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Notice of Enforcement from Her Majesty's Court Service (Marston)
Came home last night from work and found a brown envelope which looked important. Opened it to find it from Marston (High Court Enforcement Officers & Certificated Enforcement Agents).
About This Notice: A warrant has been issued by Her Majesty's Courts & Tribunals Service Attempt to travel on railway without paying fare.
Date of incident: January 2013
Total Sum £745.00
My name and current address appears on this letter, after a very brief chat to Marston they confirmed the address the suspect used which was North London address (They gave me full address) which I've never lived in.
Firstly I've always paid for my travel in association with my disability rail card, I use the trains probably once a year (if that!) I've Googled my name and found 23 people with the same name in my City. The odd thing Marston did confirm my D-O-B (after giving mine although they did pause slightly when i gave it) had no option as they wouldn't go ahead with call without it.
I've only ever been stopped by enforcement officers on the Underground which i had my Oyster card and again I touched in/out and paid.
They are now saying i have to contact the court and will need to put my case across and poss attend a court hearing. I really find the whole thing very very strange, it's ruined my weekend and the money I spent calling around last night came up to over £30.00.
I've called also my local police force, action fraud and British Transport Police they all say they have no record.
Surly they would have CCTV footage or a full description of the person stopped on the trains and fined. Can somebody please help. I'm expecting bailiffs to attend any day which as they are high court enforcement officers can now access my property and take goods etc.
I've never received any letters about this. I'm 100% this has nothing to do with me. Either it's identity theft or potentially just sending letters to people with the same name hoping they get a payment from them.
Can anyone please advise/help?
I work very long hours and going into CAB and courts is very difficult, only just started a new job so getting time off is hard.
About This Notice: A warrant has been issued by Her Majesty's Courts & Tribunals Service Attempt to travel on railway without paying fare.
Date of incident: January 2013
Total Sum £745.00
My name and current address appears on this letter, after a very brief chat to Marston they confirmed the address the suspect used which was North London address (They gave me full address) which I've never lived in.
Firstly I've always paid for my travel in association with my disability rail card, I use the trains probably once a year (if that!) I've Googled my name and found 23 people with the same name in my City. The odd thing Marston did confirm my D-O-B (after giving mine although they did pause slightly when i gave it) had no option as they wouldn't go ahead with call without it.
I've only ever been stopped by enforcement officers on the Underground which i had my Oyster card and again I touched in/out and paid.
They are now saying i have to contact the court and will need to put my case across and poss attend a court hearing. I really find the whole thing very very strange, it's ruined my weekend and the money I spent calling around last night came up to over £30.00.
I've called also my local police force, action fraud and British Transport Police they all say they have no record.
Surly they would have CCTV footage or a full description of the person stopped on the trains and fined. Can somebody please help. I'm expecting bailiffs to attend any day which as they are high court enforcement officers can now access my property and take goods etc.
I've never received any letters about this. I'm 100% this has nothing to do with me. Either it's identity theft or potentially just sending letters to people with the same name hoping they get a payment from them.
Can anyone please advise/help?
I work very long hours and going into CAB and courts is very difficult, only just started a new job so getting time off is hard.
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Comments
As hard as it is this is important so you need to get to talk to these people. Sooner the better as well
I will call the court first thing on Monday just wanted to get this form out now.
But the thing which is MOST important is speed - the longer you leave it, the greater the risk of the Court thinking you`ve left it too long. Can`t stress this enough.
Thank you.
I've got nothing to worry about the enforcement officer/police officer who dealt with the suspect must have provided in his/her notes a description of the offender or CCTV footage. I know nothing about this debt and certainly would not avoid paying for public transport. I'm also willing to provide my credit report which shows the addresses I've lived at and registered at.
Either someone has used my name or it's stitch up from Marston enforcement agency.
I think you have got it in one, debt collectors including Marstons have form for this kind of thing.
High court enforcement officer's would be only used if you refused to pay the fine, surely you would've received a letter asking you to pay this fine?
Just in case.
If they're high court enforcement officer's, don't let them in if you're talking to them at the door and lock the door behind you, they can't force entry into a solely private property.
They can take possession of a vehicle if it belongs to you.
Have you considered that the other 22 might also have received a letter?
Oh, our wonderful justice system. Theoretically you're entitled to defend yourself. In practice this is tricky unless you're a lawyer or can afford one. But you really need to get legal advice, if only to understand where you're at in the process and how you can stop it.
Sounds to me like they've already decided you're guilty and it's at the collection phase.. But it's the first you've heard about it. So obviously you've had no chance to defend yourself. But it sounds like a case of mistaken identity..
NEVER do this. They're calling you. They could be anybody, and they've confirmed nothing. I tell them I want them to confirm it, and if they can't give me the day & year, I'm hanging up. And in my own ID fraud situation, I had the debt collecting scumbags telling me I'd got my DOB wrong.. But cold calling and asking people to confirm their security details is a common trick for ID fraudsters.
So they've got an incorrect address, probably the wrong DOB and a name that just happens to match yours. Doesn't sound like a compelling set of evidence, but this is where you need proper legal advice to guide you through the process, especially if the clock is ticking for court enforcement.
That's optimistic. I've seen plenty of fare dodgers stopped and all the ticket collector seems to do is take basic details like name & address. If they took photos, that would help in situations like this.
The declaration is basically an official statement from you explaining why you think the fine is incorrect. When you contact the court, explain this is the first you've heard about the fine so you want all evidence used in the case to support your defence. If that shows the wrong address, wrong DOB and a train you were never on, so much the better. I'm pretty sure you can also claim any costs you incur, so your phone calls etc.
Of course I have.
But they should be identifying the correct person before they start demanding money.
They cannot be sending the same letter to 23 people meaning you could potentially have 22 people "having to contact the court and will need to put my case across and possibly attend a court hearing".
You and I might think that, but we are talking about debt collectors here.
Of course they can, that is how they work, it's called a fishing exercise.
No doubt that someone gave that name to a rail official and travelled for free, but it wasn't the OP and the company that has sent out this letter is just fishing for victims.
The OP should have not called them and certainly not given the DOB.
My advice is to write to them, deny the offence. Someone else may be able to give more advice on this.
No need to provide "proof of innocence"*, unless this country is even more ****ed up than I imagined.
* (of course it's not possible to prove innocence anyway)
Honestly I do not need this right now. I get home last night after working a 50 hour week in a new job and find a letter like this. I was nearly in tears with stress and worry. Chances are I'm going to have to attend court.
Without sounding racist I hope the person's description is completely different from mine, and the courts have the full description.
What are the chances a large city in the UK can have someone with the same name & date of birth?
Not had a single letter since I've been at my current address which is nearly 3 years.
Yes.. Thats another explanation now the names I've spotted in my city are all the same, but you can also check the age bracket of most. Out of the 22 people with the same name, only 2-4 fall under my age bracket.
I don't believe Marston have my D-O-B and if they do, it was from when i told them.
It's next to zero and I believe that the debt recovery company are liars.
They may offer you a "plea bargain", having convinced you that you will have to pay big money otherwise.
When this is all sorted I'm going to seek compensation for what they are putting me through.
They can sod off. I'm not paying a single penny. Even in certain terms the Transport Police called them scum bags.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdvT0mmWv2M
They have also explained a visit will be made any day. If I'm not home then I will need to be prepared for my personal possessions to be removed & locksmith to be called to open my door.
Don't panic. Or try not to. Check-
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?168-Bailiffs-Help-with-Dealing-with-Bailiffs-and-Enforcement-Agents-including-HCEO
and
http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?105-Received-a-Court-Claim
Main thing is understanding where you are in the process and then how to get it resolved. The people on those forums have seen all the tricks the scumbags like Marstons use and can help you get it fixed. Marstons is only interested in how much they can make off you in fees, not necessarily the law.
You had no knowledge of the offence because it wasn't you. No knowledge or opportunity to defend yourself and now Marstons is harrassing you for a debt that isn't yours. The court can stay and correct this if you deal with them, not Marstons.
This is why you need to get onto CAG or legalbeagles ASAP. Unless you get a stay on this, which the court can order, they'll just follow process and do what they want. They can't necessarily force entry to take anything of yours, but that depends on the process.
Thanks :-)
Luckly 1 min from the place I work is a CAB office so will be popping in there during my break to book an appointment and ring the courts up first thing. Looks like I'm going to be taking a few extra long toilet breaks in my new job.
I've only just come off anti-depressants and from mental health care and now all this.
It sounds like it happened on longer journeys rather than a few £3 london underground
If it was a person using my identity then they would have provided the enforcement officers with the address I used to live at - Marston didn't have this. I just think it's so unfair I will need to potentially stand in a court for something I know nothing about and defend myself. The chances I will be called in are pretty high.
I'm not surprised the court found the person guilty after committing three offences within such a short amount of time. I always had respect for the legal system in the UK, no longer is this the case.
This surely will be all you need to prove.
It sounds to me like the person fined gave their name (same as yours) and address (same area as you) but moved out and they have no forwarding address for that person. So they’ve “traced” the person to your address using data records.. but clearly you’re a different individual who just happens to have the same name and they have the wrong person.
Contact the court, contact CAB. Don’t panic. Just prove that address is not one you’ve lived at and I suspect that should be enough for them to realise an error has been made.