Bailiff at Door - Sole Mother with Toddler at Home

GrumpyDil

oliviabethemmerson said:

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

I would contact them tomorrow to ask them to provide full details of the 'debt' they were collecting.

Once you have that and assuming it is not a council parking ticket then I would suggest posting on the parking forum to get their advice. 

If it is a council ticket that is a different issue and you will likely be told to post details on the pepipoo forum as they deal with council parking tickets. 

EssexHebridean

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). 

Completely agree about the parking ticket advice, however this wasn’t the reason for the OP posting here on this issue. It definitely sounds as though it would be worth them also getting some input from the parking board on the actual validity of the ticket, but IMO that should be a separate thread if they wish to make one, not a move of this thread.

gwynlas

. 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.
Had you informed DVLA  of your change of address and was post redirected?

EssexHebridean

diystarter7 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. 

Good morning

The highlighted bit, it is a very unkind and very unhelpful comment all around and does not do that forum justice.


OP, what kind of outcome are you hoping for?

Good luck

All the forums periodically have issues with people whose area of expertise is most definitely not debt offering advice on it when, in fact, they should stay quiet. We've seen it most recently on energy - where people who have received what are quite clearly (to us on here) fishing trip letters from DCA's have been advised to call them up and engage with them, rather than simply either ignoring (if they absolutely know the debt cannot be theirs) or at the most sending the Prove It letter.  In some cases people have been advised to pay debts that they know are not theirs because "it's a lot of hassle otherwise for a small amount" - this is categorically appalling advice. More recently on there we have also seen a spate of people posting blatant misinformation around smart metering - which again is problematic - Smart Meters are helpful for far more people than they will ever cause a problem for, and creating an atmosphere of fear around them is incredibly unhelpful. 

Horses for courses. Threads about debt, and about bailiffs, and about the things people most definitely should NOT do when dealing with DCA's and bailiffs, are best on this board. Had the OP's question been around how to challenge the parking ticket, then I would happily have reported it for moving, myself. As it is though, she clearly knew where she wished to post, and there was a risk - as I pointed out - that she might get entirely the wrong information if she posted where the expertise to accurately react to her fears wasn't present. It wasn't unkind at all - it was factual.

diystarter7

EssexHebridean said:

diystarter7 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. 

Good morning

The highlighted bit, it is a very unkind and very unhelpful comment all around and does not do that forum justice.


OP, what kind of outcome are you hoping for?

Good luck

All the forums periodically have issues with people whose area of expertise is most definitely not debt offering advice on it when, in fact, they should stay quiet. We've seen it most recently on energy - where people who have received what are quite clearly (to us on here) fishing trip letters from DCA's have been advised to call them up and engage with them, rather than simply either ignoring (if they absolutely know the debt cannot be theirs) or at the most sending the Prove It letter.  In some cases people have been advised to pay debts that they know are not theirs because "it's a lot of hassle otherwise for a small amount" - this is categorically appalling advice. More recently on there we have also seen a spate of people posting blatant misinformation around smart metering - which again is problematic - Smart Meters are helpful for far more people than they will ever cause a problem for, and creating an atmosphere of fear around them is incredibly unhelpful. 

Horses for courses. Threads about debt, and about bailiffs, and about the things people most definitely should NOT do when dealing with DCA's and bailiffs, are best on this board. Had the OP's question been around how to challenge the parking ticket, then I would happily have reported it for moving, myself. As it is though, she clearly knew where she wished to post, and there was a risk - as I pointed out - that she might get entirely the wrong information if she posted where the expertise to accurately react to her fears wasn't present. It wasn't unkind at all - it was factual.

If you put it like that initially rather than the way you did, it would have been better.

DCFC79

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.

Can only take items if for example you let them in or I believe if they see an open door. 
Well if you didnt let them in then they could potentially take the car to pay the debt.

The amount has gone up due to letters etc being sent, had you changed your address eith dvla ?

diystarter7

DCFC79 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.

Can only take items if for example you let them in or I believe if they see an open door. 
Well if you didnt let them in then they could potentially take the car to pay the debt.

The amount has gone up due to letters etc being sent, had you changed your address eith dvla ?

Hi
Just to add from the tv shows I have watched - they add costs on top if they have to take goods, so its costs on costs.
Thanks

fatbelly

Those tv shows are for entertainment, not education. I refuse to watch them as I find them too annoying.

There are two bailiff fees: a compliance fee of £75, charged when a letter is first sent, and an enforcement fee of £235 when a visit is made. If they fail to remove goods then those are the only fees.

I have been a debt adviser with CAB for over 20 years and have still never heard of a bailiff removing anything. 

Coupon-mad

oliviabethemmerson said:

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.

Please reply to the regulars on the parking board. We want to help you set this aside and get the monies returned.

We know what we are doing regarding any parking charge CCJ set aside and this can (if the court agrees) also include an Order for the funds you've paid to the bailiff to be returned to you:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6417936/bailiff-at-door-no-notice#latest

But one of the things a Judge will expect is for you to act 'promptly' which means filing your N244 application and witness statement very quickly now.

Next week, asap.

We can help you with the forms and wording of your witness statement, and we pretty much ALWAYS see CCJs set aside on the parking board.  Often with the £275 court fee paid back by the rogue parking operator.

And the cases we see are almost all about claims that were improperly served to old addresses, which is the parking firm's fault, not the consumer.  Sounds like a typical case.

If the regulars here on this board are interested in reading a parking charge case involving a bailiff & CCJ that we have handled, look at the threads on the parking board by @SoJacob or @Harvez63.  We do these CCJ set aside cases every day, but those two both involved the added complication of HCEOs as those cases involved 4 figure sums/multiple private PCNs with exaggerated & extortionate fees layered on top.

Parking cases are 'alleged debts under contract law' and are different than regulated debt.  This is absolutely the wrong board for posting about parking CCJs (including how a bailiff behaves).

Please reply on the linked thread so we csn help you.

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. 

Thankyou.

Parking cases are not like other types of alleged (regulated) debt.

Any concerns about how and when to contact (or not contact) a DRA in these cases are not relevant.

There is no issue with contact restarting any 'clock' when it comes to an alleged parking charge.  The Limitation period is a straight six years because this isn't debt (as in 'default on credit' or a regulated debt under the CCA).  Parking charges rely on contract law, so contacting or ignoring DRAs in these cases affects nothing at all.

Most private PCNs are currently considered scam charges.  Good Judges know all about this.  There is invariably a defence and a solid case to set aside a CCJ.