to think that Paul Bowhill (bailiff) should be Knighted!

[ToeKneeChestNut]

Paul Bowhill of Can't Pay We'll Take it Away fame is so kind!
He always goes out of his way to help the evictees; giving his own number, making arrangements for them.
He doesn't just evict and go. He should be Sir Paul!

"It's apparently really good that people are offered a place to sleep with their kids for the night in exchange for their struggle being put on TV in all its glory."

I hope that isn't what really happens

tjmama - has so little changed since the Cathy Come Home film documentary, the children being housed (i.e.taken into care) without the parents?

I don't think it's going to happen, funnily enough OP, your bailiff being knighted.

i woulnt say its about povrty completly

for instance last week a business hadnt paid a debt to anothr business even though it had been to court he wasnt poor

the evictons are th hardest ones but thn they do agree to be shown on tv

DP and I love this programme. Can't decide who my favourite enforcement agent is but Paul is definitely in the top 3.

I do not understand why anyone would watch a program like this. Talk about revelling in other's misfortune.

I have had the bailiffs round. The guy who came to my house was decent and we were able to sort an arrangement. (Council tax). That company were perfectly fine and understanding one the occasion we couldn't pay that month. Then for some reason the council sold the debt to another company. Very different story. Intimidating and OTT for what transpired to be money we didn't even owe. The council had put the following years CT on the debt but we were paying it separately. These people were rude and intimidating - they picked the wrong person (I'm a nice person but I was on the verge of a breakdown) and I raked their arsed across the cole. The council made a full refund and waived costs due to their attitude. Spoke to me like I was scum.

We were in financial difficulties because of my PND and my dp had to take so much time off work (see employed).

This was 10 years ago and whenever I see that program is on I feel sick. We had a lot of debt and I have had to deal with some pretty horrid individuals from debt collection companies. Part of the reason I ended up on anti-depressants for ten years.

But yeah it provides midweek entertainment. Sick

*coal

Lem exactly.

This is when MN shows it's real colours, from left wing supporting the underdogs to full on Daily Fail supporting right wing 'we believe what 'they ' are telling us!

Very odd. I've always thought he comes across a miserable arrogant git

Sir Paul condescends his victims for ten minutes before ruining their lives... Living legend right there. That Stuart McCracken is the worst though. You can tell he thrives off the power, pure evil. Shit his pants on one episode in Manchester though, quite enjoyable.

I've seen this advertised and as someone who has dealt with bailiffs, I cannot believe others enjoy a programme like this.
Entertainment? Watching someone be utterly humiliated? Why?
I had a bailiff tell me that they were going to pick my lock, and take all my stuff. When I told him that the content of my house wouldn't even cover the diesel for the van, he said I'd be arrested there and then and my DD taken into care. Complete rubbish, he couldn't do that, but then I found that bit out from my hospital bed on a section after attempting suicide, and if it wasn't for the police officers that happened to be where they were, I'd have succeeded.
So yes there are chancers who play the system, and there are also people who end up in that situation no matter how hard they try not to. It's a fact of life that debt happens and it needs to be collected, but for others to find this entertaining? I am saddened by that, by the fact other people would be entertained by the worst time in someone's life. In fact I'm disgusted by it.

They only have certain powers to force entry, with police etc, don't they, even with an enforcement order? I've just been looking it up.
So that would be tax, council tax, business debts, court fines. Unless they try their luck with other types of debt, hoping people aren't aware of the law?

I wouldn't watch this for ages, because I thought it was about Vulnerable people. My Adult DD loved it.

The recent ones that I have watched have involved a man with £55k in his bank that refused to pay a woman £1k who'd had her dog savaged by his. It was for vet bills.

Business owners who owe wages, rent etc and only when faced with removal of goods have suddenly paid the balance in full, usually £££.

One man owed £27k in rent and costs. He serially subletted houses he was renting, but never paid rent himself. The day the team turned up, he had two subletters in beds. Only when they were about to seize a Mercedes, would he hand anything over.

They are mostly people who think that they don't have to pay their way.

In tonight's show, Paul paid for a hotel room for a family that the Council refused to house. She was in denial that her Father had left the house to his Girlfriend and ignored all letters etc.

There has been one which was terrible, here in Liverpool, a LL wanted the family out immediately, rather than wait two days. They had a team from Alderney in the house, who explained that they had to find the chronically sick child (on machines) a hospital bed. The LL's son had met Victor at the house and said "they are playing the sick kid card". That was the only one that I've seen that was shocking.

micro they deal with High Court Writs. They don't force entry, but can.

These aren't catalogue, small debts etc that the show is about. They are people who think they don't have to pay.

Some of the LLs have distressing stories, many have rented out their family home, so they can care for a relative. One so she could be with her child during Chemo, the tenant knew this. They had done it in four other properties and left them all smashed to bits. It cost her £3k to get them out.

Watch it, you won't feel sorry for most of the people.

Ivy the families wanted it shown because in the ill child's case, the HA had let them down by not allowing Alderney to do their checks.

In the second case, they were let down.

These cases need publicity.

If we were going to ban reality programs, I think the ambulance and A&E ones should go first.

@Ivymaud

You seem incredibly well-informed about about that episode considering at the start of the thread you claim never to have heard of the programme. You almost gave the impression that your TV is unable to receive channel 5 due to its low-brow output.

So you did - apologies. Normally people use speech marks or bold if they're quoting from someone else's post, otherwise it's impossible to tell.

They only have certain powers to force entry, with police etc, don't they, even with an enforcement order? I've just been looking it up.
So that would be tax, council tax, business debts, court fines. Unless they try their luck with other types of debt, hoping people aren't aware of the law?

Yes, there are clear guidelines and laws for it, but some bailiffs will try their luck to frighten people into paying (payday loan and loan shark were suggested as a solution for me!) By any means necessary, even though legally they can't do what they are threatening to do at that point. The fees added to the original debt are also very high - which pushes people further into debt rather than actually recovering the original debt. By the time forced entry happens, the debt will have doubled or tripled.

But that aside, I can't understand why it's considered entertainment. The thought that someone would get pleasure watching me go through what I did makes me despair. I had a job, I earned - but only when I worked. When I needed to spend time at my child's bedside following a serious accident, I didn't work and didn't earn. I wasn't refusing to pay, I just didn't have the means right there and then for the amount they were demanding.
I will never understand how watching someone go through the result of that, the humiliation of another human, watching them on one of the worst days of their lives, can be entertaining at all. And if as a pp suggested, the people involved are offered money or accommodation in return for giving consent to air, that's even worse - what would anyone do? I'd like to think were I ever to be in that situation again, I'd refuse, but I've been that desperate and hand on heart, facing living on the street with my child in care, I'd probably take the offer too.

I thought that might be the case. Of course I agree you. Horrible situation, much sympathy. I didn't know a thing about it myself until I checked.

That does sound commendable.

But I can't believe there's a programme entitled 'Can't Pay? We'll take it Away" and covers evictions! Isn't that just terrible and dubious viewing? I couldn't watch it. And I'm guessing they actually give permission for this to be aired, those in debt?

I agree.

I'm flabbergasted that there's a programme on television that so many people are so many people are so familiar with made of real footage of horrible misfortune.

He's a bailiff cooperating with (getting paid for?) this "misery as entertainment" format. That doesn't deserve an honour, no matter how kind his manner.

It's a bit of shocker how quickly these horrible programmes become normalised.

Started watching this a few weeks ago on Netflix, completely agree he seems a lovely man. I have a major soft spot for Steve

A lot of people on that programme can pay - they just refuse to. It's amazing how many of them can suddenly magic up tens of thousands of pounds when the agents tell them they'll take their Mercedes if they don't pay!

Of course, some are in horrific situations through no fault of their own, but others play the system. I've seen people fake illness or lie about who they are - and they've all managed to pay when threatened with removal of goods.