Bailiffs police and not my debt

john_kent

Hi

I just need a quick bit of advice. It is not in relation to my debt but a debt of the previous tennants.

I downsized from a 2 to 1 bedroom flat in May. My reasons being that I am rarely at home , and the decrease in rent and council tax saved me around 100 pound a month.

Since I moved in , i have had hundreds of "brown envelope" letters which are addressed to the previous occupier.

Friday , I get home from work and there is a note through the door to phone a debt company.

Basically , there has been a court hearing against the previous tennant and the claimant ahs sent the bailiffs in. I explained the situation and the guy said that was ok.

On Saturday I left my flat and as I was getting in my car , two guys approached me and basically tried to take my car. Being a big lump , I stood my ground. The guys claimed to be from the same firm.

Last night I get in and my key doesnt work. Someone has tried to force the lock. Inside is another note saying that its down to me to proof I am not the debtor and if I cannot , then they will force entry to reclaim goods to the value of 22k.

7am this morning , my car is clamped until this debt is repaid.

I have called the police and awaiting their arrival. But how the hell do I stop this happening.

UnderPressure

WOW what a nightmare! Wait for the police and explain the situation to them Im sure once they establish you are not the person they are looking for then they should be able to stop the bailiff's from any further action, then I would gater up all of the letters they have sent and first thing in the morning I would go and see a solicitor, bailiff's cannot "force entry" into anyones home apart from in certain circumstances so there is probably a very good chance they have broken the law here in some way and if they have then ou want to make sure you do everything you possibly can to make sure they pay one way or another.

In the meantime I would get the V5 for your car along with any relevant paperwork from when you purcahsed it, get together as much ID as you can, your tenancy agreement and maybe even some address ID from your previous address ready to show the police and also these scumbags, sadly the owness is on you to prove you are not the debtor they cannot argue with document prof so get together as mych as you can.

As said once this is over I would seriously look into here they have broken the law and take any necessary steps to ensure they are punished, their attitude sound a bit naughty to me, if they take your car make sure you get back on the phone to the police and report it stolen.

Also the police and be a bit lax with these issues so make sure you are on the phone to them every half hour until they arrive.

Stand your ground you have nothing to worry about but please make sure you do not let them get away with anything they have done illegaly at the least you need to be claiming damages to your door from them make them answer for their actions, if you have a camcorder start filming everything from now along with any conversations you have with them then you have some evidence as well should they do anything else illegally.

Does your landlord live locally? May be worth calling them and asking them to come round and vouch you are not the tenant, he may also have a forwarding address for said tenant.

Hang in there, let us know how you get on............

DarkConvict

Do you have any idea what type of bailiffs these are?

The bailiffs we deal with on this forum have always had very strict guidelines on what they can do. If they ever intended to clamp a car it had to be levied first and yourself notified.

Unless the bailiffs are working for HMRC they cannot force entry and attempting to break and enter is a criminal offence.
Contacting the police is the correct thing to do, you have notified the baillifs (and i assume the court listed on the papers too) that you are not the debtor and actions should not be taken out at this address.

If you have not contacted the court do so asap, and notify them you are not the debtor and you told the bailiffs this, however they have been aggressive in trying to take your car and have since clamped it, further more they have made attempts to force entry and have damaged the property.

If you are renting have you notified your landlord about the problems?

Whilst your contacting people it maybe a good idea to give http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/ (Herbie21) a phone call about what is happening. Keep a log of all your costs and time wasted and claim against the bailiff company.

john_kent

Update

Police have attended. They are considering the lock damage as attempted break in.

The bailiffs are a company from about 20miles away who (to quote the PCSO who was also attending) "Not a bona fida company".

They are acting on a remortgage debt on another property for a company called OCS Refinance UK ltd.

The clamp is still on the car as they will not take any of the documents as gospel.

The car is not mine but a company car leased from Enterprise. My Landlord is on her way.

I have just phoned the clamping company responsible for our bloke to advise them there are two cars parked out of a parking bay with no permit. I do hope they attend.

What a waste of a Sunday.

scaredy_cat

you should pm Herbie21 and look at her website - http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/

they do have a helpline number.

Mikeone

This is a horrible situation. The behaviour of some of these firms really winds me up. There's a dangerous absence of regulation in this industry.

Good luck with it and please keep us all updated. I really hope you succeed with these clowns. Please pass on any advice you can from your experience -it could be helpful to others on these boards.

Best of luck!

john_kent

Landlord has provided a copy of my tenancy. They have seen my passport and driving licence and have decided I am not the person who owes the money.

I have asked police to attend again , because my car is still clamped , and being a hire car , I have no documentation around it.

UnderPressure

OK so seems to be heading in the right direction then, if they have accepted that you are not the person then they have no reason to think after the landlord has provided evidence that this car belongs to the person.

Wait for the police you are doing the right thing, when they arrive I would also tell them that you want charges pressing for harrassment and attempted break in see what they say

Then tomorrow make sure you write to the court concerned with all the details and make an official complaint about this firm of scumbags, Im sure someone will chime in soo telling you exactly how to go about that.

Nearly over well done

Rossy.

Just out of curiosity how did they know the car belonged to you ?

If it's a rental wouldn't it be registered to the rental company?

UnderPressure

He said in 1 of his previous posts that they collared him yesterday getting into the car so they have used the 1 brain cell between them and decided it belonged to him........

Rossy.

UnderPressure wrote: »

He said in 1 of his previous posts that they collared him yesterday getting into the car so they have used the 1 brain cell between them and decided it belonged to him........

Ah yes !

my bad for rushing through the post