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General => General discussion => Topic started by: Pez on 02 May 2013, 10:18

Title: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: Pez on 02 May 2013, 10:18
Just woke up to a bailiff sat in my front room (my naive mother let him in) demanding £400 for an unpaid fog light fine from 4 years ago. Firstly he threatened to call the police to arrest me and take me directly to the magistrates at which point i started laughing at him, then he started saying he was going to seize my car which is registered in my dads name. At this point i started to panic a little bit because it was my beloved golf. Ended up forking out the £400 which isn't how i wanted it to go but yeah. Could he have done either of those things or do you think they are just scare tactics?
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: damien010685 on 02 May 2013, 10:27
Sounds like scare tactics did he even have legit ID!!!And why was he alone?
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: barrym381 on 02 May 2013, 10:34
i would have just thrown him out the house  :smiley: but then you did get the fine but he sounded like a right c**t
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: spikenipple on 02 May 2013, 10:54
The very first thing you should have done was asked to see his warrant. No warrant, no legal basis to be on your property. If they had your address but you hadn't received any letters giving you fair notice to the attendance of a bailiff, they also have no grounds to hassle you.
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: Kobe on 02 May 2013, 10:56
Sounds like scare tactics did he even have legit ID!!!And why was he alone?

^^ This.......... I had this problem when i lived in a house share for a unpaid phone bill dating back to 2007, which had been paid but the collection company hadn't been updated on. All he done was list my belongings, didnt add my car or laptop as i needed both for work and college commitments. He shouldn't of took any money or forced you in anyway, He should of talked you though the process of whats going to happen next, Set up a direct debit and so on, he also has to list the possible possessions to take if it wasn't paid in full or you failed a direct debit.

Sounds a bit shady to me.

Mine was sorted after a few weeks after showing bank statements and various documents as proof.

Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: Jimble on 02 May 2013, 10:57
Or.... You could have just paid the fine in the first place and avoided having a bailiff in your house altogether? :rolleyes:
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: Wayne on 02 May 2013, 11:00
I would not have paid out £400 without knowing the full story or finding out more :undecided:
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: Kerrse on 02 May 2013, 12:43
If the car is not in your name he could not go anywhere near it but to be honest could be worse you could have a ccj if you haven't already as baliffs are involved, never worth leaving fines unpaid !
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: Thom89 on 02 May 2013, 13:29
Sounds like he was good at his job! Arrived, got paid, left... Result!

Thom
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: kodkod.84 on 02 May 2013, 18:39
A fine for having fog lights on- what's wrong with just a good bollocking?
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: Egbutt Wash on 02 May 2013, 20:07
A fine for having fog lights on- what's wrong with just a good bollocking?

I thought a fog light fine was a few tenners.  Not a few hundreds.
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: mcgee9t2 on 02 May 2013, 22:01
A fine for having fog lights on- what's wrong with just a good bollocking?

I thought a fog light fine was a few tenners.  Not a few hundreds.

my guess is it started off as say £50 and then went up for being left and because its been so long its ended up at that. however £400 still seems high!
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: Mitching on 02 May 2013, 22:04
A fine for having fog lights on- what's wrong with just a good bollocking?

I thought a fog light fine was a few tenners.  Not a few hundreds.

my guess is it started off as say £50 and then went up for being left and because its been so long its ended up at that. however £400 still seems high!
Yeah I agree, Bailiff fancied commission maybe?

OP got mugged.
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: MrBounce on 02 May 2013, 23:25
Driving with fogights on can be construed as driving without due care and attention. That can be up to £1000 fine.

Most likely to be a fixed penalty though - usually £60.
Title: Re: Anyone know anything about bailiffs?
Post by: Gavv8 on 03 May 2013, 19:41
Civil fines never go away, better just to pay up in the first instance.