A question about : frightening experience.. please help
hi
sorry burden anyone with this but just desperately needed some advice.
yesterday a bailiff turned up at my house out of the blue, i came out of the house and closed the door. i asked him outside what it was about and he said it was to do with a parking penalty in london for my partner from last november. i phoned my partner and fortunately he was near home as he is usually working away from home. my partner didnt know anything about this debt and as he is away from home i usually pass on the mail to him so i think would have noticed a suspicous envelope from the courts etc. i asked the man to wait outside for my partner and as i tried to enter my own house he barged past me into it knocking my plant pot on the floor .. which he said i smashed it .
he said he had to come in to sieze all the things in my house. when my partner arrived he straight away called the police as he didnt have any paper warrent .. just something on his handheld computer thing to show us. when the police arrived they said it was legit what he was doing.
the vehicle in question was a hire van , my parnter telephone the hire van person who runs a small business hiring vans , he said he hadnt heard anything about this matter and would back him up 100% if he want to appeal this. i wondered how he got my partners details without going through the hire man but my partner had actually only recently bought the van off the man.(in the last 3 months) so i can only think it was traced this way. anyway my partner is seeking a solicitor to stand up to these people and how this can happen out of the blue .. you can imagine how vunerable we felt.
my real question is this.
the things in my house he was looking at were things for my business as i make and sell fabric items at craft fairs and online. ie my sewing machine, computer etc, and i wondered what else he was going to eye up .. the stock iv made up to sell ? my art books,
this has all made me feel very vunerable , it isnt even my debt .. can they take my business stuff to pay for my partners debts?
we dont have any other fancy gadgets all the mod cons are old things i.e old style tele, sterio etc so i can only think he would go for my possessions of my business . I told the police they were my stuff but they said if they were purchased at this household then he would have the right to take the stuff.
in the end my partners friend brought 855.00 to clear the debt, but the whole episode has left us in a state of shock. Im wondering why im trying to work on a business which now feels like it isnt really mine. im just worried sick if anything like this happens again.
hoping someone can give some advice.
Best answers:
- If you bought the van after the parking offence, then the bill belonged to the previous owner IMHO.
- So, you showed them the receipt for the van purchase which was evidently 3 months after the ticket?
- thankyou for your reasurrance, but unfortunately i dont feel reasurred.
in the past 2 years fines have been coming out of the blue for my partner although this has been the most serious case so far. my partner has been seriously ill over the last 2 years and yet been trying to work inbetween as well as suffering from depression. i can only think this is the reason why these things have been happening. what i didnt realise as i work from home they can come in and take my business stock to pay for his debts. this i why i want to be prepared.
although he has been trying hard not to get into any more of these situations , he has said he knew nothing about this one from last november apparently the penalty was given , and like i said before i would have freaked if id have witnessed a court letter coming to the house.
i just feel i need to be more prepared and know my rights for peace of mind if im ever in this situation again. - There must have been a few court letters before a baliff arrived.
- When we were trying to recover money that the court hda awarded us, we were told the bailiffs are not allowed to seize anything that someone uses in the course of their business. I don't know if this has changed though.
- Anything that belongs to a business in a case such as this cannot be taken by a bailiff.
Anything belonging to children cannot be taken.
Also anything belonging to you cannot be taken to pay someone else's debt off. - bailiffs can only remove /levy goods belonging to the debtor
they cant under any circumstances remove a child's toys /goods
they cant remover tools of the trade
if you are worried go to a solicitor and get a statutory declaration done
I would also suggest you join this site
https://www.pepipoo.com/ - https://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/
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