Advice needed - Bailiffs

[dotunex]

Hi, need some advice. About two years ago, whilst experiencing serious financial difficulty thanks to the credit crisis and job loss, I rented out my house and travelled abroad with my wife and kids to stay with my parents and help with their little family business for about 18 months in exchange for shelter and food while waiting for things to improve. While away, my brother was using my car so as to keep up the payments (rather than lose the car, he offered to use it and keep the payments up, and return it on my arrival, all of which he faithfully which he did).

Unfortunately, beyond his integrity where promises are concerned, he is not the most careful of individuals, and I came back to find he had piled up quite a number of parking fines and congestion charge fines. Obviously, with my name on the car (which is not fully paid up, so I don't think they can tske it anyway) and the car registered to my house in which I am now living again, the bailiffs are after me.

I am merely struggling trying to get back on my feet. Over £6,000.00 later, I am not even sure what is owed to whom anymore, and most of them are everything else except professional. I tried the approach of sending a SAR to Philips as everyone suggests and was completely ignored. I eventually wrote a letter to all the companies explaining the situation and even giving them my brother's name and address (to which he agreed) and they seemed to relent for a little while. He said he is yet to get any claims from the companies though

Now, I noticed that as xmas is approaching, they seem to be getting really active again. Over the last two odd weeks, they have re-appeared, and they have sent very obnoxious people whose behaviour can only be described as absolutely thuggish to my house. A gorrilla-like brute from Philips blatantly stuck his foot in my door two weeks ago and almost got in, one bailiff from Newlyn came to my house this morning, screamed and shouted so all the neighbours could clearly hear him for over an hour, and even forced his way into my garage to stick a note on the car. I don't even know for sure what is owed to him. I am led to understand all this is absolutely illegal, but hey...

Does anyone have any concrete advice based on the law (or if there is a way to actually enforce the SAR which they seem to merely laugh off it seems) on how I can deal with these companies? I need a concrete way forward from all this mess

[Amy]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

You should start by reading this Parking Fine Guide - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum and you will see that these offences are not driver dependent. So if your brother agrees to paying these fines, why has he not done so?

If you have sent SARs then they must reply to you within 40 days, how long has it been since you wrote to them?

[WendyB]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

Firstly, have a read of this Parking Fine Guide - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum which should make things clearer, then come back and ask any more questions you may have.

Are you saying yo have paid over £6000 to bailiffs for parking fines which were incurred by your brother? Has he contributed any of the money, or repaid you?

[dotunex]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

Hi Wendy, thanks for replying. I wrote to them over 7 months ago
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He actually paid the £6000, as well as (according to him) about £3000+ due to clamps at various times for bits if the debts by different bailiffs before I came back, which is why we went down the SAR route. It seems Philips especially were just randomly targeting this case and they seemed to just be piling on the charges randomly as the amount still doesnt seem to be reducing. He is happy to pay provided the payment makes sense, but this is not the main issue at hand. He is happy to deal with them if they would sotp harassing me, but they seem to have a bird in hand attitude towards it.

[charitynjw]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

Hi Wendy, thanks for replying. I wrote to them over 7 months ago

If this is re the SAR, did you enclose the £10 fee with the request?
If yes, what happened to it? (Did they bank it?)

[dotunex]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

Thanks, I have read the link and things are a bit clearer, although I still don't see what I can do to get a SAR definitely acknowledged and acted upon

I think they ignored the cheque. I also sent an email stating my comcerns and reiterated the SAR by email to ensure they received it. It was not acknowledged either.

[dotunex]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

Also, if I wish to make an arrangement to pay in instalments, do they HAVE to oblige by law? I tried this in the past and they were insistent on asking me to pay instalments I simply could not afford

[CleverClogs]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

Thanks, I have read the link and things are a bit clearer, although I still don't see what I can do to get a SAR definitely acknowledged and acted upon

I think they ignored the cheque. I also sent an email stating my comcerns and reiterated the SAR by email to ensure they received it. It was not acknowledged either.

If they ignored the cheque, first ensure that it was not paid or cashed; if the bank has no record of it, stop the cheque.

Send the SAR again with another cheque (or Postal Order - keep a note of the counterfoil number and when/where it was bought) but, this time, send it by Special Delivery. It costs more than Recorded Delivery but you can get a copy of the signature on-line and a certificate of delivery will be free. If they ignore that, you can either get the ICO to tell them very gently to behave themselves or go to the County Court for an order compelling disclosure.

Exactly how did that misbegotten momzer force his way into your garage - did he barge past someone standing in the way or did he force a lock open - and did he commit any damage in the process?

[dotunex]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

He pried it open. It's one of those types that open upwards. Yes, he damaged it and I'm getting it fixed today. He can't touch the car really as it's not mine, but it's just the idiocy of it all.
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Also, just to be sure, gaining entry (forced or unforced) into a garage that is separate from the main house does not equate to entering the house, does it?

[Amy]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

Send the SAR again with another cheque (or Postal Order - keep a note of the counterfoil number and when/where it was bought) but, this time, send it by Special Delivery. It costs more than Recorded Delivery but you can get a copy of the signature on-line and a certificate of delivery will be free. If they ignore that, you can either get the ICO to tell them very gently to behave themselves or go to the County Court for an order compelling disclosure.

Post 4 and 8 here Registered Post - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum show that Special Delivery is a waste of money and unnecessary.
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He pried it open. It's one of those types that open upwards. Yes, he damaged it and I'm getting it fixed today. He can't touch the car really as it's not mine, but it's just the idiocy of it all.

Also, just to be sure, gaining entry (forced or unforced) into a garage that is separate from the main house does not equate to entering the house, does it?

Before you get it fixed, photograph the damage. They strictly forbidden from forcing entry.

No, this does not constitute entry to your house.

[dotunex]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

Thanks

[CleverClogs]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

Post 4 and 8 here Registered Post - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum show that Special Delivery is a waste of money and unnecessary.

Those posts do not "show" anything of the sort; all they shew is that two people (of whom you were one) had the opinion that merely being able to prove that a letter was posted would satisfy a court.

Whilst it is indubitably true that section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 - link - and case law based thereon mean that service of the SAR would ordinarily be deemed to have been made by two working days after posting for first class mail and by four working days after posting for second class mail, it may still be helpful to be able to prove when a letter actually was delivered. If nothing else, it can provide a psychological advantage, as the b:censored:rds bailiff company has thereby been put on notice that one does not propose to allow them any excuse not to comply with one's lawful request.

Moreover, as one can know with certainty when a Special Delivery item will be delivered, one can state the deadline for compliance with the request in the letter itself, rather than the more feeble "you have forty days from when you receive this to comply" and referring to the Postal Rule to indicate when that will be.

Finally, there is the question of how much money would be "wasted" by the use of Special Delivery; as this would be only £5.10 more than the cost of second class post, would it not be worth the extra money to know that some nutter of a DJ cannot ignore the law to give the buggers "the benefit of the doubt"?

I entirely agree with you regarding the oaf jemmying the garage door. Would you not agree that such would be criminal damage and hence an arrestable/indictable offence?

[dotunex]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

Thanks Cleverclogs. I intend to send a new set of SARs by recorded delivery between today and tomorrow and make proper note of the cheques etc this time (The last time I mistakenly assumed that even if the field men were thugs, at least the companies they represent would act with integrity - alas I now know better - they are obviously on a different side of the humanity fence judging by the majority of the posts on here.

One just wonders why clearer, stiffer laws have not been borught into force rather than grey 'guidelines' for these companies to work by? We have governments who can push laws through seemingly over the weekend when it suits them, yet matters like this which are obviously affecting literally millions of individuals, with complaints all over the internet for all to see, are not dealt with for decades?

But then of course, they 'collect' money (and mostly on behalf of councils which have long since forgotten that their primary concern is the welfare of the people, and not to milk them like cows) so it can't possibly harm the government to sit by and pretend it is not a problem. I guess when 'vulnerable' people get to the point where they start to break down and lynch and shoot bailiffs, something will finally be done? Albeit it will end up being more in the bailiffs' favour... What a joke!

[CleverClogs]

Re: Advice needed - Bailiffs

Did you photograph the damage done to the garage door?

How much did it cost to repair and do you still have the damaged parts?