HELP! Bailiffs have taken £20k worth of equipment and forced my husbands business to close

[tallulah59]

Has anyone any experience of bailiffs removing business equipment?

Yesterday our local council sent in bailiffs to recover £600 in unpaid business rates. My husband offered them the cash and spoke to someone from the council who said that he 'could accept the money, but was not going to'. The bailiffs then proceeded to strip the factory of equipment, over £20k worth, including a telephone answering machine and computer with personal customer information on it. The bill was then increased to £1647.67. The bailiffs left a notice of goods removed which did not include a full breakdown of items. They removed a vehicle which belongs to my elderly mother-in-law, and also took several items, including camping equipment, cd's, a washing machine and other equipment which do not belong to my husband and are not connected to the business. I called at the premises and three males were still present. One claimed to be a registered bailiff and called himself Kev, the others refused to give their names and tried to hide their car number plates when I started filming them. Although these two had also claimed to be bailiffs before I arrived, one of them said 'I'm not even a bailiff' when I started to film him with my mobile. My husband has struggled to keep his business afloat, working 80/90 hours a week for years with no holidays or time off sick, and has had his livlehood taken away from him overnight. We are at our wit's end with worry and don't know where to turn to. Any help or advice woud be greatly appreciated.

 

Many Thanks, Jemima

[hallowitch]

go to the council take as much paper work as possible and the recording that you took demand they do something about it today

get in touch with your M,P, NOW

the council should have a recording of yesterdays call ask them to check it the bailiff refused payment and removed goods that they shouldn't have

remind the council they are responsible for the bailiff as they work for the the council as there agents when collecting council tax

 

also tell them that if this is not sorted A.S.A.P. and if your goods and the goods not belonging to you are sold at action you are holding the council fully responsible for any financial loss and you will file a for 4 complaint to the local county court and also complain to the local government ombudsman

[hallowitch]

the bailiff should have given you a list of all the goods removed not just some of them the bailiff should not have refused your payment as this was a full payment and would have cleared your debt

the bailiff has removed 20k worth of goods for a debt of £600 this is an excessive the rule is goods can be removed to the value of 10x the debt adding on the charges £1647 x 10 is not 20k

[tallulah59]

Thanks Hallowitch,

I have contacted both the council and my MP and the police are interviewing my husband about the assault this afternoon. I'm leaving for work soon and won't be able to access my computer until tomorrow at the earliest, so if anyone offers any help or support, please bear with me.

 

Many Thanks, Jemima

[lets fight bailiffs]

if it has closed your business down you also want to claim any loss from the time you closed to the time you re-open you also need to add a bit more as your husband will have to work overtime to get back on track with orders.

Can i ask is the assault anything to do with the bailiffs.

[ambershadow]

20k for 600.00 this is clearly not right is it? I do hope you get it sorted asap

[tallulah59]

Hi there,

One of the guys who wouldn't give his I.D. assaulted my husband, who was trying to remove the CPU from his computer as it has sensitive customer details on it. The policeman who interviewed my husband said that if the guy wasn't a bailiff he would be arrested (if they can find him!). I have contacted the County Council and my local MP and the council have put a stop on anything happening until the matter is resolved (funny how they jump to it when you put cc Joe Bloggs MP on the end of your email). My husband has now lost his business as his customers will have no choice but to go elsewhere as he can no longer supply them (he was running a patisserie business supplying local hotels and restaurants). The amazing thing is, the County Council have suggested that the goods may have been taken illegally, but the actions of their 'bailiffs' have cost my husband his business. Apparently, my local council is being scrapped soon and they appear to be a law unto themselves, but the County Council which have taken over don't appear to be very happy with the situation. The tinpot little council which is going down the pan have hung themselves by claiming that my husband was shutting his business down and they were worried that they wouldn't get paid so they sent in the big guns (he was looking for another unit and had handed notice in on his current lease, they made the bit up about shutting the business). They now look like idiots because they were offered the full amount and refused to take it. Don't know how things are going to pan out but the national press looks like a good option. I'm now waiting for the council's next step.

[lets fight bailiffs]

i want to pm my email to you as this is very a very close case to me and maybe i can help a little more is that ok

[lets fight bailiffs]

i can also tell you you have them by the b___s as to the amount value wise to the amount of debt anyway

[tallulah59]

Hi Lets Fight Bailiffs,

Thanks for your support, it's fine to pm me, any advice would be greatly appreciated,

Many thanks,

Jemima