New Home - Bailiffs

[jcollings]

i don't have a problem with the creditors....it's the trained chimps who are sent to collect the money i have a problem with.

 

They pray on the confusion surrounding what the law says they can and can't do....and they tend to go round wearing uniform that makes them look very official, when infact they have about as much power as a PCSO.

 

You may have friends who are bailiffs, but they are scumbags in they're day job. I'm sure estate agents are very nice people when they're down the pub...doesn't make they're day job any less odious.

 

Yes, equally people who have scarpered leaving upaid debt are scumbags, but creditors should be more wary of who they're lending to. The whole credit system allows for ridiculously easy access to credit cards, phone contracts, car finance for people who can't or won't pay....

 

so spare me the poor hard up creditors, they've created this rod for they're back by not being careful enough. The whole bailiff are just doing they're job line i don't agree with either, they have a choice as to what they're occupation is and if they had an ounce of decency they wouldn't feel so smug. Not everyones door they bang at 6:00am in the morning is a scarpering scumbag as you put it.

 

What a strange and sad outlook you have.

[tmcd35]

But i was trying to get to the bottom of whether the idea of blacklisting by address was a popular misconception.

 

You're right that i should just get a credit report or two to see if what my status is.

 

I thought I'd pick up this thread on blacklisting as everyone seems to have covered the basics on debt collectors

 

As far as I can remember, there is not such thing as an actual blacklist. Neither you or our property are ever put on a 'blacklist'. What actually happens is each credit application is taken on it own merits. Each credit provider has their own method of deciding the validity of a credit application. Most use credit scoring based on answers on the application form, some don't. Most use credit reports from the likes of Experian and Equafax, some don't.

 

When credit scoring is used the scoring method is wildly different between, not only competing credit suppliers, but also between products offered by a single supplier. This is why a lot of people experience the phenomenon of being turned down for Credit Card X, but being accepted by Credit Card Y - or walking out of one shop being refused and into the shop opposite and being accepted.

 

The credit decision should be based around your name only. No other persons credit history whether past/present residents or family members can effect the decision. if you have reason to believe that is the sole reason for refusal of credit then you have the right to appeal the decision.

 

If you obtain your credit report from Experian/Equafax and it contains adverse information about other individuals you can contact Experian/Equafax directly and get this data removed. If you have an incorrect adverse entry in your name you need to contact the creditor direct and ask them to contact the reference agency to get it removed.

[TechMonkey]

You may have friends who are bailiffs, but they are scumbags in they're day job. I'm sure estate agents are very nice people when they're down the pub...doesn't make they're day job any less odious.

 

This is a bit like saying all IT techs are lazy gets, who sit around playing games all day. There are bad uns and there are people who do the job to the best of their abilities and try and help out. Now not wanting to make this too personal but my dad did a stint when he was between jobs (although this would be about 30+ years ago). He would talk to the people and try and expalin what they should do, as often they were just confused or scared of what will happen and once explained it made it easier to comprehend. But there were the utter scum bags who had no intention of paying and those are the people that things had to go further with. I also think unfortunately running into too many of these people jade them and they forget that some people have ade a mistake and are trying their best. Much like we often do with pesky kids and silly teachers.

[torledo]

This is a bit like saying all IT techs are lazy gets, who sit around playing games all day. There are bad uns and there are people who do the job to the best of their abilities and try and help out. Now not wanting to make this too personal but my dad did a stint when he was between jobs (although this would be about 30+ years ago). He would talk to the people and try and expalin what they should do, as often they were just confused or scared of what will happen and once explained it made it easier to comprehend. But there were the utter scum bags who had no intention of paying and those are the people that things had to go further with. I also think unfortunately running into too many of these people jade them and they forget that some people have ade a mistake and are trying their best. Much like we often do with pesky kids and silly teachers.

 

So bailiffs are ok becuase you're dad was one for a while, and jcollings knows one or two.

 

As i said i'm sure they can do a good impression of being a normal person outside of they're 'job', but i would say the ones who use the 'softly softly we're here to help approach' are even worse. These people are trying to get money out of people, rightly or wrongly. They are cretins imo.

 

They're not there to help or to reassure the people who are being harrassed. There are plenty of jobs out there, some of it hard yakka, why not do one of a number of jobs rather than pester people for money.

 

I'll soften my stance and say that 99% of bailiffs and estate agents are scummers - the 1% are good enough people to realise they need to get out of the job/profession asap,

 

It's a very british attitude to say, 'oh but they're doing the job i'm sure there very nice people'. If i were on the receiving end of a telesales drone, or a team of bailifs playing good cop, bad cop or an estate agent who keeps ringing you up to try and get you interested in the properties that can't shift., i wouldn't give a monkeys about them doing they're job or if they're nice people...they are there to extort money out of people in most cases.

 

Gordon Brown is a loving father and husband i'm sure, and he's doing a difficuly job...but does that make him any less of a b£$t5rd for taxing people to the hilt. I'm sure he and his economic advisers have public services to pay for, but that doesn't excuse the actions. Similarly there's no excuse for being a bailiff - a person not doing anyone any favours in becoming one. It's a job with a quite substantial stigma attached to it. And much deserved it is.

 

the reason people are scared is becuase some boneheads (more often than not built like a brick craphouse) are banging on they're door at an ungodly hour...you tell me who is responsible for the distress caused to these people who are not responsible for the debt ??

Edited May 8, 2008 by torledo

[tmcd35]

This is a bit like saying all IT techs are lazy gets, who sit around playing games all day.

 

Or, All IT techs are lazy good for nothings who spend there days surfing the net and posting to the EduGeek Forums

[enjay]

they are there to extort money out of people in most cases.

 

Huh? Bailiffs are not extorting money out of anyone; they are trying to get money which someone owes, for example, on the electricity they have used for the last year, and not paid for. They cease goods to the value of the debt, and no more. Are you perhaps confusing bailiffs with loan sharks?

[enjay]

I was just a bit worried about the "Certified Bailiffs" letter. I wish I'd opened it now, but oh well.

 

I think that all bailiffs, whether they work for the courts or for a private business, must be certified in order to work. Kind of like gas engineers or electricians. Don't hold me to that though.

 

As for return-to-sender not working, you could try sending the letters back to the return address in a new envelope, possibly marking it 'returned mail' or something.

[localzuk]

One thing to note here is the harassment act. If a company contacts you twice about a matter after you have told them not to do so the first time then they are in breach of the Harassment Act. This doesn't apply if they are just letters being sent with someone else's name, but does apply if they phone you or turn up on your door step. And it applies to registered companies and their agents (so a debt collection agency would be the agent of a utility company, for example). So, if you receive any phone calls or people at your door then telling them once is all you need to do. Any more contact after that is illegal.

[torledo]

Huh? Bailiffs are not extorting money out of anyone; they are trying to get money which someone owes, for example, on the electricity they have used for the last year, and not paid for. They cease goods to the value of the debt, and no more. Are you perhaps confusing bailiffs with loan sharks?

 

The people who do tend to rack up these kind of debts are canny enough to know how to play the system...and how to avoid the bailiffs.

 

It's left to those unrelated to the debt to explain themselves to the chimps...

please don't try and make out they're all round good eggs who are chasing the bad guys...because the bad guys have already upped and left with no forwarding address, leaving the bailiffs to chase they're own tails.

 

As i said before, the debt collection agencies are working on behalf of companies and orgs who have only themselves to blame for not being more thorough in who they lend to. Let's not kid ourselves in thinking the bailiffs are doing a worthwhile and necessary service. How many CCJ's, unpaid bills have people racked up and still been able to carry on buying things on tick.

As i said it comes back to bite the irresponsible actions of the companies.

 

I know the difference between loan sharks and bailiffs and perhaps extort was a poor choice of words in that case.

[enjay]

@ localzuk re. Harrassment Act. Does that also apply to people from AccuRead who turn up trying to read an electricity meter which I have repeatedly told both them and the supplier no longer exists and doesn't relate to my property?

 

I have had 3 years of fun with that one - AccuRead say they can't discuss it because they are only there to read the meter, and the supplier won't talk to me because I'm not the account holder!

[localzuk]

@ localzuk re. Harrassment Act. Does that also apply to people from AccuRead who turn up trying to read an electricity meter which I have repeatedly told both them and the supplier no longer exists and doesn't relate to my property?

 

I have had 3 years of fun with that one - AccuRead say they can't discuss it because they are only there to read the meter, and the supplier won't talk to me because I'm not the account holder!

 

Well... It depends if it is reasonable. The crime of Harassment is defined as:

 

1Prohibition of harassment

(1)A person must not pursue a course of conduct—

(a)which amounts to harassment of another, and

(b)which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other.

(2)For the purposes of this section, the person whose course of conduct is in question ought to know that it amounts to harassment of another if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think the course of conduct amounted to harassment of the other.

(3)Subsection (1) does not apply to a course of conduct if the person who pursued it shows—

(a)that it was pursued for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime,

(b)that it was pursued under any enactment or rule of law or to comply with any condition or requirement imposed by any person under any enactment, or

©that in the particular circumstances the pursuit of the course of conduct was reasonable.

 

So, it is harassment unless, in this case, it can be described as reasonable. Your best bet is to send them a letter from a solicitor.

[enjay]

Thanks Localzuk. Considering how many times I've tried to tell the supplier, I would no longer describe it as reasonable. Recently, I've taken to just saying something like "it isn't here, but there's no point discussing it since you don't work for Utility Company X" and refusing to let the meter reader in. This came after I invited them in once and spent 10 minutes discussing the situation with him before he told me that all he could feed back to Utility Company X was that I had refused to show him the meter!

 

Solicitor's letters here we come...

[TechMonkey]

So bailiffs are ok becuase you're dad was one for a while, and jcollings knows one or two.

 

As i said i'm sure they can do a good impression of being a normal person outside of they're 'job', but i would say the ones who use the 'softly softly we're here to help approach' are even worse. These people are trying to get money out of people, rightly or wrongly. They are cretins imo.

 

They're not there to help or to reassure the people who are being harrassed. There are plenty of jobs out there, some of it hard yakka, why not do one of a number of jobs rather than pester people for money.

 

I'll soften my stance and say that 99% of bailiffs and estate agents are scummers - the 1% are good enough people to realise they need to get out of the job/profession asap,

 

It's a very british attitude to say, 'oh but they're doing the job i'm sure there very nice people'. If i were on the receiving end of a telesales drone, or a team of bailifs playing good cop, bad cop or an estate agent who keeps ringing you up to try and get you interested in the properties that can't shift., i wouldn't give a monkeys about them doing they're job or if they're nice people...they are there to extort money out of people in most cases.

 

Gordon Brown is a loving father and husband i'm sure, and he's doing a difficuly job...but does that make him any less of a b£$t5rd for taxing people to the hilt. I'm sure he and his economic advisers have public services to pay for, but that doesn't excuse the actions. Similarly there's no excuse for being a bailiff - a person not doing anyone any favours in becoming one. It's a job with a quite substantial stigma attached to it. And much deserved it is.

 

the reason people are scared is becuase some boneheads (more often than not built like a brick craphouse) are banging on they're door at an ungodly hour...you tell me who is responsible for the distress caused to these people who are not responsible for the debt ??

 

But you are missing the point. You are completely generalising I'm not saying all baliffs are ok as I know 4 tht are nice people and jc knows some. I am saying that not all bailiffs are the same. Some do the job well and aren't pushy or over bearing.

 

You seem unable to make a distinction between a person and a job, much like the kids do here. But from the looks of you have had some bad experiences (rightly or wrongly) and there is no changing your mind. You seem to hate them for being over bearing and terrorising people (as they all must do) but think the ones that try and be nice about it and help the people are worse. Eh? How does that work. Or is it that you just don't like the exchange of money? Yes their job is to get money, that's because someone has gotten goods or services and not fully paid for them. Following your logic all cashiers are bast*rd cretins, lets go down Tescos and burn the lot of em.

 

Why people do the jobs they do is a complete different story. I don't see why you would need an excuse to be a baliff. It's a job. Get over it. You may as well say all cops are corrupt power seeking hitlers, there's no reason for them being in that job they shoudl do somethign else. Or the same reasoning for any other job that someone has a dislike for. Traffic wardens aren't exaclty loved and there are a fair proportion that are gets but they do a job.

 

& how are they extorting money out of people. The people owe the money so it isn't theirs. If everyone paid their debts then there wouldn't be a problem.

 

A really bizzare attitude

[Guest Guest]

I think that all bailiffs, whether they work for the courts or for a private business, must be certified in order to work.

 

You may be right but that doesnt stop them bing scummy people. I watched a program a while ago about iirc security firms. They needed certifying but that didnt stop a good portion of them being "ex"-conmen and criminals. Even in my own village we had a security firm set up, but in reality it was no differant to a mafia protection racket with everything which went with it.

 

Anyway my point is being certified by the cretins we call our government and their agencies doesnt mean shat.

[enjay]

I wasn't trying to say that being certified had anything to do with (not) being scummy - is was meant purely in response to Zoom7000's concerns that it might mean they were the kind of bailiffs who were allowed to break into houses.

 

Anyway - shall we move away from the 'are they or aren't they w**kers?' debate, before someone goes and says something (even more) libellous and gets DosBox and co (plus themselves) in some trouble??

[torledo]

But you are missing the point. You are completely generalising I'm not saying all baliffs are ok as I know 4 tht are nice people and jc knows some. I am saying that not all bailiffs are the same. Some do the job well and aren't pushy or over bearing.

 

You seem unable to make a distinction between a person and a job, much like the kids do here. But from the looks of you have had some bad experiences (rightly or wrongly) and there is no changing your mind. You seem to hate them for being over bearing and terrorising people (as they all must do) but think the ones that try and be nice about it and help the people are worse. Eh? How does that work. Or is it that you just don't like the exchange of money? Yes their job is to get money, that's because someone has gotten goods or services and not fully paid for them. Following your logic all cashiers are bast*rd cretins, lets go down Tescos and burn the lot of em.

 

Why people do the jobs they do is a complete different story. I don't see why you would need an excuse to be a baliff. It's a job. Get over it. You may as well say all cops are corrupt power seeking hitlers, there's no reason for them being in that job they shoudl do somethign else. Or the same reasoning for any other job that someone has a dislike for. Traffic wardens aren't exaclty loved and there are a fair proportion that are gets but they do a job.

 

& how are they extorting money out of people. The people owe the money so it isn't theirs. If everyone paid their debts then there wouldn't be a problem.

 

A really bizzare attitude

 

the 'nice' ones are worse becuase it's completely disingenous....it tends to be a good cop, bad cop routine whereby they'll try the 'you're confused..we'll help to sort out the confusion don't worry ' tack, and if that doesn't work the idle threats will come.

 

I can distinguish between a job and the individual...but it begs the question as to what kind of person would want to become a bailif - other than to throw they're weight around and get a kick out of the faux authority.

 

you cannot always seperate the man or woman and the job they do. I think it says a lot about them what they choose to do to earn a crust.

 

As i've said there are tons of jobs out there, i know if it were me i'd have trouble sleeping at night if that was what i did day in day out. Read my later post as to why it's not just about collecting money from wastrels who refuse to pay....how effective are these little hitlers in recovering money and assets from those who are liable, as i said those who don't pay they're bills as tenants know how to play the system - it is not them who are being punished.

 

When you're father did the job it was a very different era, different cirumstances i'd imagine.

[Zoom7000]

Got another Debt Collection letter today. I opened it up, final request for an £814 bill to T-Mobile before starting court proceedings. How do you rack up £814 on T-Mobile without getting cut off?

 

Anyway, a quick call telling them I have no idea who the addressed person is and that I have no forwarding contact or any other info, and I got a "Thank you and we will ensure you don't get any more letters."

 

He did say they will try to find him elsewhere. Either way, that should be one problem sorted. I'm opening them all from now on, seems to work better than "Return to Sender"