Bailiff sent for previous tenant’s belongings

[sesamecroissant]

Hi Everyone

We moved into our new house in January and we kept receiving letters to a person who we assume used to live here. We posted most letters back to the sender. Yesterday morning someone knocked on the door at 7am - I opened it as I was expecting a few parcels. It was a bailiff looking for this guy - I explained I don’t know him and we bought the house in January. He didn’t look convinced and kept asking more questions. My dog was loudly barking in the background and I think he must have been a bit intimidated. He asked if he can leave a letter to this guy in case I seem him - I obviously won’t as I don’t know him.

Question: should I be worried? Can bailiffs enter the house without actually checking with the council who lives here?

If he comes back then you could provide proof that you legally live in the house.
I would refuse to take a letter.
Citizens advice website has some good advice.
it also says
If you don't owe the debtBailiffs can't come to your home or take any action against you if you can prove you don't owe the debt.
Collect as much evidence as you can to show you're not responsible for the debt. Send this to the bailiffs with a letter explaining that you don't owe the money. You can find their address on the notice of enforcement.

It’s not your debt so writing to them should be sufficient.

Bailiffs can’t force entry, so just don’t let them in.
Also, they won’t seize belongings unless they’re certain these belong to the debtor, as otherwise they’ll have to pay for storing them and returning them when the person they took the items from proves that they’re not the debtor.

In general bailiffs don’t want the responsability of storing and selling people’s second hand items, they want money. I worked with people who called the bailiffs’ bluffs, they refused to pay so the bailiffs would walk around the house writing down all the items they were planning to seize, never to return again to collect the items. I’m obviously referring to people who didn’t have expensive items on display.

Keep a letter by your front door with a photocopy of the details of when you moved in, your name, tenancy agreement, whatever.

Thanks everyone! I will write to them and also keep a copy of proof that we own the house etc.