Bailiff at Door - Sole Mother with Toddler at Home

oliviabethemmerson

Hi

Basically looking for some advice.

This morning I received a knock on my door from a man who works as a bailiff with Bristow & Suter. I need to make it clear that I was very flustered and upset as soon as he mentioned this as this has never happened to me and I was home alone with my young toddler. Anyway, he tells me I owe £394.00 immediately due to a parking charge from a car park I used to park in when I lived at my old address. I have never received any correspondence regarding this as we moved house months ago. It's my own fault I didn't get more information off of him but my daughter was getting upset, dog barking etc. I told him I didn't have £394.00 at hand (financial crisis etc) and I could pay half today and set up a payment plan - I was told I couldn't do that, he would have to take something from my house that was worth the value and he could even take my car (my car is worth around £7000!) - bear in mind this car park charge will have been for £50 originally so I'm not sure how it has racked up to the amount above.

He said I had 15 minutes to sort something out (I was getting more and more distressed) and if not, he would enforce something to be taken from inside my house. He was never inside my house. Long story short, I called my Dad who kindly transferred me the money and I will now have to pay him back. However, I am just apalled that they can do this, he was even wearing a body cam!? I have tried to call the agency above and demand documents of some sort (he didn't provide me with any form of documentation other than a payment reference) - could someone please give me some sort of advice?

Thank you in advance.

diystarter7

Hi
The body cam is there to collect clear evidence to protect you and them.
What outcome do you want?

Thanks

oliviabethemmerson

I fully understand why it was there but I just can't understand how they can threaten to take things from my home infront of my child when I was clearly distressed and willing to pay a part of the money - how would they be able to take my car from me when the debt was only for £394.00 and I've also received zero correspondence.

GrumpyDil

Ideally I would ask for this to be moved to the parking sub board of the motoring forums. 

Without more detail it's not really possible to comment on this but the people on that forum will be best placed to help you with this. 

sourcrates

oliviabethemmerson said:

I fully understand why it was there but I just can't understand how they can threaten to take things from my home infront of my child when I was clearly distressed and willing to pay a part of the money - how would they be able to take my car from me when the debt was only for £394.00 and I've also received zero correspondence.

Unfortunatly that is how the majority of bailiffs operate, through lies and deception.

He was never going to take your goods, its normally far too much hassle doing so, as second hand goods never fetch much at auction, they use that as a threat to get you to pay up, normally, as you did, by asking a family member, they know how to manipulate vulnerable people, and do so on a regular basis, the nicey, nicey approach you see on the telly is all for the cameras.

You should have had a letter giving 7 days notice of their first visit, so you should have been aware of this happening, however it`s common for them to flout procedure in this way.

You did the right thing keeping him outside, never allow them entry to your home, they cannot take goods from your home, unless you allow them entry, however, he could have taken your car, as it was easily accessible outside, and as long as it belonged to you, and was not on finance of any kind, and that would have caused you even more problems.

If you want to register a complaint against the bailiff, details on how to do that are here -

Bailiff powers when they visit your home: How to complain about a bailiff - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

JadedAngel88

oliviabethemmerson said:

I fully understand why it was there but I just can't understand how they can threaten to take things from my home infront of my child when I was clearly distressed and willing to pay a part of the money - how would they be able to take my car from me when the debt was only for £394.00 and I've also received zero correspondence.

You should watch some of the baliff programs, I can't remember the names, it's how they do business.

They tell you things, you get distressed and find the money. It's tactics they use all the time. All they want is the money, any way they can get it. They don't or won't care about your homelife situation at all. They just want paying. 

There use to be a person on MSE who was excellent at baliff advice, I don't remember their username and I've not seen them on these boards for a while so don't know if they frequent here or not. 

diystarter7

JadedAngel88 said:

oliviabethemmerson said:

I fully understand why it was there but I just can't understand how they can threaten to take things from my home infront of my child when I was clearly distressed and willing to pay a part of the money - how would they be able to take my car from me when the debt was only for £394.00 and I've also received zero correspondence.

You should watch some of the baliff programs, I can't remember the names, it's how they do business.

They tell you things, you get distressed and find the money. It's tactics they use all the time. All they want is the money, any way they can get it. They don't or won't care about your homelife situation at all. They just want paying. 

There use to be a person on MSE who was excellent at baliff advice, I don't remember their username and I've not seen them on these boards for a while so don't know if they frequent here or not. 

Hi

Did those bailiffs get barred?  Millions watch those tv shows and there must have been many reports about them and what you said, so they have been barred. Just another good reason to have them wear a camera to record events.
Thanks

Boat_to_Bolivia

OP I would also suggest you post on the Parking fines, tickets and Parking board. They may be able to help seeing as this debt was as a result of a parking charge ending up in court without your knowledge.

Link here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/parking-tickets-fines-parking

GrumpyDil

EssexHebridean said:

GrumpyDil said:

Ideally I would ask for this to be moved to the parking sub board of the motoring forums. 

Without more detail it's not really possible to comment on this but the people on that forum will be best placed to help you with this. 

They might give some horrible poor advice on the bailiff issue though, in fairness, and as that was the main reason for the OP posting here, I think it's probably in the right place. 

To be fair they may also give good advice about getting any CCJ set aside if the company did not correctly follow the process to get one (there's a couple of recent threads about exactly the same scenario as this, one of which did result in the individual getting their money back). 

Boat_to_Bolivia

GrumpyDil said:

EssexHebridean said:

GrumpyDil said:

Ideally I would ask for this to be moved to the parking sub board of the motoring forums. 

Without more detail it's not really possible to comment on this but the people on that forum will be best placed to help you with this. 

They might give some horrible poor advice on the bailiff issue though, in fairness, and as that was the main reason for the OP posting here, I think it's probably in the right place. 

To be fair they may also give good advice about getting any CCJ set aside if the company did not correctly follow the process to get one (there's a couple of recent threads about exactly the same scenario as this, one of which did result in the individual getting their money back). 

Absolutely.

oliviabethemmerson

Thank you everyone - I received no notice of them coming - no confirmation of payment other than a reference - nothing.