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Hi All,
18 months ago we’ve moved into our new house and started receiving loads of letters addressed to previous tenants which, as we’ve later found out, were debts for various finances and parking fines. At first, being a good citizens, we’ve sent all the letters back with a note saying that the person they are after no longer lives at the address. That made no difference whatsoever so I’ve started opening the letters and personally calling each company to say that the persons they are looking for no longer lives here and we not related to them in any way, shape or form and that they should put more effort into looking for them rather than harassing innocent people with endless irrelevant correspondence. The letters have stopped for 6 months or so.
Fast forward to last week and I receive a visit from a “lovely” chap from Equita bailiffs who leaves a notice to say that they will be back at some point same week to basically break in and take our stuff! I have actually managed to open the door just before he left and confront him saying that it’s been 18 months since we’ve moved into this property and we have no business with debts collectors or bailiffs since we pay our bills on time.
Further conversation did not go down very well since our newborn kept us awake all night, I wasn’t really in the mood to deal with somebody else issues. So I’ve told them to do their homework next and basically f*** off from my property. The bailiff has asked to see some proof of ID to confirm that I’m not the person they are after, which I’ve refused since I don’t feel that I have to prove my ID to someone other than law enforcement. I’ve also told them that I do not feel like doing somebody else work and proving anything to him. To which he replied that enforcement action will continue then and left.
So being extremely irritated, I rang up Equita and had a right go at them, I’ve stated my position again and told that it’s their job to do their research and find out whether the person lives at the address or not.
The same night I had a good nights sleep and decided that peaceful house is more important than proving my point therefore sent copy of our council tax bill to Equita with a note to say that any further visits will be deemed as harassment. They’ve accepted it and said that there will not be any more visits from them.
However, when we were opening the letters, there were a number of different companies sending them and I have a feeling that although we’ve got rid of Equita, there might different enforcement agencies coming around. Now we’ve lived here for last 18 months and paid council tax, the electoral register was updated from day one. I still don’t feel like showing my bills and ID to every single persons that shows up at the door asking to identify myself only because they THINK that the person they are looking for is living at this address.
The question is, where do I stand legally?? Is it really my responsibility to prove that I’m not someone they are looking for? In my eyes, the bailiffs should know, beyond reasonable doubt, who lives at the address before they even turn up at the door. Or am I being mistaken and they actually have the right to ask for my ID?
thank you all
18 months ago we’ve moved into our new house and started receiving loads of letters addressed to previous tenants which, as we’ve later found out, were debts for various finances and parking fines. At first, being a good citizens, we’ve sent all the letters back with a note saying that the person they are after no longer lives at the address. That made no difference whatsoever so I’ve started opening the letters and personally calling each company to say that the persons they are looking for no longer lives here and we not related to them in any way, shape or form and that they should put more effort into looking for them rather than harassing innocent people with endless irrelevant correspondence. The letters have stopped for 6 months or so.
Fast forward to last week and I receive a visit from a “lovely” chap from Equita bailiffs who leaves a notice to say that they will be back at some point same week to basically break in and take our stuff! I have actually managed to open the door just before he left and confront him saying that it’s been 18 months since we’ve moved into this property and we have no business with debts collectors or bailiffs since we pay our bills on time.
Further conversation did not go down very well since our newborn kept us awake all night, I wasn’t really in the mood to deal with somebody else issues. So I’ve told them to do their homework next and basically f*** off from my property. The bailiff has asked to see some proof of ID to confirm that I’m not the person they are after, which I’ve refused since I don’t feel that I have to prove my ID to someone other than law enforcement. I’ve also told them that I do not feel like doing somebody else work and proving anything to him. To which he replied that enforcement action will continue then and left.
So being extremely irritated, I rang up Equita and had a right go at them, I’ve stated my position again and told that it’s their job to do their research and find out whether the person lives at the address or not.
The same night I had a good nights sleep and decided that peaceful house is more important than proving my point therefore sent copy of our council tax bill to Equita with a note to say that any further visits will be deemed as harassment. They’ve accepted it and said that there will not be any more visits from them.
However, when we were opening the letters, there were a number of different companies sending them and I have a feeling that although we’ve got rid of Equita, there might different enforcement agencies coming around. Now we’ve lived here for last 18 months and paid council tax, the electoral register was updated from day one. I still don’t feel like showing my bills and ID to every single persons that shows up at the door asking to identify myself only because they THINK that the person they are looking for is living at this address.
The question is, where do I stand legally?? Is it really my responsibility to prove that I’m not someone they are looking for? In my eyes, the bailiffs should know, beyond reasonable doubt, who lives at the address before they even turn up at the door. Or am I being mistaken and they actually have the right to ask for my ID?
thank you all
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