What do bailiffs actually do re: fines?

[Lucy807]

So I owe £180 to the council for going in a bus lane. I know it's petty but I'm having a row with the council because whilst I was appealing the decision I lost the chance to pay the £35. It then went to £70 which is a big chunk of money to me. I only earn £1300 a month, it's all accounted for. It was a genuine mistake, I was in a city I don't know and I had just been to a very difficult visit for work.
I know that's not the point but I was not objecting to paying the fine, I was objecting to not being given the chance to spread it. The whole system is geared around people just having that money to pay the fine immediately whilst if you live pay check to pay check, no savings, it could be that you end up paying more due to just not having the money at the time when you get the letter.
I've been putting all this in emails but no one cares. It's got to the stage where it's £189 now and I still don't have it. They're talking about bailiffs coming and I feel like just saying bring it on, good luck finding £200 worth of stuff in my house. I have two old tellys and that's it.
What do they actually do?

It is head wrecking when you get a fine for an honest mistake, but truthfully if you can't afford to pay a fine you can't afford to drive. It is very hard to make the case that you can maintain, insure, tax and fuel a car, but you can't pay a £35 fine.

You could have started by paying whatever you could afford on the date you received the fine, even if it was only £5 or so, and carried on paying that whilst all these disputes were going on. It would have shown good faith, that you could be relied on to pay regularly, and would have reduced the debt. As it is, it just looks like you've been doing whatever you can to avoid having to pay anything.

If you're working, the creditors may go for an attachment of earnings order whereby money is deducted from your wages before it reaches you. However, that process will itself generate more costs which will be added to your account.

You really need to pay whatever you can TODAY and present a sensible payment plan for the rest.

@Scruffily I tried, the council wouldn't, they said it had to be the full or £70

Always pay and then appeal. Its just not worth it.

@TheYearOfSmallThings but all those things are on direct debit. I need my car for my job as I travel for work

So you could have paid the original amount you are not penalised for being poor you are being penalised for not paying a fine

That's the point, OP didn't have the £35 to pay it originally which she told them at the time

The trouble is, the fine is going to keep going up and up and up. Don't just leave it and think crack on, because before you know it you'll owe hundreds. Nip it in the bud now even if it does mean borrowing the money from someone as this is not an issue that is going to go away.

I also live month to month so I feel your pain and its a nightmare when something unexpected crops up, totally fucks things up.

@Dozycuntlaters thanks x

Every time the bailiffs come they will add £300+ to your bill as a charge for attending your house. Your bill is already 5x more than you could have paid. You need to find a way to pay it before it escalates further.

OP have you spoken to a manger at the council? Honestly, rather than digging your heels in with the injustice you feel, just admit defeat on this occasion and sort the payment out. You will actually feel much better once it’s paid and out your system. Have the council taken it to court? Is there a CCJ against you? What’s the actual legal status at the moment? Just trying to work out who best to speak to to sort out a payment plan.

@Whattodo1610 I've emailed them. The trouble is I can't pay what they want, they will only take £90 today and £90 next month

You made a minor mistake by driving in a bus lane but instead of just paying the fine and learning your lesson you've made a big mistake arguing about it, yet you at the same time admitting you did drive in the bus lane. They will have photographic evidence so no point appealing it. If you don't pay you can expect it to fuck up your credit rating. They can take you to court to get their money. Councils are vicious in recovering money owed to them.

What is their response when you say you simply don’t have this? Have you offered to set up a direct debit, for even £20 per month? What stage are they in the recovery process?

If this happened months ago why did you not put back £10 a month from the beginning? Then you could have offered them that.

If the bailiffs come, they can clamp your car before they knock at the door, early in the morning before most people are up. They can then tell you the fine is £300+ and charge you double that as they charge for the time clamping the car, waiting for you to answer the door and sort out paying the money. If you do not have the money, they will take your car away. This happened to a relative for an unpaid parking fine with bailiffs sent by the Council.
Bailiffs can be civil and fair or they can be brutal. You do not know which you will get.

Do you own the car outright? They will have that swiftly.

It's disgusting how the poor end up paying more than people who have money, it's not right at all.

Bailiffs are amongst the worst people in society (I imagine some on here will know one and want to defend them but don’t bother - their chosen profession damns them), but they can only enforce in a very specific set of circumstances. Mostly it’s around council tax and TV license.

Not to suggest ignoring them at all, there are things that they can do that can seriously mess up your credit score, for example, but if you can hash it out with the council and not the bailiffs then do.

OP hasn’t actually confirmed that bailiffs are on their way .. she said council talked about them .. she hasn’t confirmed any court stages, nothing .. so as far as we know, this is all still at the appeal stage ending, nothing further. @Lucy807 please clarify exactly what you’ve had and from whom … do you have any court letters?

Mostly it’s around council tax and TV license. .. it’s really not! They are just doing a job, whether you like that job or not. But you’re either very naive to think it’s mainly council tax and tv licence .. or you’re just plain ol spouting rubbish.

@Whattodo1610 I've had a letter of enforcement

Speak to Citizens Advice. Let them negotiate for you.

The bailiffs can’t force their way into your house.
These draconian car fines are all about raising money by wasteful and spendthrift councils.
I don’t pay any civil car fines now. If you don’t have to worry about your credit rating there isn’t much they can do.
My car got clamped but my boyfriend just sawed it off and now they don’t bother us.
I wish people would stop being terrified by these iniquitous and unfair charges.

I can advocate for myself but no one's listening. I rang the bailiffs I said that I couldn't afford the 189, he said earlier I could have asked for a payment plan but it's too late now. I asked how could I have known that they would offer me a payment plan as it's not on any of the letters and the only phone number was to an automated payment line which would only process the payment of £189, there was no option to pay less. He just couldn't see my point