Major HELP needed

[Lizzy69]

Ok everyone I need your advice with this one.........

 

We have deen on a DMP with CCCS for the past 6 years and the last payment was July of this year.

 

However we have recently had letters from a DCA requesting confirmation of residancy. DH informed CCCS about them and was advised not to give any information out.

 

Yesterday whislt out at work we received a hand delivered letter from HMCS bailiff, stating that we had to pay an outstanding warrant to HSBC by Monday morning. The letter is very poorly photocopied, it's offset and has black lines at the top as though the original letter has been copied any times, with our details hand written on by the bailiff. Not very professional to say the least!!!!

 

Now as far as we're concerned and the CCCS all monies have been repaid. Obviously we have no choice but to pay the bailiff as we don't want them taking any of of goods, BUT how can we find out if we definately owe this money?

 

Your advice will be greatly received.........

[Undercover-Elsa]

Morning Lizzie and welcome to CAG

This sounds very dodgy. Any chance you could scan (or take a digital photo) of the letter and post it on here for us to check.

Please don't pay ANYTHING until this has been properly checked out!!

Elsa x

[Undercover-Elsa]

PS...Obviously blank out your personal details before posting.

Best way to put it up on here is to upload it to Tinypic.com

[Undercover-Elsa]

In the meantime..what Court issued the Warrant? and what's the name of the Bailiff?

The main thing to remember is YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LET A BAILIFF INTO YOUR HOME. There's some good info on your rights re Bailiffs here:

Debt Basics - Bailiff Guide - know your rights

[lickthewallfatboy]

this does sound extremely dodgy

[Undercover-Elsa]

Yeah...be interested to see the letter..my [problem] detectors are buzzing!

Hope Lizzy gets back to us before paying anything!!

[deathbycrayons]

Subbing..

[Lizzy69]

Hi there!

 

Unfortunately the scanner isn't playing ball at the moment. However it does seem legitimate as the address & telephone numbers on the letter are the same as the ones on the internet.

 

Do you think they will take part payment and then in the meantime we can check out what's going on, but how do we do this?

 

Neither of us can remember signing anything from HSBC. Obviously we don't want to telephone them as we only want to communicate in writing. Are there any letter that we can send to them to try and get to the bottom of this?

 

Any advice?

[Andy77799]

always plugging the mike into the laptop and recording any conversations!

[Undercover-Elsa]

Hi Lizzy,

A digital camera is a good alternative to a scanner. If you can get details off the internet so can anyone else.

You most certainly need to phone the Court named on the Warrant first thing Monday morning to check the validity of this. Also check with the original court that's alleged to have issued the original CCJ. Just ring them and ask them to verify.

Please, please don't pay anything till you do that.

What's the name of the Bailiff?..I can check if he's registered.

You need to deal with this first, then sort out whether it's a legitimate debt. Although you say you never signed anything, have either of you ever even had an account with HSBC?

Elsa x

[Lizzy69]

Hi Elsa

 

A bit difficult to take the photo now as we have guests arriving any minute now, I will do this in the morning though.

 

Yes, we used to have a joint account with HSBC which we closed due to financial difficulties as advised by CCCS.

 

Thanks...........

[Bazooka Boo]

Name of the Bailiff is???

Can't be that major!

[Lizzy69]

Elsa

 

I will pm the bailffs name.

[Undercover-Elsa]

OK No probs Lizzy I understand

[sillygirl1]

Sounds rather fishy, if they have been paid via CCCS and you haven't had prior notification that a CCJ stands there are excellent grounds to have this set aside and a Form 4 complaint issued to the bailiff.

 

Warrants are only valid for a certain period of time before they have to go back to the court for 're-certification'.

 

As other posters have said it sounds very fishy.

[Undercover-Elsa]

OK the bailiff isn't certified, but as it's a warrant this means they are working straight out of the County Court so don't have to be.

Use the details I gave you Lizzy ring them on Monday, tell them the Bailiffs name and the relevant account/case numbers etc and get them to check its' validity.

If it is valid we then need to get it set aside as not-so Sillygirl says

Elsa x

[loobyloo85]

Hi

 

Having just repaid all of your debts with the CCCS, was this debt with HSBC included within your debt management plan? If it was, and you are on the understanding that this should now be repaid, I would suggest getting back in contact with CCCS, and send them a copy of this document. They will then be able to advise you further. If this debt is still outstanding, they may be able to negotiate with HSBC on your behalf to get the debt repaid with reduced monthly payments.

 

Thank you

[Undercover-Elsa]

Excellent point loobyloo.

Did you get documentation from CCCS confirming full payment of the HSBC account Lizzy?

[Lizzy69]

Hi

 

HSBC does not appear on any documentation from CCCS.

 

Other half deals with all this and up until now everything has gone smoothly with just the odd minor blip now & again which we have dealt with eg DCA's chasing for money, we've asked for CCA's etc

 

Now I realise we must pay the amont set by the bailiff which is a substantial sum, but can we arrange to pay it in half perhaps or is that down to them?

 

In the meantime how do we find out what this is for? As I've said I cannot remember signing anything although we did have a joint bank account with them.

 

My husband will speak to the bailiff on Monday and then the CCCS. We can't do it the other away around as they have only given us a very small time period to contact them.

 

If we paid this money and then at a later date the debt's been paid or disputed etc etc etc would we be able to get this money back?

 

Looking forward to your replies,

 

Thanks all

[deathbycrayons]

Don't pay anything to anyone untill you are certain of what this debt is and that you are definately liable.

[heliosfa]

Also, remember the golden rules with Baliffs - don't let them in and keep your doors/windows locked. Many people also advise moving any vehicles you own away from your property.

 

 

The ist of it is, a baliff cannot force entry to a residential property - the have to gain peacable entry and once that has been gained, they can force entry in the future. If they cannot get in, they cannot levy on goods inside your house.

 

 

I take it you never received a claim form or the judgement?

Did you move after closing the HSBC Account?

Did you clear the account before you closed it (Do you have statements to show this)?

 

 

H

[Undercover-Elsa]

Morning,

Lizzy, it's REALLY important that your husband speak to the Court to check if its a valid CCJ and Warrant BEFORE having any contact with this bailiff. It has been known for debt collectors to pretend there's a CCJ when there isn't. Anyone can photocopy a Warrant and superimpose new details.

If they do call, either don't answer or if he does speak to them, he needs go out to them and shut the door behind him. As above do not sign anything, pay anything or let them in. Simply tell them that you were unaware of this CCJ until you received the warrant and that you require time to check the details with the Court and the named creditor before taking any action on it. Any genuine bailiff should understand and respect this. Remember your rights as advised by everyone on here.

Please keep us informed, Lizzy

Hugs

Elsa x

PS I'm HIGHLY suspicious of the fact that it was delivered on a Friday demanding payment by Monday morning..OBVIOUSLY not giving you chance to check its validity on a Court working day..(but time to panic and borrow money to pay it) Call me cynical if you wish!

Edited September 7, 2009 by Undercover-Elsa

[sillygirl1]

As it isn't a council tax 'bailiff' they are more likely to have piled on 'additional charges'. A warrant only has 90 days before they have to return it to the court (cheched with a friend whose twin brother is a bailiff - nice one though), so check the date on the warrant, if it has been photocopied many times again that sounds suspicious as you are supposed to have the original in the office for the client to see.

 

I'd also get Tomtubby from this site involved, they are the bailiff expert and should be able to help even more.

[Undercover-Elsa]

Hi Lizzy,

We're all wondering what happened?

Hope you're OK

Elsa xx

[minmac]

Hmmm me to, I have been readin this thread for a few days now and I am very interested to know what happened as it all seemed very dodgy to me.