Bailiff emergency help please

[Bailiffhelpplease]

I’ve just been called at work by a bailiff to say he is standing in my property and has a warrant for an unpaid dart charge of £2.50. He wants £425 off me.

I’m at work, he’s threatening to remove property from the house or come to work and get my car. I have not got £425 what the hell can I do?

DD must have left the door open.

He is a bully and broken the terms of his licence, I’d sleep on it to tonight and if you've the strength activate a complaint.

You might be able to claim back the enforcement officer fees.

@nocoolnamesleft
I'm so worried about this. The previous tenants here clearly haven't changed anything to do with the car to their new address, after nearly 7 months - dart charge included. They are getting almost weekly letters here from dart charge - which we continue to return - and I'm definitely worried that a bailiff will turn up one day.

Never open your door to a bailiff.

Not helpful @formerbabe

OP I’m so sorry you’ve experienced this.
Absolute daylight robbery and the bailiff was a bully. Please do complain.

I agree that he is a bully and you should make a complaint.

This makes me feel sick: I hate the thought of someone rummaging around my home in my absence, regardless of the legality of them being there.

Also shame on the dartford crossing people! £425 for a £2.50 debt should be illegal. Worse than a bloody loan shark.

@Mooey89

I never said that to the op but in response to the post above mine.

@sar302 we had this happen when we rented for a little while, we assumed the bailiff was there for a previous tennant (turns out he had the wrong address) I just showed him proof of my name and address explained I now lived there and he left

The crossing is run and managed by Sanef the French toll company. It isn't even the crossing getting the bloody money

Op I'm really sorry for today - hand holding here as I'm in exactly the same predicament albeit mine is £515!!

I drove through the dart ford charge zone for the first time without realising as I thought there were barriers to indicate that I did . I happen to move house around the time the letters with the original fine were sent. When I moved I stupidly changed my address on my driving license thinking this was the right way but only to find out that I was meant to send In a section of my log book in order to have my address changed.

The bailiff was obviously sending letters to my previous address despite me being on the electoral register the day I moved in! They miraculously recently located my new address and claim I owe this much !

They have refused a payment plan so I'm just paying whatever I can monthly via their account . They are unable to take my car as it's on finance and have invited him in to confiscate goods but try have refused ... oh well.. at least you've paid it and it won't escalate to an even bigger fine.

I've opened a dart account now and have learned a very very Valuable lesson .

Big hugs to you - we all make mistakes x

Is your DD absolutely sure she didn't lock the door? Seems a bit if a coincidence she forgets to lock it on the day he decides to call. Some locks are very easy to bump/pick with readily available equipment.

@cherry2727, thank you so much. Doesn't it just make you sick that £2.50 can escalate this high, if the toll was still there we would have just paid it and never thought about it again.

I feel like i've been robbed and violated all in the same day

Ex had dart charge from March. They wrote at least ten times. Escalating the amount. The bailiffs came to my address as his log book is addressed here and as a court orderer had been made it needed to be paid. This was in August.

So he had plenty of notification from March to August to pay the bloody thing. But decided it was best to ignore. Along side credit card bill and a parking ticket which is in the process of being escalated.

I Have been told to show them my council tax bill and make them aware my son is vulnerable and they have no right to access. But it isn't a lot of fun when they are on your door step.

Sorry you've had such a shitty day op :(

However, you should be cross that the door has been left unlocked. Really cross. You could have been burgled too.

I would hate the thought of a stranger poking around my house whilst I was out, it's horrible.
This man has bullied you into paying.
I would make a complaint. You can ill afford this and your privacy has been violated.

I used to be the ostrich type where I would bury my head in the sand over such things but have found out the hard way that it's always best to make contact to explain your situation and when you intend to pay.
Too late now but you will never be in this position again as it's a bloody expensive lesson learned

It's horrible they escalate it so high but there is plenty of opportunity to sort it out before it gets to this stage.

I had unpaid charge the first time I crossed (just stupidly forgot) got the letter through that said if I paid plus any subsequent unpaid charge before that letter then I wouldn't have any fine, which I did. This was July, then August got a letter through to say I hadn't paid, rang them up to explain I had, no problem they'll cancel it. Then October I got the £70 letter through, they hadn't cancelled the fine so rang them up and they did finally cancel it.

I had the opportunity to a) pay within 14 days no fine, then £35 fine, then £70 and this was well over 2 months after the initial crossing.

DP had previous tennant who didn't pay dart charge and he had about 4 letters to say unpaid dart charge, then another 2 letters from the bailiffs which I saw and told him to open, then he had to contact marstons to let them know remnant bad moved. There's a lot of letters from dart charge before it gets to the £400 bailiffs.

They should really get rid of the toll, the bridge is paid off and while 2.50 is cheap as a one off everyday it really adds up both ways. It's really unfair.

OP. Have you checked whether DD locked the door? I would kick up a massive stink with the company accusing them of gaining unlawful entry and giving no notice of the visit.

If she didn't then she does need a bollocking, not least if she normally comes home from school on her own to what she's expecting to be an empty house! I wouldn't mention the money though. That's not her fault.

Dart charge are pretty lenient IME. I have twice forgotten to pay due to coming out of the Eurotunnel normally in the middle of the night after driving across Europe. 1st time I got a warning, 2nd time they sent a fine letter but I responded that mobile had run out charge so no data, so couldn't pay online immediately, because dog ate charger then had diarrhoea in car (don't have a dog), then DCs vomited from smell so by the time we got home we were all traumatised and it was completely forgotten about. They sent me a very nice email telling me just to pay the £2.50 within 48 hrs. Just for anyone else's future reference, always appeal as soon as the fine comes through with the most outlandish excuse and they might let you off if you give them a laugh.

It's disgusting that the fine can escalate so much but they have to pay for enforcement which is expensive because who the hell wants a job like that.

I've also been let off quite a few parking tickets addressing the appeal to Dick Turpin, Highway Robbery Department.

Always appeal. You can still pay the halved fine if you lose normally.