goodwillie & corcoran bailiffs

kat79

They called at the house yesterday. Said they were going to take OHs car and also a van which was in the drive which belongs to a relative. The car is on finance and if it goes, so does all our income as OH needs it to get to appointments all over the country. Can they take them? Said they were going to be back this friday to take them and our other posessions. No bailiff has ever or will ever be admitted inside! Is there anything I can do myself? The debt is in OH name alone.
Sorry this is so disjointed but I've lost many nights of sleep over this and I'm not very awake right now. Its making me ill, i don't know what to do.

DarkConvict

Im sure others on here will correct me and post the relevant law.

But yes, they can place a levy on any vehicles if they think it is owned by the debtor. I.e. On the drive or on the road outside the house. But they cannot take someone else's property. Not sure how you go about stating the van is not yours, but they cannot take someone elses property, a simple DVLA check on their end would clear it up.
With regards to the car, if it is required more than a convince. Which i believe it is from what you have stated as you cannot get to work. Then they will be unable to take the car as well.

Do not let them in the house, talk through a window/letterbox!

They need to serve a 'walking possession' notice as well before trying to take goods. (i think)

Do you know what the debt is in relation to? What paperwork have you received? It maybe possible they are not acting on a creditors behalf, but are instead buying up bad debts and hoping to make some money out of them. Which in many cases they cannot!

Below are posts from other topics that might be useful.

Wol2 wrote: »

Bailiffs and Vehicles.

• As with any other goods, bailiffs can only take a vehicle for your debt if the vehicle belongs to you. This typically excludes vehicles on a hire purchase scheme or similar.
• If a bailiff makes a visit to your property and no one is in, they can and often will make an assumption that a vehicle on the drive or possibly even in the street outside the house is yours and will levy upon it. That doesn't mean that they can take it if it belongs to someone else, but it does mean that the someone else who owns it will need to prove that they own it.
• A vehicle used in the course of your employment cannot be seized.
  This DOES NOT include "My car, because without it the commute is a pain and the kids will actually have to walk to school without it, too."
  It DOES include "My car, because I'm a self-employed taxi driver, or courier, or whatever and that is the vehicle I use."

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1968639&highlight=levy&page=2

Wol2 wrote: »

and a bit more form bailiffadviceonline:
"Levying" on a vehicle that you do not own:
This is now also becoming commonplace with "less reputable" bailiffs, in particular when collecting for unpaid council tax. How it works is this:
The bailiff will make a visit to your premises with "a view to levying distress" (this is the legal term). He can charge just £24.50 if this is the 1st visit and you are not at home and no levy is made. In order to generate more income for him and his company,the bailiff will instead post a form through the door to say that he has attended and "levied" upon a vehicle either on your driveway or on the road outside. The bailiff will then charge both an additional "walking possession" fee and a "levy fee". The bailiff knows that there is case law that provides that he can "assume" that the car is yours and that it is up to you....not him..... to prove otherwise ( details of this case can be found in the Legal section of our Downloads area). Many times these vehicles are owned by sons/daughters/friends/even tradesmen etc. If this does occur, and the bailiff company refuse to accept that the vehicle is not owned by you and refuse as well to remove all charges associated with this supposed "levy" then a Statutory Declaration will need to be sworn by the owner of the vehicle. and a request made that all fees and charges associated with this "levy" are removed. Again, you may wish to contact our office for assistance in completing this Statutory Declaration.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1968639&page=3&highlight=levy

Wol2 wrote: »

Do NOT let them into your property, (talk through a window or the letterbox)...lock all doors and windows, keep any vehicles far away from the house..make sure anything in your garden is under lock and key......and above all do NOT sign anything and do NOT send any payment to the bailiffs...yet.

They have visited twice, not gained access...and have therefore not been able to levy any of your possessions (check any paperwork they may have posted through your door to make sure there is no piece of paper with your car/reg no, bits of furniture etc detailed on it)

This means that they should now return the debt to the council (but will they heck)

First of all you need to establish if there really is a debt to pay.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1972725&highlight=letterbox