Many people in the UK pile up substantial debts for one or the
other reason. The situation becomes demanding when creditors turn to the court
to recover their dues. In many such cases, the court serves a notice of
enforcement through the bailiff. If you’ve received one such notice, you may
want to stop the bailiff from taking actions.
How to stop bailiffs from acting on the notice of enforcement?
A bailiff’s actions are highly annoying and undesirable. In most
cases, the bailiff may take away your belongings in exchange for the debts.
However, you may prevent the bailiff from taking such actions in various ways.
Check the notice for validity
When you get a notice, find out whether it’s valid or not. Ensure
that your name and address are properly printed. Also, check the kind of debt
and the amount mentioned on the notice. If there’s any mistake, you may keep
the bailiff from taking any action and ask him to serve the right notice. That
should give you ample time to take the right action.
Ensure that the notice comes from the bailiff
Many creditors send the notice through a debt collector. If this
is the case, you can send the debt collector right away. Debt collectors don’t
have the powers as bailiffs. They can’t visit your home and pick up your
belongings.
Check the visit time
Bailiffs can’t visit your home anytime to act on the enforcement
notice. Rather, they’ve to follow certain rules properly. If the bailiff visits
your home after 6 pm, you can tell him to go away and come back during the
permitted hours from 9 am to 6 pm.
Consult a lawyer
If you owe debts, you’ll have to pay your creditors sooner or
later. So why not take suitable steps to settle your dues amicably? This is
where a lawyer steps in to resolve your hassles. A reliable attorney will study
your case and prepare the best course of action. He’ll ensure that you come out
of the case with minimum hassles. Your lawyer may also offer help on settling
your dues with a favorable repayment plan.
Final thoughts
A bailiff visiting your home to act on the notice of enforcement
can take a heavy toll on your daily life. However, you may avoid such a scene
by acting intelligently. Follow the above tips to keep the bailiff from taking
any action. Plus, call a reliable lawyer to take care of the issue.
Before a bailiff’s staff visit, they must first send a notice of
enforcement. The notice of enforcement provides details of the process and
authorities of action. It will be sent to the recipient through email, post or
hand delivery. The notification must be sent seven days or more before the
visit, if the days are less, then you have a legal right to complain. The visit
should be specified for your home or work if anywhere else, the bailiff will
also need a court order in addition to the notice of enforcement.
The notice of enforcement must have the following characteristics:
Correct information
Correct document delivery
Correct notice period
If these principles are not met, you can file a written or oral
complaint to the bailiff office, after which they can take appropriate measures
of action, such as reissuing the notice or delaying the notice period. This can
increase your time to pay off the debt.
Make sure you know the specific day of the visit.
After receiving a notice of enforcement from a bailiff, seven days
period or more must elapse before the actual visit. The day the notification is
sent is not included in the seven-day frame, the day of the visit is also not
part of these days, Sundays and other holidays. In an example, if you receive
the notice on a Monday, a bailiff cannot visit until Wednesday of the following
week.
Dealing with the notice
After receiving a notice of enforcement from a bailiff in your
house, email or post, and ensuring it meets all the requirements. You should
try as much as possible to pay off the debt and prevent the bailiff visit. If
it’s impossible to pay the debt immediately or within the notice period. You should
try and seek some advice from a debt counselling service provider. The biggest
mistake could be ignoring the notice, as this could end you in a bigger debt
for bailiff fees and cost, plus the debt.
Conclusion
Most of the
bailiffs are employed by private firms, although the debt you owe is of the
government or a debt council. A private institution uses the bailer who will
visit in most cases, make sure to verify their identity through ID cards,
certificate or bandages before you let them in your property. You should also
feel free to complain to the organization you owe or the company he/she works
for if the right procedures and legal obligations are not followed.
