We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
I have been bullied and manhandled by my local authority contractors
Meromanche
Posts: 34 Forumite
Bailiffs came to our door this morning while I was out. My wife is Japanese and weighs around 45kg, the three people who came to my door where on average 4 times heavier than that. Although her English is good, she did not quite understand why a council employee, as they announced themselves, would barge in the house in such a way. She tried to keep the intruders out of the house but was unable to do so. She then rang me and told me what was happening. She also said that one of the person was rude but that the other person was trying to reason the other one. She put them on the phone to me, I asked them to wait for me to arrive before they went any further. I must admit to have been very angry with the fact that three heavies would turn up on my doorstep and use threatening behaviour to gain entry to my house.
I approached one of them who was by then seating in a car outside and asked him to come out, which he did not. I then went into my house where two people were standing in the entrance. I asked them which one was rude to my wife and grabbed that person’s jacket to make him move out of the way. The other person grabbed me from behind in a headlock and told me to release his colleague. During the scuffle the outside door became shut which avoided the third person coming in despite him trying to kick the door in. I released my grip on the first person for him to grab my left arm and hold it in a lock. The other person was still holding my head in a lock. The person holding my arm made the gesture of head butting me but could not connect as I moved my head away. In retaliation, I tried to kick him but did not connect either. Realising that I was very much on the losing side, I let go and was eventually released and pushed outside. They would not let me back in my house. One of them called the police, I believe my wife and a neighbour also called.
Although by then I was no longer a threat as I was outside surrounded by two of the thugs, the other one took the opportunity to enter the house further despite my wife’s request and begging not to. My wife suffers from OCD and does not allow anybody but my son and I in the house. By then she was very distressed. One of the persons outside with me eventually told the guy inside to come back to the entrance, which he reluctantly did.
When the police arrived, I was asked to go into their car and give my details and version of events. One of the police officers who had been talking to the bailiffs came back in the car and told me that they would not be pressing charges if I was not but that if I was going to press charges, I would be arrested and taken away in handcuffs in the first place. What choice did this give me? It seems that the police already sided with the thugs.
I was told that the only way I would be able to stop them taking goods from my house immediately would be to pay the full amount due and the bailiff fees immediately. I agreed to pay the amount requested by cheque, which was refused. I then offered a credit card payment, which was accepted. While one of the bailiffs was processing the credit card, the other one, who assaulted me stayed inside the house and was taking notes. Once the policeman had moved away, he said to me: “I’ll see you around” in a threatening manner. The police refused to take this threat seriously. The same person, requested £40 in cash from me for apparently ripping his jacket. I refused to pay this. A receipt was issued by the same person who threatened me and his parting comment to my wife was: “see you next year”.
I asked for their names, which they refused to give and left us with the receipt for the money paid.
I will admit of being wrong for not paying my council tax. However on an income of £490 per month, I really cannot see how I would be able to afford to pay this. The council made it very clear when I called them about the debt, that it was not possible for them to take my application into consideration as it had already gone to court but that my application would stand for next year’s council tax.
The method used by Equita staff to recover the money is absolutely abhorrent. Pushing their way into a house while a lone woman is at the door is reminiscent of the method of shark money lenders. The threatening behaviour of the thugs that came to my door and more particularly one of them, who made a direct threat to meet me another time, threat that incidentally the police chose to ignore, is totally out of order and should not be tolerated by a caring local authority. Do those people really have the Courts authority? Are they acting on my local council’s behalf? Although I understand that bailiffs have a job to do, there is surely a way of doing it without resorting to violence and thuggish behaviour.
I believe that the bailiffs did not have the right of entry in this case. However, I understand that they have the right of entry in the case of debts due to income tax or fines. This debt is neither.
As a reasonable and educated person that has never been in trouble with the police do you think I would have grabbed one of them if I have not felt threatened? They were not invited in; they barged their way in by putting a foot in the door as soon as it was open. I believe that I am well within my right to defend my wife and house against a direct threat from a person or persons, whose conduct is less than reputable and who tried to extort a further £40 in cash from me.
The £1,500 I gave to the thugs today were the very last part of our savings, extorted money on a debt that I should not have paid in the first place due to our very little income.
It seems that thuggish behaviour by bailiffs is encouraged by local authorities and tolerated by the police. Welcome to Great Britain! This is the country that I have been calling my home and paid vast amount of taxes in for over twenty years. Do I really want to stay here and contribute further?
I approached one of them who was by then seating in a car outside and asked him to come out, which he did not. I then went into my house where two people were standing in the entrance. I asked them which one was rude to my wife and grabbed that person’s jacket to make him move out of the way. The other person grabbed me from behind in a headlock and told me to release his colleague. During the scuffle the outside door became shut which avoided the third person coming in despite him trying to kick the door in. I released my grip on the first person for him to grab my left arm and hold it in a lock. The other person was still holding my head in a lock. The person holding my arm made the gesture of head butting me but could not connect as I moved my head away. In retaliation, I tried to kick him but did not connect either. Realising that I was very much on the losing side, I let go and was eventually released and pushed outside. They would not let me back in my house. One of them called the police, I believe my wife and a neighbour also called.
Although by then I was no longer a threat as I was outside surrounded by two of the thugs, the other one took the opportunity to enter the house further despite my wife’s request and begging not to. My wife suffers from OCD and does not allow anybody but my son and I in the house. By then she was very distressed. One of the persons outside with me eventually told the guy inside to come back to the entrance, which he reluctantly did.
When the police arrived, I was asked to go into their car and give my details and version of events. One of the police officers who had been talking to the bailiffs came back in the car and told me that they would not be pressing charges if I was not but that if I was going to press charges, I would be arrested and taken away in handcuffs in the first place. What choice did this give me? It seems that the police already sided with the thugs.
I was told that the only way I would be able to stop them taking goods from my house immediately would be to pay the full amount due and the bailiff fees immediately. I agreed to pay the amount requested by cheque, which was refused. I then offered a credit card payment, which was accepted. While one of the bailiffs was processing the credit card, the other one, who assaulted me stayed inside the house and was taking notes. Once the policeman had moved away, he said to me: “I’ll see you around” in a threatening manner. The police refused to take this threat seriously. The same person, requested £40 in cash from me for apparently ripping his jacket. I refused to pay this. A receipt was issued by the same person who threatened me and his parting comment to my wife was: “see you next year”.
I asked for their names, which they refused to give and left us with the receipt for the money paid.
I will admit of being wrong for not paying my council tax. However on an income of £490 per month, I really cannot see how I would be able to afford to pay this. The council made it very clear when I called them about the debt, that it was not possible for them to take my application into consideration as it had already gone to court but that my application would stand for next year’s council tax.
The method used by Equita staff to recover the money is absolutely abhorrent. Pushing their way into a house while a lone woman is at the door is reminiscent of the method of shark money lenders. The threatening behaviour of the thugs that came to my door and more particularly one of them, who made a direct threat to meet me another time, threat that incidentally the police chose to ignore, is totally out of order and should not be tolerated by a caring local authority. Do those people really have the Courts authority? Are they acting on my local council’s behalf? Although I understand that bailiffs have a job to do, there is surely a way of doing it without resorting to violence and thuggish behaviour.
I believe that the bailiffs did not have the right of entry in this case. However, I understand that they have the right of entry in the case of debts due to income tax or fines. This debt is neither.
As a reasonable and educated person that has never been in trouble with the police do you think I would have grabbed one of them if I have not felt threatened? They were not invited in; they barged their way in by putting a foot in the door as soon as it was open. I believe that I am well within my right to defend my wife and house against a direct threat from a person or persons, whose conduct is less than reputable and who tried to extort a further £40 in cash from me.
The £1,500 I gave to the thugs today were the very last part of our savings, extorted money on a debt that I should not have paid in the first place due to our very little income.
It seems that thuggish behaviour by bailiffs is encouraged by local authorities and tolerated by the police. Welcome to Great Britain! This is the country that I have been calling my home and paid vast amount of taxes in for over twenty years. Do I really want to stay here and contribute further?
2010 Ebay challenge = £0.13
2010 Weight loss challenge 2.8Kg/20Kg
0
Comments
-
They sound horrible:mad:. I would be complaining to the council and the debt collection agency.
Furthermore, I think you should invest in a stronger door, and CCTV so you have evidence.
Maybe even get a spy pen as well, so you can record it from your point of view.
Obviusly some of these options may not be viable, but it's just a thought.0 -
I dont believe they would barge in as you said, i would have called the council to check that A they were actually from the council and B i wouldnt have manhandled the guy at the front door.0
-
OP, you were the one that started with the aggressive behaviour. How did you expect them to react? The police saw a situation where both sides have overreacted, and did their best to resolve it without further action.
BTW, you are aware that you are not allowed links in your signature?Gone ... or have I?0 -
The bailiffs would have send a myriad of letters before hand. So you could have avoided this and agreed a way to pay your debt. By grabbing them you just escalated the situation0
-
You were in the wrong for grabbing the bloke by his jacket to move him out of the way but then again I would have probably done the same in that situation and ended up whacking one of them.
Not quite sure why you let it get to this stage if you had the funds on your credit card to pay in the first place. Well done for telling them to do one when they asked for £40 extra for his jacket though.If At First You Don't Succeed, Call It Version 1.0
0 -
I don't understand if you offered to pay the bailiffs a cheque to clear the debt, why didn't you pay the bill before and save yourself from the bother and humiliation. It is very pompous to say "why should I spend my savings on council tax" I am in the position of having NO savings left because I have used them all to pay bills/food etc having suffered a change of circumstances to our income as a result of the recession. Why therefore should I pay all my bills on time and you don't - what makes you so special that you are above paying for the council services you have received?0
-
You should have phoned the police. Or your wife should have.The Summer Holiday of a Lifetime0
-
it sounds like a horrible situation that quickly got out of control Meromanche - but the scuffle you were a part of started because you grabbed the baliffs jacket - he didn't know that was all you were going to do, he must have thought you were attacking him and put up a defence.
As for having to use the last of your savings to pay your bill- are you serious!!
I don't have any savings - I make ends meet. Lots of other people do the same, why on earth did you not pay your council tax bill if you had any savings available. No one likes to pay tax but we all use the services.
I think you owe your wife an apology for putting her through that situation as it could have been avoided.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 351.7K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 454K Spending & Discounts
- 244.7K Work, Benefits & Business
- 600.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.3K Life & Family
- 258.4K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards