I am a single mother and a couple of years ago I received a fine for not having a TV Licence, I was taken to court and agreed to a weekly payment plan of £12 per week. I missed three payments at three separate times over a nine month period and upon the third missed payment the debt was passed to private bailiffs, without notifying me, even though I only had £36 of the fine still outstanding.
A bailiff arrived outside my house at 6am one morning and began pounding on the door with his fist; I answer the door and he demanded an immediate payment of £507, as £471 had been added onto the balance for bailiff fees. I refused to let him in and shut and locked the door, he then shouted through the letterbox that he would be returning with a locksmith to break open my door and remove my goods, and he posted a Notice of Enforcement. My children were upset and I was in tears, I spoke to a relative later that day who contacted debttactics.co.uk for me, they got straight back to me and the paperwork was very simple and easy to understand, they quickly pointed out several rules and regulations that the bailiff had broken during his visit.
A letter was sent that evening via recorded delivery to the bailiff’s firm, placing the account into dispute, the bailiff didn’t return and further enforcement visits were stopped. The bailiff’s firm replied a few days later and stated a completely different version of events than those that had occurred and the bailiff denied any wrongdoing.
After several weeks the complaint was escalated to the bailiff firm’s regulating body and around three months later the regulator although dismissing several points due to lack of evidence they decided that the bailiff had overcharged fees, his firm was requested to pay me £50 compensation and return the debt to the creditor, which they did.
Victoria C
