Bailiff Problems

scouselad1974

Hi Everyone

My Brother received a letter today that was in the name of somebody he had never heard of but addressed to his house ( he has lived there for over 10 years)

Anyway he opened it (maybe he shouldn't of but he did) to discover it was a 24 hour notice of attendance from a firm of Bailiffs, for an amount of debt ran up at an address elsewhere. He telephoned the Bailiffs and explained the situation to them, they have told him to send proof of his identity.

Anyway it now turns out that the person named on the letter he received lives in the same road as him and apparantley he received a letter for this person a few months back, but returned it to sender as not known at this address.

Should he tell the Bailiffs that the person they are looking for lives in the same road as him ?

I have told him to order a copy of his credit files, but if this person has been using his address to get credit then how would she have gone about it. If he orders his credit file then obviousley any credit she has signed up for will not show up on his file.

I told him to report it to the Police to be on the safe side, and their reply was Do Not Worry About it, just don't invite the Bailiffs in and they have to prove they have the right person not you ?

Apparantley the bailiffs where sat outside my Brothers house today.

Any advice would be very welcome

RAS

Bailiffs do not have the right to enter the house anyway, unless you db invites them in. They do not have the right to take his belonging and if they did, the police would get much more interested and do them for theft.

The certainly are not complying with the DPA by dropping letters throught the wrong door ( I had this happen to me - was not even the same street) or talking to your db about someone else's debt. Deep no no.

Suggest DB writes a little note, and drops the bailiff letter and the note through the correct door.

Nitha

I may be wrong but I thought a CCJ needed to be issued before bailiffs could come over. I would advise your brother to contact the police if they are outside the house again as it is threatening behaviour. Also get him to check that the person they are after is not on his electoral register so there is absolutely nothing linking him to the property.

RAS

Bailif do not need a CCJ, particularly if it is CT or a fine. A magistrates liability order would be sufficient.

scouselad1974

Thanks for the replies guys, how does my brother check that this person is not on his electorol register.

RAS

Your brother fills the Electoral Roll form from the Council each year, so unless he put this person on, they should not be listed.

Much much more likely, given the bailiff queries we get here is that the person who has the bailiffs chasing them has a parking or trafffic fine. The classic problem is the PCN notice goes to the wrong address (dont' ask but it seems to happen a lot). The offender does not reply, it goes to court, they do not pay the fine and it goes to the bailiffs, because someone typed the wrong address in the system.

Can all be sorted by the offender making an out of time declaration and the whole thing is called off. Offender now has the chance to pay the basic fine and it is all sorted.

magpiecottage

Are you sure they are bailiffs and not simply a debt collection agency?

scouselad1974

Hi

I haven't seen the letter personally but he did say it is from Bailiffs,
I will have a look myself tomorrow, I just find it strange that my brother also received a letter for this person from MBNA a few months ago but returned it unopened as not known at this address.

Nitha

It could be that he applied for credit and typed the house number incorrectly. Then the search appears on the credit file and the address is linked so potential debt collectors can trace him to that address.