My nephews debt and bailiff

chrisr123

Hi there, could I have some advice please, as I am pretty worried.
I live in a housing association house. I used to live with my father and my nephew. My father passed away 3 months ago and my nephew moved from Plymouth to Liverpool about 8 months ago. My nephew has lost his job and isn’t good with money. He’s got a lot of debt and is being threatened with bailiffs. He has never changed his address, so all his bills still come to me at this address. If the bailiffs come around, where do I stand? Do I let them in? Can they come in? What can they take? If they were to look in the rooms they could see that only one person lives here as my dads room is empty because he had a hospital bed towards his end of life and my nephews old room is full to the brim with stuff as I’ve used it as a storage room, so you can tell no one can sleep in there. I will be getting my own place soon as I can’t stay here. I’ve got a full time job and a car. So was just wondering where I stand in all this. After my dad died, I really don’t need this in my life. Any help and advice would be appreciated. Many thanks 

RAS

Hi, what sort of debts? As different bailiffs have different powers.

The standard ones are OK if you make sure they can't get in the house through an open door or window and explain that your nephew moved away to Liverpool months ago.

They shouldn't do anything about the car, as they should check the registration first. Do you park on the drive? Or in the street?

I'd add, encourage your nephew to speak to CAB, Step change or National debtline. But avoid the namesakes who will try to sell an IVA, which is not free despite the ads.

One option is a DRO which could clear up his debts for £90.

sourcrates

chrisr123 said:

If the bailiffs come around, where do I stand? Do I let them in? Can they come in? What can they take? 

It would be very, very rare for a bailiff to turn up at your door, but we will proceed on the assumption they have done, you are not the person they will be looking for, and you have your statutory rights, just like anyone else.

Bailiffs cannot force entry to private property unless they are collecting magistrates court fines, certain other mandatory debts, or are in the process of an eviction.

His debts will likely all be consumer credit act related, and so any bailiff that turns up will just be an employee of the county court, not HCEO`s, not that there is much difference in how you deal with them, just making the point.

You never allow a bailiff entry to your home, ever, always keep them outside, and your doors locked, you simply inform them that the debtor doesn`t live there, put it all in a brief letter if you prefer, so you can just hand it through a window to them.

If you allowed them entry, even though he no longer lives there, you would find yourself having to prove ownership of any expensive assets, and it would just be a whole load of hassle that is best avoided, by not letting them in the house, in the first place.

It`s extremely rare a creditor would pursue enforcement action on a consumer credit act related debt, they buy debts in bulk, for very little money, so if one does not pay, they simply concentrate on the next one, they may take legal action to try to force payment form the debtor, but if they still don`t pay, they won`t spend more money trying to enforce it.

You may get a county court bailiff turn up if they are chasing unpaid council tax under a liability order, but normal unsecured debts, I don`t think you need worry.