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Original poster

Can bailiffs take things without warning?

97 replies

Robinana · 19/01/2019 12:11

I've come to visit a family member and I always keep my car at their address as I've not long moved out but can't afford to drive my car.

There's a sticker from their Housing Association threatening to take my car in a number of days. My license is addressed here, my bank and I still receive other letters.

Can they do this without even warning me first?

I'm thinking to move my car elsewhere to stop it from happening.

OP posts:
NothingOnTellyAgain · 19/01/2019 12:48

If that's what it means they should have written on the letter >

Your car is on private property if you do not remove it in 14 days we will execise our legal right to have it removed.

Or sometihng.

That letter is not in language that 99% of the population would understand.

This sort of stuff winds me up TBH/

importantkath · 19/01/2019 12:50

If you don't live there, why have you and your DP left your car there?

ZogTheOrangeDragon · 19/01/2019 12:50

My mum's lives in a block of flats with shared parking.

That shared parking is for residents. You aren’t a resident so should have expected this.

If your DP can drive it to your house and it can stay there, why haven’t you already done this?

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Debt
LIZS · 19/01/2019 12:50

Whose name is it registered to? If the debt is your dm' s they cannot remove your property (not just on dvla) , or if it is financed.

Original poster
Robinana · 19/01/2019 12:52

Car is taxed and insured (until aug). I rarely drive it as I don't need to use it. Move to London a few months ago from rural area.

OP posts:
Original poster
Robinana · 19/01/2019 12:53

Yes, should have removed it tbh. But I would always visit my mum on weekends and at times stay there for a month or 2 and nothing ever happened. I know that there are no parking officers around there so thought it would be ok.

OP posts:
Original poster
Robinana · 19/01/2019 12:54

Car is in my name.

OP posts:
ShalomJackie · 19/01/2019 12:54

(a) They have given you a warning (the sticker)

(b) It does not relate to a debt - it relates to you parking it in a private car park where you are not allowed to park

(c) just move it if it is not SORN

gamerchick · 19/01/2019 12:56

OP someone has reported your car as abandoned as presumably it hasn't moved for months.

They want you to move it or them take it to the crusher. So move the car.

Comefromaway · 19/01/2019 12:57

As others have said your car has been parked (abandoned) on their property and you are not a resident. They are therefore giving you legal notice that you need to remove your car or they will dispose of it.

They are entitled to do this.

gamerchick · 19/01/2019 12:57

*they will

Foonababoonalagoona · 19/01/2019 12:57

I'd say another resident complained that a car was left abandoned taking up space , never moving from a spot that they would, rightly be able to use to park their own car . These things do bother people greatly.

JennyOnAPlate · 19/01/2019 12:57

The letter doesn't say anything about bailiffs Confused

They want you to move your car or they will have it moved.

Funkyfunkybeat12 · 19/01/2019 13:00

It's not bailiffs, it's bailment. It's got nothing to do with a debt, it's because you have dumped your car on their land. Move it or sell the care even if you cannot afford to drive it.

DobbinsVeil · 19/01/2019 13:02

It's not to do with debt, it's when a vehicle appears to have been abandoned. From the sound of it, you don't have the right to leave it there so you need to move it.

Original poster
Robinana · 19/01/2019 13:04

The car park is always empty so it wouldn't have been taking up space.

My brother has agreed to take the car from me, so hopefully I can put it in his name before they remove it.

OP posts:
hellojason · 19/01/2019 13:05

You don't have the right to use this car park as it's for residents only. You may visit regularly and stay for extended periods but you are not a tenant and do not have the right to leave your car there like this.

It has been reported as abandoned/illegally parked and you have rightly been told to move it. So, what's taken you so long? MOVE THE CAR ALREADY!

Myheartbelongsto · 19/01/2019 13:06

just move the car......

ChoccyBiccyTastic · 19/01/2019 13:07

Can't you drive your own car away and park it where you actually live? Confused

ZogTheOrangeDragon · 19/01/2019 13:08

The car park is always empty so it wouldn't have been taking up space.

That doesn’t matter. You don’t have the right to use it and considering you are away for so much of the time, it’s possible residents have wanted to park there and been unable to do so.

You can park cars in two places: your own land or, and only when taxed/MOT’d/insured in a permitable and safe place on the public highway. It’s exactly the same as someone leaving their car on your driveway and disappearing for months. You wouldn’t find that acceptable and neither does the Council.

Quartz2208 · 19/01/2019 13:08

You are confusing bailee with bailiff and that is the problem you are having with understanding it.

A bailee has the following legal meaning:
bailee (custodian)
n. a person with whom some article is left, usually pursuant to a contract (called a "contract of bailment"), who is responsible for the safe return of the article to the owner when the contract is fulfilled. These can include banks holding bonds, storage companies where furniture or files are deposited, a parking garage, or a kennel or horse ranch where an animal is boarded. Leaving goods in a sealed rented box like a safe deposit box, is not a bailment, and the holder is not a bailee since he cannot handle or control the goods.

See the words parking garage there.

The section states:
If the bailee—
(a)has in accordance with Part II of Schedule 1 to this Act given notice to the bailor of his intention to sell the goods under this subsection, or
(b)has failed to trace or communicate with the bailor with a view to giving him such a notice, after having taken reasonable steps for the purpose,

In short they are basically saying if you dont remove your car from the parking lot they will take ownership of it and sell it.

So yes they can do it because they are giving you 14 days with which to remove the car otherwise it becomes their property

NothingOnTellyAgain · 19/01/2019 13:09

?

Your brother has agreed to take the can so you hopefully can transfer it to his name before they remove it??????????

Does your brother live at home, at the flats?

They aren't going to check who it's registered with to see if it's changed before they take it!

Just move the car!!!!!

If your brother wants it then he can buy it off you as normal / or you can transfer it to him but then if he is going to park it at the flats he NEEDS TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THE HA TO LET THEM KNOW IT BELONGS TO A TENANT!!!

Just move it FGS

Quartz2208 · 19/01/2019 13:10

It doesnt matter whose name the car is in. This isnt about a debt this is about the car being abandoned in the car park and them removing it because its there.

You just need to put the car somewhere else

ReanimatedSGB · 19/01/2019 13:10

Well, this is going to be a private company run by thugs and fuckwits, as they pretty much all are: the letter will have been designed to be as confusing and frightening as possible, so it's not surprising you are bewildered.
However: is the place where you are parking the car technically your mum's official parking space? If so, call these people and point this out to them - if she isn't using it then she can let you use it, because that's not hurting anyone else (though it might be a matter of getting a residents' permit for this car).
Does your car look like a wreck, ie does it look like someone might have dumped it? If so, call these people and let them know it's yours and not dumped.
Are you parking in what might technically be someone else's resident parking space, or somewhere your car is in people's way?

Because if your car is parked in a free public parking space and doesn't look obviously abandoned, then there is actually no good reason for this company to be trying to intimidate you into moving it. They might well be chancers trying to get money out of you.

WizardOfToss · 19/01/2019 13:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.