High Court Enforcements Officer at my door

[PretABoire]

A friend of mine is in a complicated situation with lots of debt and no fixed abode. Somehow she’s been traced to my flat. Yesterday morning a High Court Enfirceemnt

[Cherrycokewinning]

“Flowerpot1234

flowerpot she had a bank card sent to my address - I think thats how this all started.

OK... then she has funds. After food, there is only one direction any of these funds need to be directed - to pay off her debts. Any funds she thinks he has are not "hers" - they are owed to her creditors. This seems to be a common misconception with debtors, something Martin Lewis has talked about for years. This false belief that accumulating a nice amount in a bank account is a good thing, it's not, as he said, the priority should be to pay off the debt and get clear of that.“

This is tosh. Ignoring the fact the friend isn’t reading the thread or asking for advice you shouldn’t even consider paying everything apart from food to creditors. You should only pay what you can truely afford (far less the most think) and any court considering the debtors finances will calculate this. It WILl not be after food but after food, bills, rent, clothing and travel and even a Small contingency.

Advice for people not in financial crisis wanting to reduce debt is very different from those overwhelmed by it. For a start the interest should be frozen.

[QueenDaisy]

If I was you, this is what I’d do. Any post that comes for your friend, open it, ring the people who sent it & tell them she doesn’t live at this address, make a note of the date & time of the phone call & the name of the person you spoke to, seal the post back up, write ‘return to sender, not at this address’ on the envelope, take a photo of it & put it in a post box.

In the meantime try to find receipts for things in your home that prove they belong to you & your DP, including any vehicles not on finance, the High Court Officers can take these things away, I know this from watching the TV program, so I assume it to be true, when they come back, give them your friends phone number. Good luck

[Fishbiscuits]

I agree with GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER returning post “not known at this address” has no effect - as I was told, it could easily be the debtor returning the mail. It’s not actually illegal to open mail sent to your address unless you intend to cause “detriment” to the person it was addressed to, and you can always claim you opened it in errror without checking the name first. Contacting the companies directly is best.

[ilovekitkats]

OP, you need to get your friend to face up to this debt and deal with it. Help her to contact Stepchange or another debt agency. She may have to go bankrupt if the debt is severe, but at least she could start with a clean slate.

She is gaining nothing but worry by running away from it all.

[Cherrycokewinning]

OP isn’t going to be able to make her do anything and why should she? It’s time for her to stop helping her and protect herself

[specialsubject]

Op, you are being used. This woman is not a friend. Take the actions to stop her using your address and get her removed from it.

[Awwlookatmybabyspider]

Sadly if you can't provide proof that the goods belong to you and if she has been traced to your address they can sieze your goods. It's an absolute disgrace and
Your friend is very very unfair to you. I understand she's scared of course I do, but
And she's acting in desperation, but. It's not fair that you're dragged into this.

[Awwlookatmybabyspider]

She obviously thinks like a lot of people in debt that if she ignores it it üill go away.
I don't think she's a bad person. I think she's just got herself into a state and is terrified.

[teaandtoast]

Her card had broken, or she just needed an address to put them off her track?
She's obviously living somewhere. Why did she drop you in it?

[hannah1992]

Is the debt under your address? How have they traced her to your address? (Not read the whole thread) I know though that my mil had the same issue. My bil (her son) was living at her property 2 years ago and got a bank loan out. He didn’t pay it and bailiffs turned up at my mils 2 years after he had moved out. She explained that he didn’t live there but it didn’t matter because the debt was registered there and he was living there with her at the time of the debt. She did get legal advice but they said the same thing. That because he was living there etc the debt was under that address and they could take things.

However, if it is a previous tenant or honeowner of the property they have to go on their way because they have no coknection to you family or otherwise.

I don’t think they have the power to do anything at your door unless she was living with you at the time of the debt or they have reason to believe she is living there now. A tenancy agreement etc doesn’t prove they are not living there either. She could be living with you and you’ve not put her name on the house but she’s still living there if you know what I mean

[Cherrycokewinning]

That’s not true at all Hannah. Did you MIl pay them?

[hannah1992]

Yes cherry she did. Nearly £1000. Legal advice said the problem was was that her mortgage being in her name wasn’t proof he was not living there. He’s her son so he wouldn’t have been on the papers anyway. Him not being on the electoral role wasn’t proof either as many people live without being on the electoral role. And the only thing she could prove was legally hers was her car and her partners car. They wanted receipts for al her possessions (some of which are years and years old) and because she couldn’t provide the receipts they were entitled to seize. If bil has gone to the house and said he didn’t live there and gave them his address it would have been a different matter but he’s a dick and was happy his mum had to pay it so he didn’t have to

[Cherrycokewinning]

But it’s his debt as a person, not the properties debt (assuming he hadn’t secured it against the property which he couldn’t as he didn’t own it)

[MotherofaSurvivor]

Peng High Court Enforcement Officers can! They can actually break in if they need to. Only if correct address of course

[Cherrycokewinning]

ETA- I think you MIL was bullied by debt collectors giving false information which is very common

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

They wanted receipts for al her possessions (some of which are years and years old) and because she couldn’t provide the receipts they were entitled to seize. That makes a difference...


Mother They cannot force entrance to a residential property... until the 3rd or 4th phase, by which time the debtor will have signed paperwork agreeing to that as a consequence!

No one enforcing a judgment has the right to force entry into residential premises unless they have a signed walking possession agreement or were forcibly ejected. However, the HCEO or bailiff may climb a perimeter wall or fence to get into the grounds of the property. They can enter where a door is open, opening further to aid entry if required.

[hannah1992]

No it’s because she could t prove he wasn’t living there still and unless proved otherwise they can take anything in the property where they believe the debtor to be living.

You have to prove the possessions are yours and you have to prove the debtor doesn’t live there. The only way she could do that was if bil himself told them and gave his own address which he wouldn’t do.

She phoned him and as soon as she said a bailif was there he hung up the phone and refused to answer after that

[Karigan1]

Does she live there at all? If not then they have no right if entry and you don’t have to let them in.

Write to the court advising them they are pursuing a false lead and any further attempts to track her through you will lead to a harassment complaint being made against them. Only do this if she does not live with you though.

If she does kick her out now. This is going to be effecting your credit score and put your own possessions at risk.

[Cherrycokewinning]

That makes no sense- how can I prove a sofa belongs to me?

[Cherrycokewinning]

It won’t affect OPs credit score. It’s not in her name. Credit scores aren’t attached to property

[Karigan1]

It will as credit scores are also linked to the address. It took me ages to get unlinked from the ex husband when he lost his job even though we had been divorced for 6 years. It lowered my score which is usually in the green

[SandyDenny]

Might it be a good idea if possible to move any high value items somewhere else until this is sorted out.

I don't understand how your friend was able to get bank correspondence sent to your address, what proof did she show the bank that she lived there?

[Cherrycokewinning]

Credit scores def not linked to address. Haven’t been for about 10 years. Being financially linked to a person with poor credit may affect yours though

[cantucciniamaretto]

So much misinformation on here....They do have power to force entry with a writ

the irony! They do not have the power to force entry to a residential address, and they certainly do not to the wrong address!

[hannah1992]

They expect you to keep receipts for everything you own. So for a sofa you would have an invoice with your name on if it was bought and delivered from a shop. Obviously they don’t think if anyone bought anything second hand