Ex husband threatened with baliffs at my address

[thinkingmakesitso]

We are in the (slow) process of divorcing. He still has the majority of post delivered here, including a new phone and tablet I had to collect from a neighbour the other day .

today a letter came and it was poorly sealed and I opened it. I know it was wrong, but now I'm glad I did. It is a letter from the court saying he owes £165 and needs to pay up otherwise goods/cars can be seized. I am worried and livid.

I phoned the number given but of course they can't discuss it and just advised me to return the letter 'not known at this address' and tell him to contact them. I am now so anxious. Will have to tell him I've opened his letter and then face him probably blaming me for his problems. He has had paid work pretty much consistently since moving out (sahd before that) and, though it's not well paid, he shouldn't have let this happen. He has obviously been burying his head in the sand about something (new phone, taking dc out to restaurants to eat multiple times a month - all he seems to do with them), 2 holidays in one year etc etc. I feel sure there will be a horrible scene tonight and at the end of it I will have no certainty that he will take the necessary steps to ensure my goods/car don't get taken - or will they be taken anyway???

He is the registered keeper of my car still, as it was the more convenient way to do it at the time, but I paid for it in full and he has never driven it- would they have a right to it?

My other fear is that it is a motoring fine for my car that has gone unpaid, but he would have had no reason not to let me know if I'd got a speeding fine, for example, and those come in big DVLA envelopes don't they, so I would have seen it?

I feel sick...

You have to formally request financial disassociation, if you haven't done so: go to each of the main credit agencies and fill out the online forms.

If bailiffs arrive when you are out, they will usually leave a note that they have been: some types of bailiff can enter even if you're not home, but I think (though am not certain) it's only high court bailiffs. If it gets to a removing goods situation, if he appears to be living at your address, the onus can be on you to prove that the items they are threatening to take are yours, and not his - things like receipts etc are essential. That said, the last thing they want, especially for such a small debt, is to take stuff to sort it - so get on with the disassociation and do as the court has told you, and you'll be absolutely fine.

had similar. Was advised to complete a form (copy below) and sign it witnessed by a solicitor. Keep this by the door with other documents to show to any bailiffs that arrive. One site even suggested taping it to the glass so they could read it without you having to open the door!

Don't know how water tight it is, but better than nothing. Thankfully never had to do it in the end.

Researched subject at the time and it seems court bailiffs can enter premises without permission. They can also take goods and you have to prove that they are yours.

STATUTORY DECLARATION

To: Whom it may concern.

I: Ms ...............
Of: Address
Do solemnly and sincerely declare that:
I live in and own the above property.

The purpose of this Statutory Declaration is to confirm that all of the items listed on the attached Schedule are all owned by me and were acquired from my own funds.

And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835.

Declared before me
Signature
Solicitors name
Declared at:
Solicitors stamp
Including name, firm and address)

Signature
Name of person making declaration

To the poster who said they won't take your car for a £165 fine- it won't be £165 if it goes to bailiff stage.
It will be original fine plus £75 compliance plus £235 enforcement charge.
If it's a motoring offence and the bailiff checks the car registration with the DVLA and he is the registered keeper they can attend anytime between 6am and 9pm and clamp the car. They don't have to inform you, they just turn up and clamp it whilst you are asleep.

If I were you I would get the car into your name and send in proof- council tax or tenancy agreement/deeds to show he no longer lives there.
Some bailiffs have ANPR vans so if it gets to bailiff stage and the car is still in his name it will flag up if one of the vans drive past the car and they can seize it there and then. So I would get that changed today

Try to calm down OP, they wont come into your home and take your stuff.

a) they dont want to. As I said above, £165 is an extremely small debt in terms of what they will usually be dealing with and they will want cash not goods.
b) as long as you have informed all the right people and have taken the right steps to dissociate yourself from him then they will leave you alone

If you have his new address then let the bailiffs know.

No it wont be £165, but the fact is that the OP can prove that he doesnt live there and as long as she gets the V5 changed today then they cant take the car.

He is coming to collect ds1 in an hour. Don't know whether to just put the letter back in the post labelled up, or have it out with him. If I do that and he won't tell them, I will have lost the chance to send it back. I hate him so much. So much time and energy wasted on him yet again.

To be honest, the 2 biggest nationwide bailiff companies are not even allowed to remove goods from a commercial property.
Yes, the law says they are allowed to. And the bailiff will tell you they are allowed to. But the company won't authorise it. It costs too much and it's an admin nightmare.

They can't just break in either. They have to confirm residency first and establish that the debtor is aware of the fine and refusing to pay.

They will take the car though. Or just clamp it in the hope that you need it so much you will just pay.

Do as the court advised, send it back.

I have also had a similar issue - but with my son.

Even though he is not on the council tax bill or the electoral roll for my address, he has used my address in the past for various things (well, he did live here! Now he works away and moves around so has no permanent address), the bailiff - from the Courts - was entitled to get a locksmith and enter my house and remove goods.

If I had no proof that the goods belonged to me (e.g. V5 for my car) then that was tough..... I have no receipts for the laptop I bought 5 years ago, the engagement ring my mother gave me etc. There are certain things they cannot take - cooker, bed, fridge and so on, anything else is up for grabs.

If they had taken items I would have had 3 days to prove they were mine.

I ended up paying. I wish I knew a way of proving that he did not live here - I half expect it to happen again. I like to declaration suggestion, may talk to a solicior about it.

Gosh that's scary, nearly. I was feeling better having got h to write a letter signing the car over to me (log book lost, will get V62 tomorrow and send them off) and planning to fill in the disassociation forms tonight. But your story suggests there's no point doing any of that as they'll be able to take it all anyway - apart from the car when I sort that. I have no receipts for anything really. Do most people?

I said nothing to h when he was here and will put the letter back in the post with his new address. I feel stupidly guilty, or maybe just uneasy that when he realises any semblance of amicability will be gone. And what if It did start with my own speeding fine? Yet it can't have as why would he let it get this far without telling me? He would tell me straight away, like he did when I got a parking fine. He has a history of debt from before we met as well...

Mine were happy with the council tax letter proving who lived there, he was getting all excited outside writing reg numbers down of
the cars on the driveway I could see the disappointment when I showed him the tax letter.

Nearly, that sounds really bloody shit and like the bailiffs acted unlawfully (I've no clue, it just doesn't sound 'right').

The thing is, they dont care who pays it as long as it gets paid so they put pressure on to get the debt cleared. What happened to Nearly wasnt lawful because they are not allowed to enter a property where the debtor doesnt live, but they will use whatever lies they can tell to get a debt paid and rely on the fear factor, because it works!

The bailiff was certainly intimidating when he was on my doorstep.

The trouble is when you don't know the law around bailiffs - and it's hard to find real concrete answers - you have to go by what they say.

So, if there is a burly man on your doorstep ringing a locksmith to come to your house - you give in. There is not time to go and ring anyone, to look any information up. And it was lucky that I had enough space on my credit card to pay. Many people aren't so lucky.

Thinking - do all the things suggested here - then you will have done as much as you can.

Well it looks like you can't disassociate from someone while you have a joint mortgage - which we still do. I have got a free credit check from Noodle/Noddle and it's just slightly below excellent, with nothing unexpected on it, so that's maybe a good sign. I will just work on the car thing now. Thanks for all the advice.

I am sorry but there is some nonsense written on this subject. Ordinary debt collectors have no powers what so ever. Court bailiffs can not enter domestic premises by force to sieze goods. Even high court bailiffs or sheriffs can't do that. If a door or window is left open they can enter peacefully and once they are in you can't get them out, so make sure all doors and windows are locked. If you are the main user of the car then it needs to be in your name of you are committing an offence