Dealing with Bailiffs this morning

Stirfry

Hi all, I had a knock at the door and was expecting a delivery so answered it. Two thugs from Marston were on my doorstep, one immediately put a foot in the door. I asked them to remove it and they refused. The money outstanding was for unpaid fines for my estranged Son who has not lived with me for 22 years and never at the address. They asked me to prove he did not live there and then told me there was nothing I could provide to prove it.

They had no warrant and said they could not show me info on i-pad as I was not Dean. I said they could not come in and would have to wait for my Husband to return home. I put my arms out to prevent entry and they pushed passed under my arm. They would not tell me what Court I could phone to explain and my Husband already phoned Marston when he received a letter addressed to my Son, to explain he did not live there. He also informed them where my Son lived.

Once they were in the house they were threatening to remove goods and I felt physically sick as I suffer High Blood Pressure. My Husband paid on his Debit card over the phone as he was extremely worried about me.

On writing this I still feel violated. I have e-mailed the CEO Gareth Hughes. Come on Martin Lewis what can I do?

National_Debtline

Hi Stirfry,


I am sorry to hear you have had such an awful experience and a complaint is definitely the starting point here. It should go to Marston's (their details are available online), and it can go to their trade association CIVEA as well. Whether the CEO will reply to you, I am afraid I cannot say. You need to make it clear how you want it resolved. You can ask for a refund of the money, as it was paid under duress, and for compensation for the stress they caused. If Marston refuse to do this, then go to CIVEA.


I would suggest you also ask for the bailiffs details and check he is certificated. You can make it clear what happened and see if they had a body cam and request the footage. The situation you have described is against the National Standard of Enforcement agents and is generally unacceptable. I would suggest you use the complaint procedure as that is free and hopefully it can be resolved this way. Best of luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

Stirfry

Thanks Laura for your prompt reply. I have already gone through resolver. I guess I will just have to wait for the response. Will go back on to resolver to request footage from body cam and ask for compensation for stress caused.
I know the bailiffs details J Barnes 35803 how do I check he is certified.Thank you again.

National_Debtline

Hello again,


You can check online here - https://certificatedbailiffs.justice.gov.uk/ However, I am not sure if the register will do a 'soft search'. So in other words, if the bailiffs is registered as "James Barnes" as opposed to "J Barnes" it may not find him.


As you mentioned this is for a magistrate court fine the bailiffs should be certified as they are private bailiffs. (I will mention that some bailiffs don't require a certificate if they are acting directly through the court - like a county court bailiff - but I don't think that is the case here). If neither of the bailiffs that attended were certified then the work completed was invalid, not to mention in breach of the guidelines! You should then ask for a full refund of the money paid as they shouldn't have been there in the first place. However, if one of them had a valid certificate, you would revert back to your original issue, which was their terrible conduct. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

Stirfry

Hi again, I have found a Jaron Barnes but he is not showing as being employed by marston. Is it possible to trace him through a registration number as I don't know if it is the same one.

leslieknope

https://www.gov.uk/your-rights-bailiffs

"Bailiffs must usually give you at least 7 days’ notice of their first visit.


Bailiffs can’t enter your home:

• by force, for example by pushing past you
• if only children under 16 or vulnerable people (with disabilities, for example) are present
• between 9pm and 6am
• through anything except the door"

they have broken the law so definitely complain and escalate that to whatever agency holds them accountable.

Mee

Just in case you want to publicly shame them, if they are Marston Group representatives:

@MarstonGroup

fatbelly

I am now regularly getting complaints like this, and worse, at the CAB.

Please keep us updated on the progress on this one.

leslieknope

look at their twitter it looks like they make a habit of this, even when the person hasn't been living there for a long time...

Stirfry

Thanks everyone for the support. I will keep you updated as and when things progress.

Mee

I find this shocking. If they behave this way what is to stop scammers doing the same...?!