I booked a removals through anyvan for 2-4pm yesterday.

We were only given a very small window by the landlord to remove our possessions after eviction.

I called the anyvan driver at 3 to find out where they were and he gave me his office number. I called them she said she'd speak to driver and get back to me. Someone from Anyvan HQ called me back at 3.15 to say driver was delayed and wouldn't get there before 4pm.

I was very upset as we had been told there was no possibility of having access after 4pm, and the door was promptly locked at this time with many possessions still inside.

Landlord says they have filled their obligations, and looking through anyvan t&c there is no possibility of a claim for loss unless the goods were picked up!

Does anyone know of anything I can do, to either get my goods back or sue anyvan for their loss.

So you have a 2 fold problem here.....dealing with your possessions first....

Bailiffs don't have to give you extra time to pack your things.

They can pick up your belongings and put them outside or lock them inside the property. You will then have to arrange a time with your landlord to go back and pick them up.

Bailiffs must not damage your belongings. The bailiffs should not take anything of yours to pay for their costs or to cover any rent arrears, unless the court gives them a separate court order to do this.

Your landlord must keep your belongings safe for a reasonable time if any are left behind. You could be charged for storage, removal and disposal if you don't collect them. Usually it is illegal for your landlord to destroy or sell your belongings.

Now onto the removal side......

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-3260465/I-booked-delivery-driver-AnyVan-website-phony-one-turned-instead-swiped-3k-piano.html

Regards

Andy

Thread moved to the appropriate forum...(Postal and Delivery Services) please continue to post here to your thread.

What would you say is the value of the goods inside? Are there a lot of goods? Are they voluminous?

Also please can you tell us a bit more about the eviction. Was this the result of a court order?

Not a huge value, but it would be very difficult for me to replace them at this time.

It was 2 sofas a double bed and dining table. I took the smaller things myself

It was the landlord who gave me the time to go in, but said the sheriff told him just to give me 45 minutes, so he feels he has met his obligation.

Not a huge value, but it would be very difficult for me to replace them at this time.

 

It was 2 sofas a double bed and dining table. I took the smaller things myself

It was the landlord who gave me the time to go in, but said the sheriff told him just to give me 45 minutes, so he feels he has met his obligation.

See my post #2

I did, I thought I;d responded to it, landlord says he;s met his obligation.

From your link I have no chance with anyvan.

I did, I thought I;d responded to it, landlord says he;s met his obligation.

 

From your link I have no chance with anyvan.

Well he hasn't....arrange a convenient time to collect the goods otherwise issue a court claim for the value

It's up to you – but if you would like to threaten and then bring a legal action, you could probably successfully sue the landlord for the tort conversion under the Torts (Wrongful Interference with Goods) act if he refuses to let you have your furniture.

Of course I suppose that he will get pretty nasty in return and try to levy a charge for storage. The landlord is certainly liable to keep the goods in a decent condition and not to destroy them or to sell them. On the other hand, you would probably be liable to me is expenses and if he decided to move them out and store them somewhere you might find yourself incurring heavy bill.

I'm afraid I don't think that you have any chance against the van company. Clearly they have been negligent/breach the contract but I would imagine that they would argue fairly successfully that your losses were not a foreseeable consequence of the late arrival.

I suppose being evicted was a pretty stressful and distressing time and of course losing some of your principal furniture must certainly have added to it. It sounds to me as if the landlord was a pretty unpleasant person and he certainly wasn't obliged to follow the advice of the sheriff and I think the sheriff exceeded his authority in giving that kind of advice.

I think you are in a difficult position. If you had told us that the property was worth £5000 or £10,000, I would have discussed the possibility of getting a locksmith along and entering the property and then replacing or repairing the lock. However, this would obviously have caused trouble although I think you could have successfully defended herself against it in the circumstances. But if the furniture has no great value then I'm afraid it simply wouldn't be worth provoking any further difficulties.

Of course I suppose the galling thing is that the landlord may decide to use your furniture in the house for his next rental. This would be unlawful of him that by the time you sorted it out and given the value, I think we would all be too late.

I don't often tell people to ignore the problem on this forum – but I'm afraid that in your case I don't think I've got any useful or meaningful suggestions to make. The only thing I think you could do would be to contact the landlord in a very polite and conciliatory way and ask for a one hour window to recover your furniture. However, if you've been evicted because you owe money then I think you're probably on a hiding to nothing. It may be worth trying though. The only thing at stake is some loss of face for you if he refuses

I've just seen the response by site team member Andyorch. Now you have a range of choices.

What if I am evicted by the Landlord ?

 

If the Landlord makes an eviction order against you, you have 72 hours after the Sheriff evicts you to get your belongings. During this 72-hour period, your landlord must keep your things safe in your place or nearby, and must let you get them any time between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

 

It is against the law for your landlord not to do this.

 

You and your landlord can agree to different rules about this. This agreement should be in writing.

 

The link is to a Canadian website and appears to be about the law in Ontario. Is it the same in England?

Woops.....

Similar...corrected link.

If your Landlord intends to dispose of the goods then he is obliged by law to give a reasonable period of notice before selling them, commonly 21 days. If the tenant owes money to the landlord BEFORE service of the notification then the landlord is obliged under the law to keep the property for at least 3 months before selling them.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1977/32/contents

http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2010/04/27/landlord-rights-over-tenants-possessions/

My understanding is a "reasonable time" and this is usually a week for heavy stuff. The LL is right and wrong, if you had arranged to take the stuff away on a particular day then he can claim that you have abandoned your claim to title of the goods but if the time arranged with the shifters was on evictionday then I cant see that would fit in with allowing access to remove your goods after eviction. You may have to go back to the judge who gave the eviction order to get an order forbidding the dispersal of your goods but a more practical thing would be to make a firm arrangement to have them removed under the watchful eye of the LL and stick to that arrangement. The LL wont want your stuff so if they are awkward it will just be for the sake of it and that wont go down well if you are forced to go down the legal route

Thanks so much for all the input.

The removal was arranged after the eviction, and I would have been able to get all out had the driver turned up, but I think sadly I may have to abandon what's left.