Bills

Hi everyone,

for the past few weeks now have been having these bailiffs knock on the door demanding payment of £350 for an unpayed seatbelt fine, the fine was only £60 to start with, but they passed it onto bailiffs.
Rang the courts and couldnt pay the fine was with the bailiffs now. Spoke to someone who told me if i pay it on the courts website would still go through for the fine alone and all i would owe is bailiff fee`s which on there own are not enforcable so i can tell them do one
Was feeling quite chuffed about this untill meter reader comes and takes a meter reading and updates the outstanding bill to just over £300 - just what i had saved from not having to pay bailiff!!! and it had to be payed to coz they were threatening legal action too

Good job the BnQ sale was last week and not next :WINK1:

 

Thanks Marley

Im not angry about it though, the elecy i owe anyway and the seatbelt fine wasnt mine. Its just sods law almost the exact same i save on one bill, another comes through the door for the same ammount, Its like they are all in on it together

 

It seems that way, had a tax rebate a few years back so the revenue sent me a bill for the exact same amount

 

Mrs Scrungee takes a note of the meter readings every week so there's no nasty surprises, and also takes actual readings at change of tarif dates - it's no surprise that the suppliers estimated readings are always in their favour when we check them and get the bill changed.

Several years ago we used to hide from the meter reader because we were with the supplier that gave Tesco Clubcard points on their energy, and if you got an estimated bill then another with customer readings you got Clubcard Points on both bills! It took them a couple of years to sort that glitch out.

 

First things first, lets ask the debt collection agency to supply the court case reference for the hearing that led to the enforcement order. If you £60, and the court says so, then you owe £60 unless the court rules that whoever you owe it to can apply additional charges for enforcement. Asking for that case ref will usually buy you a bit of time because debt collection agencies rely entirely on intimidation, and you shake them up a bit by even hinting that you might know your legal rights.

As for the leccy company, just phone them. Tell them you're skint but you will pay them. Most likely they will negotiate a plan where you pay a bit each month.

Above all else, don't panic, and don't bury your head in the sand. I know its easy to just get brain freeze under the pressure, but it will make life a lot easier for you if you talk to those that are chasing you and negotiate something.

 

tell the bailiffs to buzz off and don't sign anything and don't let them into your house

tell them to tell their client that you wish to contest and to appear in court

you won't hear from the bailiffs again ... and if you do appear in court (which I very much doubt), plead stupidity and poverty and you will end up paying back £5 a month

 

What ever the problem; what I love about GC is there's always someone "at the bar" ready to have a drink with you. Hydrogen, many people in the EEC ,including my daughter in Ireland are struggling right now. Too many for the AUTHORITIES to shake a big stick at - they are just lashing out in panic I think.
Stay calm and always be polite and think of your coolest blooms and all will be well in the end. Try not to be tempted into anymore "end of season" plant purchases,
take care,
Jenny

 

lmao thats exactly what i was thinking Jenny, although not sure i will be able to stick to that last one....plants or bills hmmmm ive never heard of bailiffs taking plants so if i only buy plants from now on and nothing else im sorted

 

I've had a few bailiffs around a few years back when I was skint ....

I researched forums (there are loads of forums that deal specifically with debt and bailiffs etc) ...

and have 1st hand experience of their antics, and know what they are and are not allowed to do ....

and it's sad .... they try to take money and items when they know you don't have any .... a sad job and don't think I would be able to do that work ....

but large coroprations such as banks can be in debt and it's fine?

I ended up paying my bills so as to try and clear my credit history, so bear that in mind .... with bad credit you will even find it difficult to open a current account nowadays)

 

I wrote to Barclaycard & told em I was skint but due a VAT refund, offered to pay them £10 a month till I could get back on my feet.

They wrote back & said thats fine, I could have 5 months grace as long as I made the £10 a month on time. They also stopped charging me interest for the period

Wrote to the Bank of Ireland credit card saying the same thing, they just phoned me up & said "WE KNOW WHERE YEW LIVE"

 

They were rather polite to be honest Dim, although i have come accross the nasty ones before when they threatened to clear a friend of mines house out when she was a week or 2 before giving birth, she tried to explain that and i heard the bailiff say on the phone "oh good then we will take everything out the babies room too!"! She payed hundreds and the original debt was tiny, think that was down to the local friendly patient council.

There was a programme on a while ago about a realy nasty bailiff they had an undercover reporter working with him it was shocking! I think they depend on psychological tactics to get there payments most the time, or simple bully boy tactics what ever they think they can get away with really. I know loads of people who have payed bailiffs because of empty threats they have made, but when they are on your door step and the closest thing to legal advice you can hope for is a 3 hour wait in citizens advice and the bailiffs know this...

 

I nearly had blows .... they make sure that they come when the kids are home (after 16h00) .... then bang on the door .... they work in pairs

bang on my door without ringing the doorbell when it's in full vision, then I get into a bad mood .... if I open the door, and there are 2 twenty year olds abusing me .... before even asking questions?

they wanted to phone the police and the locksmith as I was ready to throw punches... told them to phone prince charles .... never heard from them after that