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Original poster

To not know what to do when bailiffs are at my door!! Help

51 replies

Serendipity30 · 02/10/2013 19:13

Hello need some advice, I know this is not AIBU but i know i will get good advice quickly

I came home today only to find a hand delivered letter from a bailiff, telling me if I don't within 24 hours. They will break into my home and take my possessions.

This is due to a council tax bill. My agreement is to pay £100 a month to the council on the 15th of every month. However in August I went on holiday and on my return on the 27th August I paid my bill which was now a week overdue. The following month I then paid £100 as normal. On my return from holiday there was a warning letter from my council regarding the bill. I ignored this and just paid the bill thinking it would be fine.

I tried to call the bailiff but it went to voice mail. I have never been in this position before what do I do? :-(. I know they will be back.

OP posts:
Original poster
Serendipity30 · 02/10/2013 20:02

Just read the letter again, they say they have 'attended to remove goods to discharge the tax liability order'. does anyone know what that means?

OP posts:
cjel · 02/10/2013 20:08

Don't know what the letter means but would urge you not to panic. You have record of all payments made to the council. Does the ballifs letter say how much you owe? sometimes one payment can have interest added to it.
Please don't panic,the council will be helpful in the morning.x

TheWickerWoman · 02/10/2013 20:09

That wording is intended to scare you, they regularly say things like that.
A liability order (if they have one) is what they go to court for to have the judge rule that you owe the debt and it must be paid.
Have you ever received a court summons from them in the past?

Lj8893 · 02/10/2013 20:11

You have had some great advice here.

They can't enter the property without you inviting them in.

I had a similar problem (parking fine not council tax) and the bailiff even told me that if I couldn't pay or he couldn't take my goods then I would be taken to court and he had the power to detain me until my court date.

I rang the police who laughed and said no way did he have the power to detain me. The only people who had the power to detain me were the police and they weren't going to detain me for a financial matter.

Bailiffs are disgusting.

Original poster
Serendipity30 · 02/10/2013 20:11

Hi cjel, the letter doesn't even say what I owe, i think what they may be asking for is the outstanding balance for my council tax until the end of the year. Not sure though. I am less panicky now because i have been getting some great advice here, still worried though.

OP posts:
Original poster
Serendipity30 · 02/10/2013 20:13

I have not received a court summons before, well it worked the letter scared the daylights out of me.

OP posts:
Original poster
Serendipity30 · 02/10/2013 20:15

Lj8893 thats disgusting, luckily you contacted the police but i bet it works on others, how do they get away with it?

OP posts:
TheWickerWoman · 02/10/2013 20:16

With regard to bailiff charges, they can only charge you £24.50 for the first visit and £18 for the second. They can't charge for anymore so keep an eye on that if you get anymore paperwork from them.

Pixel · 02/10/2013 20:17

Now for a more serious point although they can not enter your house anything not locked inside either a house or garage is fair game so if you have a car on your drive or road they can seize that without entering your house. Saying that they can only seize goods if the council has taken this to court so the other question is have you had a court summons.

My parents had a visit from the bailiffs a few years back. It wasn't anything to do with them (it was people who had been renting the house from them previously) but the bailiffs wouldn't listen and insisted they could take goods from property named on their paperwork regardless. Obviously in a panic my parents phoned their solicitor to try and get it sorted and he advised them "If you have a car outside go and park it around the corner or they will take it".
It did turn out that it wasn't the fault of the previous couple either but a misunderstanding (would take too long to explain here) but they hadn't received letters sent by the court, either at my parent's address or their new one. Apparently such important documents are shoved in the post with a second-class stamp and that's it.Hmm so it might be worth trying to check that.

TheWickerWoman · 02/10/2013 20:18

If you haven't received a court summons then you shouldn't have a Liability Order, the council can take your account back and the bailiffs have even less powers than what they've been threatening.

ChippingInNeedsSleepAndCoffee · 02/10/2013 20:19

Bastards :(

Please try not to worry. I hope by now you are reassured they cannot break in to take your things?!

I also hope that you have taken onboard the part about NOT letting them in. They are master manipulators (I have read MANY threads on here over the years) and will say anything to get in. Lock your doors & windows and don't open them to anyone, about anything that you don't know personally!

I hope you can get this sorted out first thing tomorrow morning.

Lj8893 · 02/10/2013 20:22

hakunamatata exactly, how many people will have fallen for it?! I rang my dad as well and put the bailiff on the phone to explain to him, he shouted and swore down the phone to my dad, told him I was clearly living like a dirty student (I was a student at the time) as the house was a mess (it was, but none of his business).

Disgusting behaviour.

zoobaby · 02/10/2013 20:23

If you call council and get some lacky who says it's automatically generated by computer blah-di-blah-blah and there's nothing they can do to recall blah-di-blah, then don't accept that answer and push to speak to someone higher. If they are helpful and say they'll take care of it, record their full name and extension number and ask for written confirmation. Hope it goes well!

cjel · 02/10/2013 20:24

if there is no court order and it is only the last few months tax in advance, then I'm sure the council can sort this out in the morning.x
Let us know how you get on.

TheWickerWoman · 02/10/2013 20:25

Also please read the below about vulnerable persons, if any of the points apply to you, make sure you tell the council.

Bailiffs and Vulnerable persons and households

If you are a vulnerable person for the purpose of civil enforcement then the Ministry of Justice publishes a guide called the National Standards for Enforcement Agents that recommends on page 9 the bailiff cease enforcement action against you but it is not legislated and is voluntary.

A vulnerable household or person can mean:

The elderly and infirm
A disabled person including a person with mental health issues
The seriously ill
The recently bereaved
A single parent with young children
Pregnant women
Anyone who is in receipt of a prescribed out of work benefits
Anyone who has difficulty understanding or speaking English

kali110 · 02/10/2013 20:25

As flora said if you have broken an arrangement then they will be asking for outstanding balance. A late payment can break the arrangement so they can demand the outstanding balance

Tabby1963 · 02/10/2013 20:26

There was a tv programme on recently about bailiffs and the guys were able to look in windows, so close your curtains as a precaution. Also, if the back gate was unlocked they could walk in to the garden and do an inventory of what they could see. Hope you can sort it out.

Original poster
Serendipity30 · 02/10/2013 20:31

Ok action plan: I will call the council at 9am tom as soon as they open.I have locked all windows and will not be opening the door to ANYONE. I will also call the bailiff guy tomorrow after talking to council hopefully to stop him coming again.Just my luck im working from home tomorrow.

I really hope it will be resolved through the council. Taking the name and extension of the person I speak to is a good idea. I had not thought of that, thanks.

OP posts:
VerySmallSqueak · 02/10/2013 20:31

Yes,I do believe that they can look in windows and use what they see to inventory possessions.

Original poster
Serendipity30 · 02/10/2013 20:33

I will update tomorrow morning, hopefully it will be good news. Thank you mumsnetters Thanks

OP posts:
TheWickerWoman · 02/10/2013 20:38

If you need anymore help tomorrow, I will be dipping in and out of here.

You'll be fine Smile

Original poster
Serendipity30 · 02/10/2013 20:40

Thewickerwoman thank you, and thanks everyone. I'll let you know tomorrow

OP posts:
cjel · 03/10/2013 09:46

Morning, thinking of you. How are things?

CadleCrap · 03/10/2013 10:01

Grin@ But isn't it funny that bailliffs have the same rules as vampires

TheWickerWoman · 03/10/2013 14:51

Any news??