Matewx

Just when you thought things where getting good...

OH's been woken up this morning by his brother who was chasing him as he received a letter from a court in Surrey chasing him for £291.40 unpaid fine...

We just called the number & he was told it was for an unpaid train ticket on July 10th - his last working day, 5 days before flying...

Now yes he did jump on a train to work without a ticket as the machines at Cheam station that morning were not working... We're talking £3 train fare. On the said train, he tried to pay but was fined!

Before leaving the Uk - he called up to pay & was told there's nothing on their system by now it should so he should not worry. He stressed that he was leaving the country & did not want any problem few months down the line...

Well well well my people... They're chasing him for £291.40 now!!!

The court was most unhelpful... She listened to his story and said "Well I suggest you pay this as soon as possible really."

We're going to write a formal letter to the said court & to southern train too...

Our issues are:
-1st time we hear about it. No reminder to pay, no invite to attend court etc... Just them chasing him!
-he did try to pay before leaving the UK - Unfortunately no record of the name of the person he spoke to...
-he's in good faith, while we're at the other end of the world we're straight on the phone to have this sorted and no one's willing to help...

Any has any tip or advise please??

Matewx

Just spoke to the Office of rail regulation who can not help as it is now a legal matter since it has been to court already...

They say we need a lawyer/solicitor...

Psychopandy

They're all twats!!

give em hell



you get this sorted asap x

Persephone

Hope you get this sorted soon, if he couldn't pay at the station then he should have been able to pay on the train. It seems very unfair but sorry I can't help much as far as what to do is concerned. I suspect you will need a lawyer if it has already gone to court.
Good luck

willand tina_h

ditto to the above, what arse's they are????

garfield250

Offer them a dollar a week in repayments!

MnB

Ditto!!

Can't offer much advice except.....if you'd still been here i would have said 'try Citizens Advice'.www.citizensadvice.org.uk..... but as its a problem with a UK organisation & UK court re a problem (caused by an incompetent jobs worth!!)that started while a British resident this might be still be worth a try
Good luck x

Margaret Parkinson

I am with him.

Stoof

there might be something useful here : http://www.howtocomplain.com/regulatorybodies/

which rail company was it? they'll have a complaints system in place... from what you've said, my course of action would be to:

1) check their complaints procedures and write to the rail company in question explaining the situation and lodging a formal complaint (i would email this and follow it up with a hard copy in the post). I would also ask that given this is the first you've heard of the situation they put a hold on the court/legal action. I'm assuming it's going through the county court rather than magistrates here... even if they've already passed it to a third-party debt collection agency or it's the court bailiffs following it up, the issuing party (ie the rail company) should be able to withdraw the action (At least temporarily) whilst they investigate your complaint (certainly this has been the case when i've been dealing with 'debtors')

2) at the same time I would write to the issuing court, enclosing a copy of your letter to the rail company, and explaining that you're waiting for the rail company to deal with your complaint and that you would appreciate their assistance and patience in dealing with the situation. I would again email this (you should be able to send to a general enquiry address at the court if you haven't got a direct line to the bailiffs etc) and send hard copy too.

3) I would also send copies of this correspondence to the regulatory body, asking for their advice in dealing with the situation. (i know you've already rung them, but you should get a 'formal' response from them if you write) again, email and follow up with a hard copy.

Of course, at the bottom of your first two letters you should be clear that you are copying to each other and the regulator! That can often 'grease the wheels'

Throughout your correspondence i would be clear (as you have been in your OP) about how the situation arose, and how you tried to address it before leaving the country. I would also re-iterate that you are happy to pay the fare for the journey that was undertaken, but that you feel it is totally unreasonable to pay the £290+....

it might be worth seeing if the CAB in Cheam (assuming there is one, or nearby or a community law centre) have an email address - quite often they'll do 'email consultation' and it may be that they've had a number of similar cases if the machines were broken that day... at the very least they should be able to give some basic advice if not actually take your case on. Again, in your email, i would lay out the details as you have here, and explain what your action to date has been.

I think it's likely that you've got a few days to get all your letters and stuff sorted... especially with the christmas break coming up. Of course, i don't know what exactly the court letter said tho!

good luck

hmm, i've just re-read your post and this is pretty much what you're doing, but balls, i'm going to post it anyway, cos the original link might be helpful!!

Am Loolah

I'd either leave it because I wouldn't be intending on returning to the UK anytime soon. Or I'm afraid I'd just cough up.

Can you really be hassled with the route of fighting it, employing a solicitor etc, etc from 12,000 miles away?

I know it's the principal and it doesn't seem "fair" but personally I'd ignore it or swallow the loss.

But then I hate confrontation and hassle!

Matewx

Well yeah BUT

300gbp = NZ$600 more or less right?

That's one week salary for me or one n half for my OH... Can we afford it?? NO!

We will write n ask them reconsideration of the case. Showing we're of good faith etc & see....

BEVS

No you don't.

Please have a read of THIS

What paperwork have you had so far? It is the norm. to allow the defendant to state their case. You should have paperwork for this.

Which is the rail line?
Who are their debt collectors out of interest. Let's see how they operate.

I agree with Stoof. This is great advice.

I am not reading great news about those that seek to challenge penalty fines. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it.

I would also go with the thought that as yu earn Nz dollars, you have to pay Nz instalments . Make that a $ a week.

thedtb

Hmmm... you're in New Zealand right?

Have you plans to go back to the UK?

If not, why not just ignore it?

It's a civil matter, not criminal, therefore you can't be pursued for it in another country.

Also, (and don't quote me 100% on this as it's plenty of hear-say) but I believe that there's a statutory period of X years (I vaguely recall it being 6) whereby if the "debt" has not been repaid, it's written off... I'm also informed that any record of it would also disappear from your credit history in the UK after 4 years.

Apparently its all to do with the last date on which you acknowledge the debt. Each letter, email or phone call you send/make to the debt collector is an acknowledgement, therefore the sooner you stop acknowledging it, the sooner the x year period starts ticking away.


In a vageuly similar vein, I had a situation some years back when completely out of the blue a debt collection agency contacted me chasing unpaid water bills from a flat I used to rent. I was in the car driving back from a place called Applecross in Scotland at the time, but the dates (of residency at the flat) that they quoted didn't quite ring true... I told them I'd check and get back to them.

I then did some digging. North West Water (now called United Utilities) had apparently beein pursuing me for some time AND had even registered a CCJ against me (I just thought the difficulties I'd had getting credit were because I was "young") without me ever once receiving any kind of letter or phone call or anything from them.

The best of it was, I had kept all my utility bills from the flat and not only could I supply them with a final statement showing my balance at £0.00 I was actually able to prove, from my tenancy agreement and the termination paperwork I'd signed for the housing authority, that the earliest of the unpaid water bills they were chasing me for were ran up 6 months AFTER I'd left the flat!

United Utilities ignored my phone calls and letters requesting the reversal of the CCJ and the Debt Collector's kept harrassing me.

So... I sued United Utilities. No solicitor, no legal advice, I just went in to my local court (Barnsley) explained my situation and what I wanted to do. The clerk gave me all the paperwork I need to complete and a few weeks later I was sat in front of a judge with my father-in-law next to me as a witness.

Less than 10mins later, after reviewing my paperwork (and United Utilities not showing up) he'd passed judgement that the CCJ should be removed and (to my surprise) that United Utilities should pay me compensation... I'd been so focused on getting the CCJ reversed I'd not actually contemplated compensation... thinking on my feet I asked for the cost of the "hearing" (£50) and the cost of parking (£6) whilst attending the court. And so he awarded me £56 (WHooo!) in compensation.

The bar-stewards at United Utilities never paid though... so this time I got to send the bailiffs round!!

Sadly I think the bailiffs may have been in cahoots with United Utilities as a letter came back basically saying "sorry we couldn't find them" (yeah right... only one of the largest companies in the region!!) and I never got around to sending them back again... but it still makes me smirk when I think that "I" sent the bailiffs round to the offices of one of the largest companies in the region, because they owed me £56! I would have LOVED to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation!

Apparently, I've still got time to send the bailiffs back if I want... hmm... this thread brings back all the adrenaline surrounding the matter now!!

:-)

Anyhow I digress. Personally, if I were you and I had no plans of returning to the UK I'd file it the file marked B.I.N. and forget about it. I'd instruct the brother in the UK to write back to them saying that you've moved abroad and he doesn't know where you are.

Matewx

Hi dtb
thanks for your post!
We'd ignore it too BUT we're not 100% happy here so most prob will move within the next 12-18mths... I dont plan to go back to UK but OH may at some point move back to Uk... Who's to say?!

We will fight n fight!

pacifica3000

Bloody bureaucratic idiots.