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General => General discussion => Topic started by: Jasikasisback on 06 August 2014, 00:23
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So the bailiffs dropped off a note through my letterbox that I owe my previous employer (I worked for them in 2007) money that they overpaid me for my wages. I have never heard anything about this until now. Apparently there is a court ruling (In Wales) but I worked in in Kent at the time. So the letter says I owe way more than what I have been paid by my employer plus the baillif company has added in their percentage??
I always thought you get invited to court to explain yourself if there is a dispute...or can they just send a bailiff over and they will just take your stuff? What happened to democracy?? Plus why would an employer based in Kent go all the way to Wales to go to court to sort a dispute? Doesn't make any sense...
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Something sounds off. Contact your old employer directly to confirm it is legit?
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Check your credit file to see if this has been registered. And check a website called Trustonline which records all CCJs in the past 6 years. If the bailiffs are demanding payment I am pretty sure your employer (or a DCA) got "judgement by default".
Are you going to pay this?
If not you could possibly get this "set aside" by the court to defend it. But I am not sure where that would sit with the bailiffs knocking at your door.
If you are going to try to defend this (if there is any time left) then Legal Beagles has a dedicated forum for legal advice. And you will need that unless you are fully up to speed with the rules for County Court proceedings ("CPR" rules).
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Sounds fishy to me.
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So another question..how long does the judgement stay in effect? Is it six years and then it lapses? Or is it longer?
Just wondering as then I sort of don't have to go through all the hassle of sorting this??
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Good point on the six years.
https://www.payplan.com/advice/law/limitation-act-1980/ It's more targeted at traditional debt, but I imagine that act applies in this situation? I'm no lawyer haha
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yeah I read that, but I believe they have gone to court to sort it out without ever getting in touch with me or talking to me etc.
This is the first I have heard of it ever...seeing as the last date of work for this employer was August 5, 2008 I feel that they should have at least gotten in touch with me. Funny thing is that I gave the employer my personal email which I am still using today, but they have never ever bothered to write to me about any debt in all of that time....I don't think I owe them anything really but it would have been curteous of them to try to contact me directly to speak about it?
But I believe that the judgement was made in a high court in Wales (why didn't they go to a court in Kent is beyond me...) many years ago so I guess they are allowed to chase the debt? Why wasn't I given a court summons? I have been summoned to other court hearings in the meantime and have gone...and given statements to the Courts but this was in different matters-not financial related.
The only Marstens I know is a brewery....so no idea who or what these people are....:(.They seem to be quite persistent but I have never spoken to anyone just gotten one letter and one hand written? letter through my door...
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So actually their contact was within 6 years (just).
If I have learnt anything from watching trash on channel 5, they cant send bailiffes over without prior contact. So if the bailiffes were your first point of contact about the matter, it is dodgy as f**k.
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I believe they sent a letter (unregistered) telling us that we owe them (fees) and my previous employer money....and it gave me less than a few days to pay up or they will come and visit and tell us we owe them more money for the visit....just out of the blue...no warning...didn't even give much information except that they have a high court decision from Wales? Yay.....
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That's bullsh!t mate, how is that ever legal?
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So another question..how long does the judgement stay in effect? Is it six years and then it lapses? Or is it longer?
Just wondering as then I sort of don't have to go through all the hassle of sorting this??
Judgement stays in effect forever. Since they enforcing the debt, there is no 6 years on this.
Good point on the six years.
https://www.payplan.com/advice/law/limitation-act-1980/ It's more targeted at traditional debt, but I imagine that act applies in this situation? I'm no lawyer haha
The CCJ "stopped the clock" on statute barred so that doesn't apply in this case.
The only alternatives to paying this (and the bailiff fees) is to
1. Tough it out with the bailiffs. They will eventually go away, but it will be a hard ride and you could loose a car/possessions.
2. Set the CCJ aside on bad service (they served to the wrong address).
Either way (and as posted above) you need qualified advice.
"That's fishy" (etc) is not qualified advice. (And neither is mine for that matter, I just know this stuff from personal circumstances).
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I think I will contact my previous employer directly and find out what's going on.
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Statute Barred 6 year non acknowledgement.
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https://www.gov.uk/your-rights-bailiffs/what-you-can-do-when-a-bailiff-visits
Speak to your ex employee and explain you never got letters etc
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Ok I phoned my previous employer and they stated that this is for an overpayment of salary as I left my employer and they continued to pay me wages for an entire month, rather than just for five days that I worked for them that month. They sent letters to lots of places where I never actually resided (one of them was to their own address although I had already moved away by that time) They motivated to the court that I had somehow received my payslip (I have never seen it ever) and thus it would be "reasonable" that i should have noticed and paid them back. I told them that I have never seen this payslip or any of the letters they have supposedly sent me. I haven't signed for any registered post in regards to this matter. My previous employer insisted that this is "my problem" and I have to sort it through the bailiffs. Great so I live in a country where you can be in debt to someone and not even know it...and end up being charged on top of that....yay....
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By the fact you havnt received the letters, what makes them think you would receive the payslip?
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I don't know....the court deemed it reasonable which makes no sense...as if I don't know I have a debt how can I pay it??
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Ok the easy way is to ask your ex employer to show proof of the account that they paid your wages into and go to your bank and get them to print out your statement for the date they paid you. Once you have proof that, they f*cked up somewere then they will need to sort it out somehow. Also if you have proof that they didnt over pay you then take them to court. But if they paid you and you know they over paid you then you need to repay them back as they bailifs can enter your home and seize your property to be auctioned of to pay them back and as you know auction is a good place to go for a bargin.
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Id have said you should have had a court summons to decide the case. only way for a bailiff to get involved is if a debt ruled by the court isnt paid.
Id be looking at seeing which court ruled the judgement of debt and get the whole thing set aside so you have chance to prepare a case for a judge to hear.
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https://www.gov.uk/your-rights-bailiffs/what-you-can-do-when-a-bailiff-visits
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http://www.getoutofdebtfree.org/
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Really does that get out if debt free stuff work??I can't believe a company can deposit money into a person's bank account and then send letters to places the person used to live and then go to court and state that they made contact with me. They alao sent? a court summons to an address that I wasnt living at the time and that is good enough for the courts to decide that hey they owe you money plus court fees plus lawyer fees plus interest plus bailiff fees and on and on....How is this even legal if all that time my bank had ny actual address that I was living at, which was never the address that they sent stuff to me...they told the courts that "neighbours" told then I still live at an address that I moved out of over 15 months ago and that was good enough for the court to rule I had ignored the summons....just totally mindboggling....I can't believe this is called justice...
My previous employer stated it is my fault for all of this.....really?
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hey whats the latest on this one?
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My previous employer stated it is my fault for all of this.....really?
If they over-paid you and you didn't spot it (you didn't do a balance check or read your statement and notice something odd), and therefore didn't pay it back, then technically that's your fault. And if you spend the money, they could possibly count it as theft.
Also, just because they had your email address, means nothing. Any sort of business like this would be dealt with by post. One reason why you should always set up mail forwarding with Royal Mail when you move house, so you don't miss important letters.
I got over paid once, but I spotted it on the payslip and put the money to one side so I could pay it back straight away.
I would check with your bank statements for the 3 months around the time you left the job, confirm that you were paid correctly or not. Then if they didn't overpay you, then take that to the court. If they did overpay you but you didn't notice, go to the courts, and argue that they didn't give you notice of the court case to allow you to settle the debt.
You don't want a CCJ on your record if you want to get any sort of credit in the next few years.