please help bayliff problem

CraigM_2

hi, i live in my parents house in scotland and i received a phone call the other night from a debit collection agency who i owe £547, the call lasted less than 2 minutes and the guy basically said that since they have not been able to contact me since april they are sending round bayliffs. I need to know what options i have as i thought i had to go to court before bayliffs were sent round or at leat had some sort of leeter from the court informing me of the judement but i have not received anything like that, any help would be appreciated as i am freaking out a little as my parents would probably kick me out if a bayliff comes to the door

fiveyearplan

I'm not sure how things work in Scotland but someone will be along shortly to answer your questions. In the meantime, what is the debt for? Did you know it was with a DCA? How come they didn't contact you since April?

CraigM_2

the debt is for a tv i got on credit a couple of years ago, and to be honest the reason they couldnt contact me is because i was avoiding their calls and letters in the idiotic hope it would just go away, that call was a bit of a reality check, i am unemployed at the moment but after that call i am determined to sort out my debts which to be honest is probably what i should have did a long time ago

rog2

Don't worry Craig - A DCA can not send in a bailiff (Sherrif's Officer) without a County Court Order.
Why not give CAB or Scottish Debtline a call.

CraigM_2

thanks for the reply rog ill give debtline a call but im not 100% whether it was a dca or a solicitor that called me as i was a bit shellshocked as soon as he said the bayliff was coming and he hung up before i could ask any questions

CraigM_2

just for clarification would i definatley receive a letter from the court before a bailiff can come out? and to be honest if i had received a court summons i would have tried to settle the debt before the court date. I suppoe one good thing to come from this is that it is a reality check for me, i now want to get all my debts sorted out

fiveyearplan

Good luck sorting out your debt. Have you thought of posting your SOA? I know you said you aren't working at the moment but putting down everything you owe and getting advice on here may be just what you need to get motivated to paying things off. It will be a lot better than receiving those nasty phone calls!

CraigM_2

thanks fiveyearplan, new to the site not entirely sure what a soa is, income and outgoings? one of my problems is finding out exactly how much i owe and to who as for the last while i have been avoiding calls and barely glancing at debt letters before throwing them out. I just hoped everything would go away, well my first priority is to find out if the bailiff is actually coming round, and then trying to find out who i owe what to and trying to make arrangements with them

RAS

Have a look here

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score

as that should show up your debts.

and this is the link for the SOA
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

fiveyearplan

First of all welcome - you've taken your head out of the sand! On the forum homepage is a sticky from SouthernScouser that says what you need for an SOA. Not sure your best move at the moment. I would have initially said to get a credit report done to see who you owe money to but having read somewhere on here today about someone who did that and now have someone chasing them for an old debt - not sure that is your best route (especially as you are staying at your parents). I'm sure someone else will be along with better advice.

CraigM_2

thanks for the info guys
now i just need to try and find out who called me about the bailiff and check there is actually one coming