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Magistrates Court Fines

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Magistrates' court fines (70kb)

The magistrates’ court may order you to pay a fine, for example for a driving offence, not having a television licence or another offence.

You must treat a magistrates’ court fine as a priority debt because you could be sent to prison if you do not pay.

Your financial circumstances should be taken into account when the court decides the instalments for paying the fine. You can be fined if you do not give the court details of your income and outgoings when ordered to do so.

The court can make deductions from your wages or from your benefits either, when they set the fine or if you fall behind with payments.

You must contact the court if you cannot afford to pay the amount the court fixes or you cannot pay because your circumstances have changed. The court may be able to lower the amount.

If you have to go to a court hearing, take a copy of your business and household budget with you.

What if I don’t pay?
If you are in arrears and do not make any arrangement with the court it may try to:

use private bailiffs to seize goods and sell them. Since 18 July 2005, bailiffs collecting unpaid criminal fines through the magistrates' court have the right to force entry to your home. The baliffs should use this only when peaceful entry has been refused. They could take your vehicle. From November 1999, they should not take a vehicle needed for employment or business.They must leave clothing and basic household items. To make arrangements to pay you will need to contact the bailiffs directly, since the court will no longer accept payments from you;
make deductions of £5 a week from your Income Support, Pension Credit, income-based or contributions-based Jobseeker’s Allowance;
make direct deductions from your wages under an attachment of earnings order if you are employed;
order you to be sent to prison. There will be a hearing before this happens, which you must attend and to which you must take a copy of your business and household budget. If you explain why you have not paid and make a new offer to pay by instalments, the court may suspend the arrest warrant.

Some magistrates’ courts are part of a pilot scheme, which gives it increased powers to enforce fines. Powers include:

increasing the amount you pay by 25% or 50% if you do not pay a fine;
clamping a vehicle registered in your name;
including a fine on credit reference files, which will affect your ability to get credit;
ordering you to do unpaid work instead of paying the fine.

If you want to know if these changes apply in your area, phone us for advice.

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