Bailiff - can’t stop crying

[Towybow]

So to start the past year has been stressful
my dog died - he was everything to me and we watched him die over a a week in the most horrible way.

on the day he died the first vet I took him to - who misdiagnosed him, called me about the insurance claim. They put it through and I consented to this. I ended up writing a complaint about their treatment it was horrid. I have a letter where they say they will reduce the treatment to £313 - I had confirmation from my insurance this was already claimed and so I never thought any more of it. I was wrapped up in grief. A month later mum was taken to hospital and she nearly died. She had a life changing injury and whilst she was in hospital I was dealing with some matters whucg turned out she had very bad mental health. She then suffered delirium for 4 weeks and as her only child and with family it did fall on me to visit each day on my own. I have a dd who also has her own struggles. She has severe asthma and we are both on pathway for adhd.
my mum was not in the best place when she came round and sadly I bore the brunt of it if there were days she struggled. There were days I wanted to just off myself. But I never would cos of my daughter.

in November I was out on a 2 week pathway for cancer whucg we still haven’t got to the bottom Of but a barium swallow was clear.

in March I sought treatment for my mental health as I have been really struggling I’m on medication now which has been hard.
I do struggle daily and have been to the doctors with 4th bout of bronchitis and still really suffering with a anxiwty and depression.

in March I started breathing space and working wit step change as my finances have got completely out of hand. Largely cos I forget and every day I’m fighting to just keep afloat I feel all alone in this world.
I had a letter from a solicitor about this debt, I was going to call the insurers and ask why not paid when I did they said I didn’t confirm it to be paid at the time. I didn’t have the energy to fight this because to be honest I just don’t know what’s happened. So I added it to my debts to be included in the debt management plan thinking I’ll just pay it because I don’t have the energy to fight it. It sounds stupid. It even speaking to people at the minute is a big hurdle. - oh in between all of this iv had to move my DD’s school because of how much she was struggling. She also is having difficulties in seeing her dad. -

so today a bailiff comes and says he’s collecting my items in 5 days - he says I’m to email breathing space and wouldn’t talk anymore - the letter says he’s coming in 5 days and will take my stuff and if that doesn’t cover the hill, which is now £2200 they will apply to make my bankrupt. Part of me doesn’t even care what they take now but I am scared of a man coming in and my daughter seeing that. I have previously experienced dv and I’m scared. Since he came in been crying and I can’t stop crying.
step change say to apply for a stay of execution but every where is shut. I can’t focus to add more inowed my mum some money from when my dog died and having to seek another vet opinion and from him being out to sleep and so she is taking a sleeve chunk of my wages each month I can’t even get through the melnth

I feel so tired and I don’t even know where to start
I want to seek support for my mental health but I’m scared as I work in a helping profession and if they think my mental health is bad they may tell my employer? I’m not sure I do feel at crisis though but I just don’t know what to di about any of it. Sorry for long post

Hi.

Not sure if this a grammatical awkwardness, mistake or misunderstanding.

So to clarify...

Sadly CAP won't pay off your actual debts. They will support you with your debts and financial problems but not pay you or your debtors themselves.

As I understand it, and possibly simplified.

They will talk to you and go through your income, spending, debts etc. They will negotiate with those you owe money to and agree a repayment plan and timings.

You then make one, agreed, payment/month to CAP. They will then pay your debtors off according to the agreed payback rates.

You will have a CAP manager who does the main business work and CAP friends who will support you through this.

My DW has just started as a CAP friend. There's a fair bit of training and everything is confidential - I don't know who her contacts are.

these are not baliffs, these are high court enforcements officers. They have different powers.

OP if you have the confirmation email from your pet insurance then if the insurance company didn't pay the vet then surely that's a matter for the vets to sort out with the company. It shouldn't be your fault. Have I understood this correctly?

OP, the bailiffs won't take your stuff, they can't take your essentials and the TV / Xbox have virtually no resale value through the auctions they send goods to, after auctioneers fees they would be lucky to see £10, they will be much happier to secure payment via a payment plan.

My advise is to get a payment plan in place, once that is set up, so long as you keep up the payments the bailiffs won't come back.

I stand corrected on who is pestering.

But there are still restrictions and ultimately it's getting payments made that will be of most interest. If they are legit then telling them there's a plan being set up with CAP, CMA, CA whomever that may be enough to make them walk away for now.

Read up on the hat a IVA is, I’m sure there should be a contact number what you can call

How much are you giving to your mum?

This is not a priority debt and I think you'll run into similar problems with CAP as Step change.....you need to focus on the priority debt (the one with the bailiff) rather than your mum. Otherwise nothing is really going to change....

Is there any possibility that you or your mum could explain her own problems on here? There may be some advice which could result in her not being an extra burden on you.

I think the fact you paid the excess might be really helpful - was that to the vet or the insurance company? Whoever it was definitely take that up with them, it shows that you accepted the offer?

it Was to the vet

yes I have called the vet and have to call back on Tuesday and speak to manager.

I think I may have grounds to take back to court if required

But I know they will say they sent me stuff and I haven’t read it and I know that is partly my fault as things have been so bad I’m not sure a judge would care about that though

Oh good - I really think it may be worth describing what else has been going on for you and why you didn't access the email they sent to chase you. You don't need to give all the detail in the post, I'd keep it simple and say I am currently very unwell and undergoing tests, at the time you were trying to contact me about the offer (that I understood to have been accepted - I had also paid the excess) I was caring for my mother for x weeks during a very serious spell in hospital. I was not, unfortunately, on top of things. If you wish me to provide evidence I can, I am now facing bankruptcy over a £300 debt that I had insurance cover for, after you failed me with the treatment of my pet when I needed you the most (which they have conceded, by settling on a figure for the treatment). Ok maybe not the last bit.

Please try Christians against poverty they are amazing. They help people of all faiths & none and they really walk the walk, I’ve worked in voluntary/homeless sector for years and they are held in very high esteem.

Sometimes vets liaise directly with your insurance company but not always.

The person who owns the pet holds the insurance. If a claim needs to be made the pet owner should ask the vets if the vets liaise directly with this particular insurer or not.

If not, the pet owner needs to pay the vet themselves and claim back from the insurance.

If the pet owner wants to make sure the insurance will pay out, it's usual to consult them first about whether proposed treatment (including euthanasia) meets their payout rules. This is so the pet owner doesn't run up a bill with the vets which the insurance won't pay out for. Some people don't mind paying thousands out of pocket for their pets vet expenses, others do mind and are limited to whatever options the insurer will pay for. It's a personal decision.

Some insurance will only pay out on euthanasia if everything has been tried to save the animal first, even if the pet's owner doesn't consider that to be in the animals best interests eg due to quality of life if survives. In those circumstances the insurance may pay for some of the treatment but not the PTS charge or cremation costs or value of animal (if value was insured).

It's not necessarily as simple as just telling vet "I've got insurance" and doing nothing else.

So now I have found emails saying on 22.5 the claim was submitted and processed

I made a complaint to the vets on 6.6 stating I was unhappy because they had not listened about his limp and spine, the letter from them offered a deduction of £414 but also stated that they took no responsibility. It ended saying if I wished to claim the discount to call them so they can amend the claim submitted. I did not call back because I was upset at the content of the response and felt they had let my boy down, and that this contributed to his passing. I didn’t respond as in my head the claim was submitted I didn’t care about the money any longer

I have found an email from August saying they won’t have long to amend the insurance and to contact them if I wished to claim the discount. I didn’t answer them my mum was hospitalised at the time.

I heard nothing else from them, until in February/march time I found a letter dated December from a solicitors with a statement of what I owed. I told step change - I can’t explain it but I’m so overwhelmed and down and dealing with so many things I thought to myself it’s just a few hundreds just add it to the Dmp rather than phoning and challenging. I do find phone calls etc difficult. I had ear marked ro try and call the insurance to see why it hasn’t been paid but included it in the Dmp because I didn’t want it missed.

im guilty of being depressed and awaiting assessment for adhd because I do find things hard to keep up with but I also thought it had been paid. I’m used ro paying over what I should because my brain struggles.

do you think the vets will take this back if I send them the evidence or if they don’t will a judge take this into consideration . Or do I just guve ip. I feel so tired with it all

I paid for his euthanisai and other treatment as I’d used his insurance for this which was out of hours treatment. I had an email saying it had been submitted and had 2 letters from the vets saying it has been processed
I had communication with them up until end of June when they repeatedly told me it had been submitted and I gave that in writing on email. I have nothing to say I owe anything more

in February/march time I found a letter dated December from a solicitors with a statement of what I owed.

Was this letter called Notice Before Action?

I agree with a previous poster who said you may not even owe this debt. It does sound as though your vets were liaising with your insurance company. From what you said in this thread, it isn't clear whether you should have had this bill in the first place or whether the entire thing should have been settled by the insurance company. It is possible this bill hasn't been paid due to your vets messing up rather than you messing up.

I know I’m guilty of not checking but I had emails saying it done and spoke with insurance and vets so I didn’t check anything

Yes

I do have extensive doctors note from my NHs app as to why my head was not in the right place from December to January 2024 though I’m not sure if that helps. I didn’t open some post for a month because I couldn’t cope with it that’s why I called step change and opened post on the phone to them whilst taking breathing space and sorting out debts

I was signed off work august to October with stress and in November was out on a 2 week cancer pathway which didn’t conclude until January
im a single mum and had my mums issues plus a single carer to dd and working bills etc just fell by the way side - it’s no excuse but I’m just giving context as to why I didn’t know about the letter until this year

And when I did see it I just thought wveee thing frozen as in breathing space and that step change would talk to them
I did say I would dispute it but iv recently changed meds and dd has a major issue in which she needed to suddenly change schools. I felt like I couldn’t face it so much I was willing just to pay it even though I knew I could have queried why insurance had not paid

Your reasons for not checking your post and emails are natural. They are mitigating circumstances. Whether it makes any difference or not who can say. You have nothing to lose by telling people though and providing the evidence.

It does sound increasingly as if your vets may have made some sort of error. Then the finance department has just seen an unpaid debt and followed legal proceedings.

Notice Before Action means the next step is court. Did you receive a court summons after this letter?