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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

198 replies

ToeKneeChestNut · 16/09/2017 20:43

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!

OP posts:
PigletWasPoohsFriend · 17/09/2017 07:38

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!

Hmm
Snap8TheCat · 17/09/2017 07:49

Oh I love this prog too , especially Paul.

On Mn there are a lot of people with second homes they rent out, how would you feel if you weren't paid and they trashed your house? You wouldn't have them evicted by the high court? Would you feel sorry for them?
What about those who are SE or own businesses? Would you accept not being paid for goods and services you've provided? You'd feel sorry for them and leave it or take it further to have the money owed enforced on the debtor?

Strange that the p takers are given sympathy and not those who are being taken advantage of. Granted there are some awful situations that you can't believe people get it but by and large it's people who won't pay not can't pay.

Icequeen01 · 17/09/2017 07:50

I saw Paul a couple of weeks ago in a car park in my town. I had my mum with me and saw this chap I recognised but couldn't put my finger on why I recognised him. Then the penny dropped so I stopped my car and wound down the window and said "Hello, do you get recognised a lot"? ☺️☺️ He laughed
and said he gets stopped loads of times (probably by mad women like myself!!) I told him I thought he was great and he was a superstar! He was so nice and friendly. I had to go then ( luckily for him) as I got beeped as I had created a bit of a queue of people trying to get out of the car park 😀😀 My mum spent the whole time saying very loudly "Who is he" ?😀

kittybiscuits · 17/09/2017 07:55

Paul is a legend!

LEMtheoriginal · 17/09/2017 07:58

why the Hmm face? Do you not think these programs are strongly edited to show bias? It's like the daily mail with moving pictures.

It is screaingly obvious from this thread that it works to. "Funny how people can magic thousands if you threaten to take their mercedes" "people play the system" yes indeed they do. But this is a program who lumps those people who haven't paid their council tax.

Do you think people really think ah fuck it I won't pay that this month? Do you think people enjoy getting letter after letter? If you make TWO separate late payments of council tax you get a court summons. Then additional costs - it's ridiculous. If you can't pay your council tax how is imposing penalties going to help you be able to pay? Oh and the bailiffs add their costs too we paid more to the bailiffs than we owed in council tax. (Although recently I think there have been laws passed to cap the amount they can charge) so yeah we were just piss takers playing the system trying to decide who we paid first. Gas electric mortgage water FOOD

Nobody. Not one person becomes a bailiff or debt collector (worse imo) as a career choice because they want to help people. Even the charming ones - they are in it for the money!! Pay for a hotel room? Do me a favour. Small change out of their fee - which the evictee has paid.

People watch these programs to feel superior or maybe - thank God it's not me.

THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD

LEMtheoriginal · 17/09/2017 08:01

icequeen I do believe the krays were very charming in their time. They probably worked for debt collectors at some point. But people probably stopped them in the street and described them as "so friendly"

LoveNunxxx · 17/09/2017 08:02

Televised humiliation of the underclass - no idea how you can watch this. Where is your empathy? And if the stories really move you, what are you doing about it in real life apart from gawping at the telly?

Snap8TheCat · 17/09/2017 08:02

they are in it for the money!!

Everyone is in their job for the money!

LEMtheoriginal · 17/09/2017 08:04

ZSnapthecat are you for real???? One of the reasons we were in debt was because my self employed dp was fucked over by a contractor. We could do NOTHING about it!!

Second home owners? My heart bleeds.

KoolKoala07 · 17/09/2017 08:05

Here here!! I Iove Paul. Get a petition going Grin

LEMtheoriginal · 17/09/2017 08:08

I'm a veterinary nurse - trust me. I'm not in it for the money. Yes I get paid badly but my principal motivation is not cash.

I could go and become a debt collector. I'm a very assertive person and I'd probably be quite good at it. But I have a conscience

Papafran · 17/09/2017 08:09

On Mn there are a lot of people with second homes they rent out, how would you feel if you weren't paid and they trashed your house? You wouldn't have them evicted by the high court? Would you feel sorry for them?

I don't have a second home, but yes, I would enforce my legal rights and I would have to get tenants evicted if they did not pay rent. That is not my issue. My issue is middle class people in their warm, comfy homes, settling down to a night in front of the telly, watching people lose homes and possessions for 'entertainment'. It reminds me of how people in the past used to see executions as entertainment too.

And it's sweet how you all love this bailiff dude, but I doubt he's a truly kind man because a truly kind person would find being a bailiff very difficult.

LEMtheoriginal · 17/09/2017 08:10

I imagine the sort of people who watch these programmes think Jeremy Kyle is a legend and read the daily mail. Prejudice? Damn straight

kittybiscuits · 17/09/2017 08:10

BTW it's Bohill. I have researched Paul a bit because I want him to be my dad.

RonSwansonsMoustache · 17/09/2017 08:10

Even the charming ones - they are in it for the money!!

Of course they are - they have bills to pay like everyone else! I doubt Paul is perfect but compared to some I've met IRL, he certainly seems far more well-mannered and pleasant. I've dealt with some vile bullies - it wasn't even my debt, but they still spoke to me like it was my fault the debtor didn't live there anymore.

Not everyone who is on these shows is vulnerable or poor or struggling. Of course some are, but a lot of them are choosing not to pay. They're screwing over landlords, trash the properties when they do eventually leave, and lots of them refuse to pay because they don't believe they owe the money!

There was a woman on there last night who was married with a small child. She'd let some friends stay in her house while they got back on their feet - they changed her locks, refused to let her back in and trashed the place. When she eventually got a possession order, they'd stolen most of her belongings, let mould spread everywhere and left her with thousands of pounds worth of damage. She'd been living back home with her mum and her husband lived elsewhere so he could get to work. I felt so sorry for her. She'd tried to do a nice thing and got totally screwed over, and the law seemed to protect the people who had changed the locks, not her!

LEMtheoriginal · 17/09/2017 08:11

Pakistan - exactly

Snap8TheCat · 17/09/2017 08:12

LEM you don't work for free through. I'm in a similar 'vocational' self employed job and as much as I love it, I'm not a charity and expect to be paid. That's my point. Everyone has a job, including bailiffs because it pays the bills. Mind you by DH is a police officer so we're pretty used to him being hated for his job and calling him all sorts of names. He still has to earn a living though.

LEMtheoriginal · 17/09/2017 08:19

Snapchat your dh puts himself at risk and treats people and would have my respect every day. Yes we all need to pay the bills. But anyone with an ounce of compassion is not going to choose that job. I looked for a lot of jobs when we were struggling and debt collection jobs are 10 a penny. You don't need any qualifications - pay MUCH better than my job for which you do. But no I'd not do that to anyone - I had one guy laugh at me down the phone telling me they would cut off our gas and make us pay for the privilege. We had a baby at the time I knew they couldn't do that but he still said it. We were also advised to take payday loans. Really compassionate.

Papafran · 17/09/2017 08:20

LEM you don't work for free through. I'm in a similar 'vocational' self employed job and as much as I love it, I'm not a charity and expect to be paid. That's my point. Everyone has a job, including bailiffs because it pays the bills. Mind you by DH is a police officer so we're pretty used to him being hated for his job and calling him all sorts of names. He still has to earn a living though

Who cares to be honest? Everyone needs to be paid. Not the point. The point is the weirdos who delight in watching the misfortune of others.

Probably someone else who you all feel deserves a knighthood:
www.thesun.co.uk/news/3252972/philip-gardiner-cant-pay-well-take-it-away-porn/

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 17/09/2017 08:22

The point is the weirdos

Nice Hmm

Papafran · 17/09/2017 08:25

My experience with bailiffs was when they called for my next door neighbour. We had a shared entrance to the flats. I explained it was not my debt, where I lived (ie in the flat next door). I was accused of being a liar and had a 16 stone man roughly shove his foot in the open doorway, nearly causing the door to trap my hand. They were so aggressive and intimidating that I was nearly in tears and it wasn't even my debt. God knows how a mum with children where her HB has been messed up, would feel. They are not polite gents offering to pay for hotel rooms- it's all for the TV cameras.

LEMtheoriginal · 17/09/2017 08:26

Does anyone else have ads for debt collection agency with a cobra on it in the ads under this thread? Sometimes you have to wonder really.. ...im reporting to mnhq

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 17/09/2017 08:26

I think there are people conflicting debt collector bailiffs and High Court bailiffs. They aren't the same and don't have the same rights.

Papafran · 17/09/2017 08:27

Nice hmm

Mild word to be honest. How would you describe someone who is entertained by the misfortune of others, including mothers with young children? I can think of some much stronger and more appropriate descriptors.

LEMtheoriginal · 17/09/2017 08:27

Oh now it's loans - the irony