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?

Nobody is missing the point! Everyone is telling you how to pay! You’re just not listening 🤷🏻‍♀️

This thread is bonkers. Every single person is missing the point. The Op didn't have £35, the Op tried to set up a payment plan when it was £35. The council refused. The Op still didn't have £35. The fine had gone up... Surprise surprise the Op STILL hadn't got any money.

Edit, the majority are missing the point. In some ways I'm glad most don't know what it's like to be in the bones of your ass.

You went into the bus lane, so you would have been better just paying the £35.

You didn’t, the costs have risen, so work out a payment plan.

I don't think I'm missing the point.

The OP didn't have £35. She now doesn't have £189 (and also doesn't have £90 this month and £90 next month).

I've made some suggestions as to where she could get the £189 (here). Others have made similar suggestions.

I get that it's a horrible situation, but me agreeing that it's a horrible situation (or getting into discussing the fairness/unfairness of it) doesn't help the OP. The OP needs to find £189 somehow before the situation gets even worse.

Sorry, I added most don't get it. It is a terrible situation and posts with suggestions are very helpful. 😊 But the ones saying 'you should've just paid it' or 'pay it straight away' are clearly not helpful.

There is NO payment plan.

If you’ve had a notice of enforcement then extra charges will have been added on to the debt now, and they will have the reg, likely their vans have ANPR and if they see it they will clamp it, fill out a taking control of goods form as a levy to remove and take to auction to recover the payment (so it will sell at much less than what it’s worth), and then you’ll really be stuck. I strongly strongly suggest working with the bailiff to come up with a payment arrangement (over 8-12 weeks) - show them your income and expenditure and while they’re not obliged to agree to one, if you’re not being a dick to them they probably will. I personally wouldn’t work with CAB regarding this, I work in the industry and I’ve seen their interference get people into worse trouble because they haven’t known what they’re on about. I personally would ring the enforcement company, get the mobile number for the bailiff to ring for a chat before the knock on the door. They’ll be sound with you if you are to them - just face it head on

Not quite.

“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”.

Admittedly I have never had a fine for driving in a bus lane but I’ve never known that appealing a charge would result in losing the option to pay the initial, lesser, charge. Others have said this too. If anything, it would give you more time because you’d have the time between sending the appeal and waiting for the response to be added onto the 14 days if I understand it correctly. That’s what I had with my blue badge thing but I understand it may be different in this scenario.

Like we’ve all said, it’s shit. No one is denying that but sadly, this is the sort of thing you need to have in mind when you drive.

I live paycheck to paycheck. I know it's tricky. In this case I'd look at outgoings and pay this rather than something else. Pay your priority bills (rent, council tax and energy) and then see what you can miss. This bill will skyrocket. What was £35 is now 5 times more and it will very quickly get worse.

Sorry you're on this situation OP.
Just be very careful, please don't ignore the letters.
I ended up with a county court judgement (CCJ) in my name due to an unpaid parking fine. This affects your ability to get credit for mortgages, loans etc for quite some time. Six years down the line and it's almost expired but it's been a right royal pain!

By any means. Credit card. Overdraft. Family/friend loan. You said you're a student so ask the uni too. You're honestly just being difficult at this stage. You've let it get this bad by your inaction and by 2 appeals which is just ridiculous.

@Lucy807

Look up "breathing space" on the step change website.

Deal with the Council not the debt collectors. Make some small payments regularly to the council. It's too late now - of course - but if you thought that you had some reason for going into the bus lane you should have gone to the Magistrates' Court. So many people simply ignore this thinking it will go away and usually it does not.

Do please remember that Bailiffs can only enforce a debt if it has been to the County Court. After that they can enforce [take assets/car etc]. When it gets to that it really is too late I'm afraid.

If they do send County Court papers you must respond [see above]. It is best to go to the court hearing and

Some emojis have suddenly appeared and obstructed the text. If that hinders you I am sorry

@dcsp I have already had the max hardship fund from uni, the union take 6-8 weeks to process an application for a hardship fund and the last time I submitted everything I didn't even get a response, I have terrible credit, no family to lend. HTH

@Lucy807 and state your case (with documents) and explain your finances

The Court "can" make all sorts of orderd

The emojis have turned up again!

@Lucy807

I have no idea as to the detail but "youngsters" seem to do something called "crowdfunding". Long ago I contributed to the funeral of a distant relative

Good point. I wonder if the value was set some time ago. People should be able to keep a cheap, roadworthy runaround to get to work so that figure really ought to be looked at.

I've sent begging emails to both the council and the bailiffs today. Bailiffs have said any further action is paused whilst I speak to the wellness team.

This 👆

@BusterGonad the OP appealed the original fine. You don't appeal because you can't afford it, you ask for terms to pay. Appealing is a rejection of the fine and that it is not a just penalty.

@Lucy807 - you still haven't said why you appealed in the first place?

I'm sorry it's so utterly crap being in this situation, I've been there where every penny is spoken for before it hits your account and there's concequences for not paying one bill to pay another.

Some people, fortunately for them, have never experienced that.

Use this time to try and work something out, pp are right, this isn't going away, and the longer it goes on, the more it costs.

It's expensive being poor, you're financially penalised for not having enough money in the first place. Pp are right that agreeing with you doesn't solve the issue, however some of them could be a little less dismissive about the impact it has on your well being when you're in this situation and the panic you feel because you can't see a way out because the answer is money you don't have.

I'll PM you some of the resources I used when I was in a similar situation, they were helpful to me and supportive, but ultimately you've got to speak to the council and the bailiffs to resolve this, make small, regular payments and show 'willing'.

@HappiestSleeping I appealed as it wasn't one of those where you can get out of the bus Lane. I went around the round about and I was in the bus Lane, that was the only Lane you could be in, so a momentary lapse of awareness of what Lane I was in shouldn't cost me £35. It was impossible to reverse my mistake as the bus Lane was the only way of getting somewhere safe, very different to say the centre of a city where a bus Lane is set aside to ease access to the city and promote public transport.

Thank you for explaining. Unfortunately, the rules don't work that way. I don't want to kick you when you are down, but it was foolish to argue this which is why your appeal would have been rejected.

For future reference, the police would likely have viewed this as driving with undue care and attention which carries a higher penalty and points on your licence, so good job it was a camera that caught you. (Don't asked me how I know, I just know).

I hope your letters bring some means of paying in installments. Good luck.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/action-your-creditor-can-take/bailiffs/how-bailiffs-should-treat-you/how-bailiffs-should-treat-you-if-youre-vulnerable/

If you are vulnerable in any way (including if you are a single parent) then make sure you tell both the bailiffs and the council. It will affect how they can treat you.

It's too late now, but you would have been advised of the court case where the claimant was given a court order for the money. And you could have gone to the trial and argued your case.

I think your best chance at this stage is citizens' advice bureau.

It’s not about getting out of the bus lane .. you should have avoided getting in the bus lane in the first place. I understand it’s not always easy, I did the same. But you’ve only got yourself to blame, just own it. But, as soon as you got the fine, you could have put away a small amount away each week while the appeal was ongoing. However, what you should have done is gone and past. It’s good you’ve spoken to the bailiffs and you’ve now got breathing space.