Bailiff turned up unannounced

Hannah3105

Good morning

I’ve been woken by a bailiff this morning, advising me that I have an unpaid PCN dating back to February which has gone to court. He handed me a removal notice for my vehicle and showed me the initial PCN on his iPad, from my local council. I don’t dispute the PCN, it places me in an area where I know I was present at the time. 

However, this is the first I’ve heard of the matter, and suspect that the initial PCN went to my old address at around the same time that I changed my address with DVLA.

The bailiff (Equita) was able to find me this morning, so I’m struggling to understand why I haven’t received any correspondence from Equita relating to this debt until now and as a minimum, I understand that I should have received a notice of enforcement at least 7 days prior to what happened this morning. As per Paragraph 7 of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (the 2007 Act) states: (1) An enforcement agent may not take control of goods unless the debtor has been given notice.

He’s given me 24 hours to pay the £408, otherwise my car will be removed. 

Can someone please advise what action I should take? 

sourcrates

Hi,

For civil parking enforcement, Equita may just be acting as debt collectors, on this occasion, and not bailiffs.

However, that is bye the bye, as they have your car clamped, but believe it or not, removal of that car is the last thing they want to do, although they may not communicate that to you.

I`m assuming paying the £408 is a non starter right now, in which case you will have to try and negotiate a payment plan with them, don`t be scared of stating your case, a reasonable plan should be agreeable.

How much is your car worth ?

Would it cover the debt ?