Bailiff on first visit - didn't enter but handed my child a letter through a door

[dazza12]

I hope you can help.

I had a visit today from a bailiff from Ross and Roberts. I was out, and my child answered the door - a letter was given to them and they asked if it could be passed to us. The bailiff didn't enter the property at all.

Does the fact that he passed a letter through an open door but didn't gain entry still work in my favour?

I've been made aware previously that I can withdraw access to my property. Is this still possible and does it work?

I have a car, but this is on HP and I'm in arrears on this - it is the subject of a voluntary repossesion query so I understand that as it's got no equity and belongs to the HP company they can't touch it.

I've instructed my children that they're not to open the door, and not to be afraid of ignoring any threats by a bailiff. My children are 14 and 16, and get home half an hour before me, so I'm not leaving them home alone - they're very good at looking after themselves in that short time.

I'm not trying to avoid paying the council tax, my situation is that in October of last year I lost my job. I was out of work for nearly 2 months and my finances took quite a hit. I applied for housing and council tax benefit and got a small amount. I was back in work by December but it's taken a couple of months to get my finances to a state where I can potentially start to make payments against the arrears. I'd ideally like to deal with the council themselves, and hope to be able to do this away from the bailiff.

The only problem is that whenever I've spoken to the council since I was back in work, they insisted that the debt had to be cleared by the end of the council tax year. I couldn't afford this, and still can't. If they insisted I paid a large amount a month, this would put my 2012 payments in jeapordy. Although I have a liability order against us, can I state that I can only afford £100 a month without them pushing for more?

[ploddertom]

Re: Bailiff on first visit - didn't enter but handed my child a letter through a door

I hope you can help.

I had a visit today from a bailiff from Ross and Roberts. I was out, and my child answered the door - a letter was given to them and they asked if it could be passed to us. The bailiff didn't enter the property at all. He has done this correctly - http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/...ent-agents.pdf - you want the Vulnerable Situation 2nd & 3rd bulletted paragraphs

Does the fact that he passed a letter through an open door but didn't gain entry still work in my favour? - In my view not relevant but see above

I've been made aware previously that I can withdraw access to my property. Is this still possible and does it work? No

I have a car, but this is on HP and I'm in arrears on this - it is the subject of a voluntary repossesion query so I understand that as it's got no equity and belongs to the HP company they can't touch it. Regardless of equity or anything else it is on HP and cannot be touched, it may pay to have copies of these documents handy

I've instructed my children that they're not to open the door, and not to be afraid of ignoring any threats by a bailiff. My children are 14 and 16, and get home half an hour before me, so I'm not leaving them home alone - they're very good at looking after themselves in that short time. See above again

There is no law that says you have to deal with or speak to a Bailiff. As it is R&R involved then there may be a chance your Council have outsourced many of their admin functions to company called Capita who happen to own 2 Bailiff Co's one of which is R&R. This means that even though you think you are talking to the Council you are not and it is in Capita's interests to be unhelpful and tell you to deal solely with the Bailiff.

Regardless of what they say you can still pay the Council direct using online banking, Council website or automated phone. You will have to budget extra for lawful fees which providing he is denied access to your home or levying on goods outside will be a maximum of £42-50.

[Guest]

Re: Bailiff on first visit - didn't enter but handed my child a letter through a door

I echo PTs advice.

I would go and see the council and speak to someone face to face and try to amicably agree a repayment plan you can afford. If the council gets difficult then speak to your councillor.

I wouldnt take too much notice of the bailiffs, they will only try to rip you off by adding hundreds of pounds in fees and costs. Its an offence do that that anyway and you could make lots of noise if you wanted to.

[bluebottle]

Re: Bailiff on first visit - didn't enter but handed my child a letter through a door

I would strongly advise you to instruct your children that if any bailiffs attend your home when you and your partner are not at home, in addition to not opening the door to them, if the bailiffs make any threats, including threats to break down the door and/or return with a locksmith, to dial 999 and call the police, telling the police that a person or persons are at the front door making threats to cause damage, i.e. breaking the door down, get a locksmith, and claiming to be a bailiff. It is vitally important and I cannot stress this enough that your children tell the police it is someone claiming to be a bailiff. There is an offence known as Burglary Artifice, more commonly-known as Distraction Burglary, and the low-life who commit such offences have been known to impersonate bailiffs. If your children have mobile phone that can record sound, tell them to record anything and everything the bailiff says. If they can record the bailiff threatening to break the door down or return with a locksmith, this would be very damning evidence against the bailiff. As well as it being an arrestable offence to threaten to commit damage (Section 2, Criminal Damage Act 1971), it is a mispresentation of the bailiff's authority, too.