To be absolutely enraged with the system

[Birthdaycakemondays]

After watching ‘killed by my debt.’ A young lad in London who killed himself because of bailiffs & a 1k debt cause by TWO parking fines.

AIBU to be fucking outraged with it all?

How does 2 parking fines equate to 1k worth of debt, in what world is that ok? Obviously it’s due to non payment, but still. Should people under a certain age have a cap on the amount the debt can rise to? I really don’t think a lot of 18-21 year olds understand the implications of ignoring the letters.

He was a self employed courier on a 0 hour contract earning next to nothing & they set up a payment plan of over £100 a week. That was basically what he earned.

When did we allow ourselves to have the piss taken out of us so badly? I understand where there is crime there is punishment but this just seems needlessly excessive. I’m sure having to pay £100 or £200 late fine fees is sufficient to ensuring you don’t not pay on time again.

I just feel so bad for the lad & his family, I don’t think the greedy fat cats will miss the £500 he never managed to pay, but his family will sure miss him.

I think we have to be very careful not to assign blame for suicide on 1 particular event in a person's life, the fact is, we don't know why he killed himself this is only speculation.

HOWEVER... YANBU about bailiffs etc. Cant Pay We'll Take it Away is a grim watch and people who have similar issues (parking fines, not paying council tax because they lost their job etc) are treated worse than criminals. Like seriously why is it acceptable for big burly blokes to force their way into the homes of vulnerable people often with kids there and threaten to take their stuff (and they usually lie about their rights too) because of a fucking parking ticket? You could punch someone square in the face and be related with more respect by authorities. It's shocking and it infuriates me

*treated not related

I also really wish there was more awareness spread about the rights of a person when a bailiff turns up at their door. Like rule number one don't let them in. You don't have to. They can "enter peacefully" so don't give them any opportunity to do that, talk to them through the door. They are being clever with words when they say they have a court order to be there - yes they can stand on your drive but they can't force their way into your home. Everyone in this country should know the power that they have

YANBU I watched that too, it's easy for people to say "Well pay your debts then" but it shows how easy it spirals out of control. It shouldn't be allowed IMO.

And I know IABU saying this and may get flamed, But i despise bailiffs and their bully boy tactics.

It’s so totally disgusting @GunpowderGelatine. Maybe there were other contributing reasons but the stress & anxiety this can cause must be immense.

I can’t watch can’t pay we’ll take it away. Whilst burying your head in the sand isn’t the way to go I can see why people do it when they just can’t see another option. The thing is it could be a multi million pound company with a 1k debt or an 18 year old/single parent & the same rules apply. It looks a lot like legal bullying to me.

Where does the money go from these excessive parking fines to... id like to know...

I really don’t think a lot 18-21 year olds understand the implications of not opening letters.
It’s not so much that. It’s often because they’re petrified. They think “Well I haven’t got the money, to pay it, so why face it.
They’re not going to accept £1 per week are they, and for some that’s a fortune.

If my dd became a Bailiff I’d be ashamed. I’d cross the road to avoid people incase they asked what she did for living.

@InsertFunnyUsername I don’t think YABU at all, I completely agree. But the laws that allow them to do this are the real problem. I’m sure there are some nice enough bailiffs just earning a crust themselves but some of them definitely get off on the power of walking into someone’s house & saying ‘because I can.’

YANBU the debt system is designed to make it impossible to get out of for people who are most likely to get into debt I.e those who are less mentally acute to be able to deal with it.

I have a new friend and in conversations he’s had a £5k overdraft for 4 YEARS. All he’s been doing is barely surviving paying the interest.

It’s taken me about half a day to get him sorted with a zero interest money transfer credit card that, with lower payments than the overdraft was screwing him on, he will have cleared in under 2 yrs.

Managing that debt has been dragging him down for years and yet the bank has done nothing to recognise and try and support a better way of financing and repaying. If people don’t understand the finance system they are basically fucked however good their intentions are of paying.

Remember this?

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/fundraising-appeal-for-woman-fined-330-for-stealing-75p-mars-bar-reaches-nearly-14k-10459372.html

Woman who had no food due to being sanctioned stole the cheapest thing she could find in a shop when starving - and ended up with hundreds of pounds of fines and the threat of jail

If you’re going to fine someone on a NMW zero hours contract £1k you might as well fine them £100k. They don’t have it. They most likely don’t have any assets to seize either. It’s an utter disgrace.

@InsertFunnyUsername. Why will you be flamed. They are bullying twats. I’ve no issues whatsoever with saying that
Have you “got to love” bailiffs on here or something

@ BrassTactical well done for helping your friend! If no one ever shows you how to manage debt it is so, so easy for you it get out of hand. You’re right, why would the bank step in to try & help when they’re making money out of you?

Exactly OP. I dont know, you got to ask yourself who wants to earn their money scaring people and threatening them for cash. DP would be kicked to the curb if he decided to become a bailiff. In my old workplace I dealt with people on the receiving end of them and I was upset for some of them when they explained how they got in to this situation. So to be standing in front of them threatening to take their stuff away and not feel a bit of guilt? It's not right, Sorry I'm ranting now

Every bailiff I have come across has been perfectly polite and helpful, I think it is the shame and fear of them that causes the issues

Oh and I have a parking fine, I only received one letter, paid it 2 years ago. Then 2 years on I get a letter from a debt collector for an unpaid fine so the fine + £200!

Turns out I had two fines, they only wrote to me about 1 which I paid. Now to me, that means while they have the evidence (I checked online), they never told me so I shouldn’t be reviewing debt collector threats.

I’ve said I’ll oay the original but the debt collector says now it’s with them I am NOT allowed to question it, I am NOT allowed to stop the process while I try and query it with original company (who refuse to reply), so I keeps racking up. Now I can pay it, I can pay it fairly easily albeit with money I could better use elsewhere, but why the fuck should I?

sorry but this subject gives me the rage 😂

No you dont have to love bailiffs on here

But some people say you shouldn't judge someone by their job etc. Where as I will avoid even having a friend who is a bailiff. Extreme maybe, but I wouldn't be able to.

I hadn’t seen that @ Deathgrip poor woman. I’m glad ordinary people stepped in to show their solidarity but her name is still plastered over the internet for a theft when compassion should of have been shown from the very start! How on earth did that make it to court? What a waste of time &... well, money.

@ BrassTactical this is a real part of the problem to. The unfairness of it all! Invisible tape every where now, can’t do this, can’t do that.

& when they call you then want your name, DOB, first line of address, postcode & first born child for data protection!! You called me FFS!

I’ve had bailiffs round here twice for the previous tenant, polite enough but maybe only because I wasn’t who they were looking for. I have been told by neighbours she didn’t speak much English, had two young children & her husband used to beat her up. Poor woman... I hope they don’t find her.

BirthdayCakeMondays, did it happen to be one of those barely legal parking eye type parking fines as well? I got one of those once for apparently staying an hour and 10 minutes in a 1 hour parking free car park at a retail park. I wrote back to them basically telling them to Fuck off. They lost zero revenue and I showed them the receipts that I spent over £100 in 3 shops in the retail park and if they wanted me to write to the 3 retailers and let them know they were losing a customer due to this parking fine then enforce it. They wrote back and said they were dropping it

It didn’t actually say, but he was a hospital courier (blood etc) in London so I imagine it’s not hard to rack up a few fines. Be it for parking wrong, or in the wrong lane etc.. 🙄 that’s another story ay?

Glad you told them to fuck off @JenniferM1989 aren’t they meant to give you 10 minutes grace anyway? Probably only 30 seconds now 🤪

I also really wish there was more awareness spread about the rights of a person when a bailiff turns up at their door

^^ This. And also more rights about debt in general. When I read the OP, I though, well 'he should have got advice/a debt relief order' because I understand the system. There are many protections in place and any sort of unsecured debt like parking fines, or even loans or credit cards, are low priority.

So if you can't afford them after all normal expenses, they can't make you pay them. But you have to know that's the system and so many people skint themselves trying to pay debts that they legally, no-one can make them pay.

Usury. It's State Sanctioned Usury.

We have come to a pretty pass, haven't we?

I used to run a small transport .org with its own forums. One of the most notorious clamping firms threatened us with a libel action for a four year old post that contained the word "shits" to describe them. Vermin.

They don't have bailiffs in Scotland, they do have sheriffs officers but they stopped doing warrant sales (seizing goods) a long time ago.

They can arrest your earnings, raid bank accounts (but have to leave a certain amount in there) and take money from benefits but they can't turn up at your door and harrass you.

Those professional extortion scams aka "parking fines" from parking eye type companies should be banned. I got sent one two months ago when I was actually 200 miles away at the time of the alleged parking offence, which apparently happened in a city I've never driven to in my life, and somehow the onus is on me to prove this?! And the hire car company charged me a £35 admin fee for handing my details over when I never committed the "parking offence" (as they called it. Overstaying in a private car park isn't an offence, anyway, even if I had actually done it, which I didn't). They're just professional chancers the lot of them and they ought to have to prove they've got a legitimate complaint then follow it up in a reasonable manner, not intimidating people and lying to them about the consequences of non-payment.
That NHS England dental/prescription fines one takes the piss too. People who meet certain criteria have 100% free healthcare, until they try to actually use it, then they get fined huge amounts and hassled by debt collectors, and the NHS doesn't even get the fine back, they only get the cost of the prescription or dental treatment.
It should all be outlawed.
Oh they really piss me off, YANBU at all to be enraged, OP!

I've watched it too and it's incredibly sad. I found it difficult as I have attempted suicide twice due to debt. They weren't a cry for help i genuinely didn't want to live any more. 5 years on finances are healthy and my MH is good but I work at it
It was the endless letters and phone calls with not an ounce of compassion