No one can tell you for sure if you still owe more money without you telling them what you've already paid for for.

I think they have to send you the court order before acting on it. There's a useful factsheet on council parking fines at National Debtline. You can also have a webchat with an advisor.
You might have had grounds to appeal, even though you would have been over the 28 days, because reminders were sent to the wrong address. You need to speak to someone who knows about this stuff though; try CAB again or the Debtline.

But if I owed more wouldn't the original note say so?

For instance you wouldn't send a credit card bill for £420 and then say 'actually you still owe £157' :)

I don't think I've had one of those letters but I have moved house. Thank you for your help I do appreciate it.

Maybe ask MN to move your post over to the legal board. But a starting point would be to ork out what you've actually paid, and what it was for. Were you not given any sort of receipt?

It was over the phone and I did have a receipt texted to me.

There are rules that have to be followed but only you can determine if they were followed ir not. this page from the pdf I linked to before says a bit about that. You probably don't feel like concentrating at the moment, but hve a scan through it, maybe even try to have a webchat - you have nothing to lose.

What's slightly worrying is that it's possible to get a Payday loan if you have a Court order against you.

I would suggest physically going to a CAB drop in. Only so much they can do on the phone anyway as they will need to see the letters.
The phones can get very busy as once an adviser takes a call they may be on the phone for several hours. Where are you based? I can look up your nearest CAB if you want. They all run their branches slightly differently