Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away!

Rincewindle said:
The simple answer is you just dont open the door to them.

They cant break down your door.

Climb through window etc.

Even if you do make a mistake and open the door to them just close it again they cant force there way past you to get inside.

That program makes me laugh how much it is edited in favour of them.

It never shows the times they turn up at properties and are told to go do one by someone that knows not to answer the door to them.
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If they're there to evict you, then yes they can very much break down the door to get you out. If it's just a debt collection then no they can't break in - only make a peaceful entry. However they are allowed to seize goods that are outside of your property. So a lot of them will check the car to ensure it's not financed, and then clamp that.


I quite enjoy watching this program, and like the OP one case that made me wonder the same thing was some guy who owed some money moved back in with his Dad. Que the HCEOs turning up at his dads place and threatening to take stuff away unless he can prove the items are his and not his sons. His response was that a lot of the stuff in his house is 10-20 years old and he wouldn't have any form of ownership documentation.


One episode had a classic example of where this turned against them. They were sent to collect a debt of something like 0.5 million, and turned up at this rather large house (maybe 8-10 bedrooms),I think there was a Ferrari and a Lamborghini on the drive, and with no-one answering the door, they seized both cars. Turns out they didn't actually belong to the debtor and the cars had to be returned - i would assume the HCEO's had to cover the costs for seizure and return delivery.
 
I bet they dont go anywhere near tower hamlets at risk of being chased by the whole neighbourhood or what not, or a gun... a gun probably stops them as well.
 
If you live in a busy street with no off street parking how on earth do they know which car is yours? They can't just assume it's the one parked outside your house because a lot of people have to park in any space they can find.
 
Hades said:
If you live in a busy street with no off street parking how on earth do they know which car is yours? They can't just assume it's the one parked outside your house because a lot of people have to park in any space they can find.
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I Can't remember if they already had the full details of any vehicles that was in my name..
 
Hades said:
If you live in a busy street with no off street parking how on earth do they know which car is yours? They can't just assume it's the one parked outside your house because a lot of people have to park in any space they can find.
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One episode i'd seen had this exact situation.

They knew who the debtor was and what he looked like. So they camped outside near his house, and the bloke came out, got in his car and i assume went off to the shops. He was back 30 mins later or so, which i guess gave them reasonable assumption that the car was his, so threatened to seize it.
 
Hotwired said:
How would you prefer someone to get money you've owed them for ages and refused to pay up?

The letters and asking nicely to pay what you owe clearly isn't working.

Maybe they should just forget about it?
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What if you DON'T have the money?

Most of the cases on this programme have already been through the county court and been found to have no money to pay, or offered payment plans etc. It's the greedy creditor who has upgraded to the High Court, and the debtor having to beg and borrow money just proves they can't afford to pay it rather than they just don't want to pay it.

dowie said:
Put the keyboard down, I'm pretty sure they're used to dealing with people kicking off and are generally quite calm and good at managing them. They're also quite likely able to look after themselves + there will tend to be two of them! Not sure you'd do time per say but you could find yourself restrained, the police called and them entering your property regardless just with even more embarrassment in front of the neighbours.
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Police are only there to keep the peace, bailiffs always threaten to get the police to scare you into letting them in. The debt is a civil matter therefore the police can't make you allow the bailiff entry. Yes you could be arrested if you assault the bailiff but he still isn't getting in.

Evangelion said:
Or you could just pay your ******* bills in the first place, like a decent person.
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Who are you, a pompous Daily Mail reading git?

Not everyone who falls into debt is due to them deciding not to pay just for the hell of it. Redundancy, ill health, loads of factors why people can suddenly no longer afford their debts.

Brizzles said:
Yeh, nothing worse than someone who gets injured/through illness can't work and keep up repayments.

should have got a crystal ball, like decent people :rolleyes:
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+1 this.
 
LeeUK said:
Police are only there to keep the peace, bailiffs always threaten to get the police to scare you into letting them in. The debt is a civil matter therefore the police can't make you allow the bailiff entry. Yes you could be arrested if you assault the bailiff but he still isn't getting in.
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The rozzer in this one is brilliant! And the bald angry looking bailiff can hardly contain his wanting to punch everyone.
 
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Moses said:
You made a stupid point. Just take the ownage and move on with your life.
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Right.. making a comment that spending thousands on electrical good when you're in rent arrears is 'making a stupid point'?

You're the one making the stupid observation here, 'oh but the fekless family might have budgeted carefully and chosen two very cheap 50 inch TVs' - as if someone who was carefully budgeting and had no savings would make sure to buy a second massive one for the bedroom too. It just doesn't make sense, note I mentioned in the previous post there were plenty of other electrical goods present.
 
LeeUK said:
Police are only there to keep the peace, bailiffs always threaten to get the police to scare you into letting them in. The debt is a civil matter therefore the police can't make you allow the bailiff entry. Yes you could be arrested if you assault the bailiff but he still isn't getting in.
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Thy're high court enforcement officers so they will be getting in and you'll be committing a criminal offence if you obstruct them. They can break the door down if necessary.
 
muon said:
I watched that episode. The kid offered for them to go through his room if they wanted, however they didn't take him up on that offer. The HCEOs never at any point said they would only take stuff they could prove was his.
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You're right, it was him and his family saying it and I now remember the Dad bringing proof of car ownership. That was a classic piece of TV, the 90 year old Uncle wanting to take the Bailiffs out for a fight :D

So how did he get a £2600 bill for a Van rental for a day? He rang the hire company and said he'd left it somewhere and it took them 2 weeks to find it - idiot.
It was also revealed he had another £20,000 debt which I think was drug related.
 
dowie said:
Thy're high court enforcement officers so they will be getting in and you'll be committing a criminal offence if you obstruct them. They can break the door down if necessary.
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As mentioned earlier only in eviction cases, if its debt collection and especially if the property doesnt belong to the debtor then castle doctrine applies as their warrent doesnt give them rights to force entry.

Besides, theyd need to be able to prove theyre legit, i imagine posing as bailiffs must be a fun theiving tactic and i'd certainly be assuming that until i'd been given time to establish their identity as legit.
 
It really annoys me on this show when you get family's or tenants that half the time are obviously on benefits and get housing benefit etc and can stay in a property for sometimes 10 months paying no rent before they get turfed out and then what happens? they go straight down the council office get re housed and start the whole process all over again!
This is how most of them seem to live a decent life because they walk away owing thousands in rent without so much as a slap on the wrist. :mad:
 
adolf hamster said:
As mentioned earlier only in eviction cases, if its debt collection and especially if the property doesnt belong to the debtor then castle doctrine applies as their warrent doesnt give them rights to force entry.

Besides, theyd need to be able to prove theyre legit, i imagine posing as bailiffs must be a fun theiving tactic and i'd certainly be assuming that until i'd been given time to establish their identity as legit.
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Well evictions is what a decent portion of the cases no the show involve along with a fair few cases where they're collecting from businesses. There seem to be a few where they're just chasing a debt but in lots of those they seem to make sure the door doesn't get closed or get themselves invited in or simply target the cars on the driveway if they're not under finance.

Obstructing them is a criminal offence - the comments from posters that they'd kick off etc.. would likely land them in trouble with the police.
 
People just need to make decisions more carefully and not jump into contracts e.t.c. The length of some of these contracts now are disgusting not to mention about the very high rate of charges.

I have just watched an episode where a woman said it cost her 4K just to burry someone. That's horrible thing to pay for at that cost.
 
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