Shock horror, the bailiff's office have just lied to me.

gilligansyle

I know, I shouldn't have been surprised but I was.
Have previously had 2 letters put through my door by bailiffs acting for the local authority re: council tax on a previous address. The account was in dispute with the local authority as I did not live at the address for most of the period being claimed. Today I received a 3rd letter informing me that unless I reply within 48 hours a van will attend.
So I rang the office and told them that this account was in dispute and offered to fax them a copy of the letter from the Council confirming this. The person on the phone said that they had the right to claim the money until told otherwise and that they would not cancel on my instruction.
I told them that there would be nobody in, as I work full time and was told "it is your responsibility to be in when the van calls, if not a joiner will force the lock". When I told them that this was not the case, the man laughed and said, " where on earth did you hear that?" I replied that bailiffs only had the right of peaceful entry, and that as there would be no open doors or windows, anything else would be breaking and entering. At which point he said "that's common fallacy, of course we can break in", rather silly conversation then ensued in which I asked to speak to a Manager as he had obviously been badly trained and did not know the law, and he refused to pass me on to someone else. I have now taken the details and put a complaint in

I have also spoken to the Council who have told me that they have taken the account back from the bailiffs anyway.
The point I am making is that if the staff in the office don't know what bailiffs can and can't do, it's little surprise that people are frightened into paying. Thanks to the information on this site, I am better informed and felt able to 'fight my corner'.

MrsTinks

If they "force entry" they will have committed breaking and entering and you can have a world of fun with them through the police Oddly enough breaking and entering is STILL a crime

Ames

I think the office do know the law, they're just hoping you don't and trying to convince you you're wrong so that they can scare you into paying.

fermi

gilligansyle wrote: »

The point I am making is that if the staff in the office don't know what bailiffs can and can't do, it's little surprise that people are frightened into paying.

Bailiffs do know what they can and can't do. They just hope you don't.

RobertoMoir

gilligansyle wrote: »

I have also spoken to the Council who have told me that they have taken the account back from the bailiffs anyway.
The point I am making is that if the staff in the office don't know what bailiffs can and can't do, it's little surprise that people are frightened into paying. Thanks to the information on this site, I am better informed and felt able to 'fight my corner'.

Of course they know exactly what the bailiff can and can't do. They also know that 99% of the people they speak to won't have a clue and will be intimidated into doing whatever they ask.

Kudos to you for standing up to them and getting the council to take the debt back. I hope you can sort things out with the council without the bailiffs getting involved again :-)

fatbelly

There's a video on youtube about a bailiff (local authority debt) who threatened the debtor with a locksmith and was fined in the county court for misrepresenting his powers.

The video (very amusing in its own right) provided the evidence.

View here

bellrooster

fatbelly wrote: »

There's a video on youtube about a bailiff (local authority debt) who threatened the debtor with a locksmith and was fined in the county court for misrepresenting his powers.

The video (very amusing in its own right) provided the evidence.

View here

Thanks for that, that made me chuckle!

bikechic

Hi, i've previously had 'bother' with bailiffs for not paying council tax whereby they forced their hands through the top of my garage, unlocked the bolts and 'broke' in. then they had the gall to put my motorbike on their list of things to take and threatened me with it. After chatting with national debtline, I got information re times they're allowed to visit, what they can/can't do and to inform the company they register with that you threaten to take it to the police for breaking and entering.. fully informed now..

roughyed

Had a similar thing with council tax, they basically refused my offer of repayment out right and put charges on with out telling me what for. (Basically they said they would send a breakdown of the charges only after I paid them!)

Luckily I had this site and a few lovely people on here to advise me, so when I spoke to bailiffs again I was armed with a bit more knowledge without it I would likely of paid!

My bailiff got upset when I said we both know he can’t charge me for anymore than 2 visits where I don’t let him in and his threats of charging me for a van to sit outside the house all day was a lie. He put the phone down on me.

I ended up paying the council the money and the bailiff lost any commission. The more ‘customers’ learn the rules the better!

Head-Out-Of-Sand

fatbelly wrote: »

There's a video on youtube about a bailiff (local authority debt) who threatened the debtor with a locksmith and was fined in the county court for misrepresenting his powers.

The video (very amusing in its own right) provided the evidence.

View here

Beeeaaautiful. Good on the woman for sticking up for herself.

Naughty bailiffs!!

tealady

Hi If you are having bailiff problems herbie 21 is a great source of help and advice.