Bailiff won't (but should) back off

[filka]

I wrote about my bus lane fine before...committed the offence on 1 January, left the country on 4 January and haven't been able to return due to COVID, PCN was posted out 12 January, so I didn't receive it.

I lodged an out of time appeal at the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) and it was accepted. The TEC said that "upon receipt of this notification the Local Authority is required to suspend any enforcement action". But they haven't - my unoccupied house has still been receiving aggressive "REMOVAL NOTICES".

The bailiff (a firm called CDER Group) is saying they can't stop enforcement action unless advised to do so by their client, even though I have notified them of the appeal. The Local Authority (Reading) is totally non-communicative.

My house is empty, locked and has alarm and webcams etc., and I don't think the bailiff can do anything as they are not allowed to break in. But it's still pretty distressing to have these threats appearing regularly.

How can I get these people to "cease and desist" as the TEC has instructed? How can I get the Local Authority to respond? They don't even give a real phone number, there is an online messaging system and an outsourced helpline that can't decide anything.

Can you google your local Councillor and contact him or her? They may be able to assist.

I’m guessing you are Down Under? Perhaps wherever you are located, you could print off proof why you haven’t been allowed to return to the UK.

Good luck!

There should be a bailiff liaison officer at the council, or you can use the council's complaint procedure.

Can you not just pay the fine?

yes i was wondering that. as you admit you committed the offence.
perhaps there are extra bailiffs fees added on.
can you not at least pay the original fine, and then dispute why you could not have paid in the time frame.
but they might say you knew you'd driven in it, so you should have taken steps to pay the fine, wherever you were.

I admit the offence because there are pictures and video. The original fine was £60 and has now racked up to £408 with court costs and enforcement costs. But now with CDER trying to make me pay £408 to them, I'm not sure if I can pay £60 to Reading - I think I have to wait for the court to decide.

Ultimately I'll pay whatever I have to. But I'm really pissed off that Reading just will not communicate - not with me, and not with the bailiff they appointed. It's trapped in a cycle - Reading says they can't do/decide anything, I have to speak to the bailiff - the bailiff says he can only stop action if his client, Reading, instructs. So the action goes on, despite the court telling me it shouldn't.

Surely paying it would stop all this ?

Paying the basic fine won't make the bailiffs go away. You have done the right thing in getting it set aside. You should not be able to decide whether to then pay the basic DJ e.

Emailing you local councillor is the right way to get the council to call the bailiffs off. Councillors do make officials jump

The bailiffs can't enter without a court order

For the benefit of @Solasum, @alexdgr8 and @sophandbridge

Paying the original fine will not alter the fact that there is a judgement against the OP. The council will still be able to pursue the OP for court and enforcement costs. Furthermore, the judgement will still be on her record, potentially affecting her credit rating. As Marieg10 says, the OP needs to get the judgement set aside.

If you are not a Reading local and get trapped going round in its road system it’s easy to get done by sneaky bus lane signage.

We’ve boycotted shopping there for this reason, as it was too costly once you factor in expensive parking and fines!

@prh47bridge

For the benefit of *@Solasum, @alexdgr8 and @sophandbridge*

Paying the original fine will not alter the fact that there is a judgement against the OP. The council will still be able to pursue the OP for court and enforcement costs. Furthermore, the judgement will still be on her record, potentially affecting her credit rating. As Marieg10 says, the OP needs to get the judgement set aside.

Isn't that what op has to pay ? It's confusing but then I've hardly had any sleep so am a bear of little brain right now and every other time

@prh47bridge I'm not sure there is a judgment here to set aside? The LA don't need one to instruct bailiffs. Once a TEC has accepted the appeal they must withdraw the debt from the bailiffs. I think this might be covered by PD 75. Either way it's an admin issue and OP needs to follow the complaints procedure.

@Lineofconcepcion - In her previous thread about this the OP said there had been a judgement by Northampton County Court. It is, of course, possible the OP was confused. Regardless, simply paying the original £60 fine won't be enough to make this go away at this stage.

Yes, there is a judgment, though I haven't seen it because I haven't been able to come to the UK at all since lockdowns started.

The first I knew anything at all about the 1 January offence was in mid-October when my neighbour sent me a message there was someone hanging around my house, challenged him and sent me a photo of his ID card on WhatsApp.

So I've applied to TEC to set aside the judgment. It seems that non-receipt of the PCN is a valid reason, and I hope that being stuck abroad due to COVID will be enough to win it.

The problem is that as @Lineofconcepcion says, Reading BC should call off the bailiffs but hasn't.

What's a PD 75?

I'm in the process of complaining (online only) to Reading.

Practice Direction 75. This is the rules relating to recovery of penalty charges for certain road traffic offences.