Bailiffs

[vodkalass]

Hiya,

 

I'm new too all this but would appreciate some advice on behalf of my mother & father in law. She had a visit on Friday from a couple of very intimidating bailiffs in regards to a parking ticket issued to her daughter. Daughter no longer lives in the UK but the bailiffs do not believe her & have said that they are coming back on Monday to remove goods.

 

Can they remove goods that belong to them, there is nothing there that belongs to the daughter. They are both disabled & the treatment they recieved was very wrong what can I do as I am going down there to wait for them tomorrow.

 

Many Thanks x

[king12345]

This is what I would do, but the experts here will advise better.

Secretly film them and then call the police.

Take them down by pressing charges if they use force to gain entry or just intimidation.

[unclebulgaria67]

Hiya,

 

I'm new too all this but would appreciate some advice on behalf of my mother & father in law. She had a visit on Friday from a couple of very intimidating bailiffs in regards to a parking ticket issued to her daughter. Daughter no longer lives in the UK but the bailiffs do not believe her & have said that they are coming back on Monday to remove goods.

 

Can they remove goods that belong to them, there is nothing there that belongs to the daughter. They are both disabled & the treatment they recieved was very wrong what can I do as I am going down there to wait for them tomorrow.

 

Many Thanks x

 

They can't force entry and you should not let them in. They may try to clamp any car on the driveway, so if there are cars normally parked in the driveway they should be removed out of sight. There is a process of getting clamps removed, but you have to submit forms to a court to show that a third party owns the cars. But this could mean not having use of car for a couple of days, while it is resolved. If there a blue badges on the cars and they are clearly for use of disabled, they should not be clamped, as they are exempt goods.

 

If you know who issued the Parking Ticket, you should phone to make a complaint about the bailiffs, trying to intimidate disabled innocent third parties. If necessary you should call the Police on the local number 101 to make a complaint of harassment.

[vodkalass]

There are no cars...the car involved is no longer owned by the daughter & hasn't been for a while. But can they take goods that belong to my mother & father in law to pay for thier daughters debt. Intend to make a complaint about thier behaviour towards them. x

[ims21]

Thread moved to the Enforcement Agents (Bailiffs) forum.

[unclebulgaria67]

There are no cars...the car involved is no longer owned by the daughter & hasn't been for a while. But can they take goods that belong to my mother & father in law to pay for thier daughters debt. Intend to make a complaint about thier behaviour towards them. x

 

They should not do so, but they may try to do so, in order to try to push someone into paying the amount. There is a process for third parties to provide evidence that they own the goods, but it is hassle and so I suspect people end up paying the debts of others. Yes this is totally wrong, as the bailiffs should only take goods owned by the debtor, but bailiffs can take goods they believe to be owned by the debtor, until a third party claims them as being theirs.

 

Doors locked, windows closed and ignore the bailiffs. Get on to the council or body that issued the PCN to make a complaint. If necessary phone the local Police to make a complaint.

 

Worth reading some of the new guides on the Citizens Advice website.

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_action_your_creditor_can_take_e/bailiffs_e/complaining_about_bailiffs_e/taking_court_action_over_bailiffs_e.htm

[DragonFly1967]

Doors locked, windows closed and ignore the bailiffs.

Whilst good advice, I thought that it was now the case that bailiffs (sorry, Enfarcement Agents) can only enter a property by "normal" means. ie, through a door.

 

As I understand it, they are no longer allowed to climb over (locked) gates or fences or enter through an open window?

[unclebulgaria67]

Whilst good advice, I thought that it was now the case that bailiffs (sorry, Enfarcement Agents) can only enter a property by "normal" means. ie, through a door.

 

As I understand it, they are no longer allowed to climb over (locked) gates or fences or enter through an open window?

 

They can force entry if related to a criminal fine and have gained permission from Magistrates.

 

As this is for a parking ticket, there is no question of this. But bailiffs can sometimes tell porkies in order to gain entry to property, where innocent third parties pay them to get them out of the house.

[DragonFly1967]

They can force entry if related to a criminal fine and have gained permission from Magistrates.

 

As this is for a parking ticket, there is no question of this. But bailiffs can sometimes tell porkies in order to gain entry to property, where innocent third parties pay them to get them out of the house.

 

Well quite, but with the best will in the world, if they've been given permission by a magistrate to force entry (which obviously they wouldn't be in this case), having your windows closed isn't going to make a great deal of difference

 

I think the best advice in this scenario, would be to tell your in-laws to make sure that they're front and back doors cannot be opened from the outside, and to not open the door to anyone that they don't know.

 

It may also pay to bypass the Enfarcement Agents themselves, if you know what company they work for, and write directly to that company (someone here will have their address) as well as to the Council concerned to point out the fact that the daughter no longer lives at the property (they could give them her new address (if it's overseas it won't make any difference)) and none of the items inside or outside of the property belong to her, and that any further visits by Enfarcement Agents or anyone else related to the debt will be treated as harassment.

[SabreSheep]

Is there not some sort of statutory declaration the third parties can make to the court to say that the debtor does not live there and nothing of theirs is present. A notice of disassociation if you will?

[unclebulgaria67]

Is there not some sort of statutory declaration the third parties can make to the court to say that the debtor does not live there and nothing of theirs is present. A notice of disassociation if you will?

 

I may be wrong on this, but I seem to remember reading that people now feel that with the new rules, that bailiffs will ignore statutory declarations, where the debtor was resident in a family home. They will attempt to take control over goods and expect the householders to complete the relevant forms with evidence to prove that the goods are owned by a third party. Of course most people don't have receipts showing who owns items.

 

If this is the case, I think it is pretty deliberate that the government intended to allow bailiffs to take items in a family home belonging to a family member who owes money. This must have crossed their minds.

 

The advice must be to NEVER allow a bailiff to enter your home by keeping doors locked.

 

Nb. I say bailiffs, as that is what the OP refers Enforcement Agents as being.

[unclebulgaria67]

CAB suggests that a statutory declaration can still be done about who owns items in a house.

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_action_your_creditor_can_take_e/bailiffs_e/your_belongings_and_bailiffs_e/what_goods_can_a_bailiff_take_e/proving_who_owns_the_items_-_bailiffs_e.htm

[brassnecked]

Could still do the Stat Dec, and give the overseas address, if they continue, after that and seize goods it would not look too good for them

[caledfwlch]

As far as I know the new Act does not give EO's the right to ignore a notorised document - they would be very silly to do so

 

I have seen no provisions that allow an EO to insist on reciepts etc people simply do lose or throw them away it would not be fair

 

And at the end of the day a notorised SD is far more powerful and persuasive a document than a reciept.

 

An SD is an offence to forge and is a legal document. On the otherhand there is no way to prove a 3rd party is the genuine owner from a reciept since the Debtor could simply allow the 3rd party to present the reciepts claiming ownership......

[brassnecked]

I think the EA companies are eager to try to use the threat of interpleader and it's upfront costs to persuade third parties that they should just let them take and sell their goods to avoid complication and tough if they aren't the debtors goods they are taking to sell.