Baliff letters...

[max_tranmere]

I keep getting bailiff letters sent to my flat, addressed to someone who apparently didn't pay their council tax in a property they lived in ages ago in another London borough. I am not remotely concerned as I'm not liable to pay the debt, only the person named is liable (I've never heard of him), but it was interesting what I was told when I phoned the bailiff's to tell them I've never heard of the person on the letter and therefore they are wasting their time sending stuff here. They said I should just ignore the letters, they can't not force entry, so nothing will happen, and they will continue to send them/hand deliver them, until that Council (it is the next borough over from where I live) instruct them to stop doing so.

Here's what's interesting: the letter arrives and it says "by hand" on the envelope and part of the letter says "you were not in when we called". I usually am, and the person just puts it through the letter box and walks off - presumably telling the council in question that they banged on the door. They don't, and I'm guessing this bailiff company couldn't care less whether the debt is ever collected because they get paid each time they pop a letter through my door. I've heard of people having bailiff's visit them for an unpaid parking ticket which is ?80.00. The bailiff company will want that paid, and ?400.00 (four hundred quid) from the person for the collection. So these bailiff firms aren't cheap. I've had about a dozen threatening letters through my door, all addressed to someone I've never heard of who apparently didn't pay their Council Tax in a borough that I've never lived in, but I would imagine the bailiff firm is charging big money to this council to drop these letters round (and to supposedly try and contact the person face to face, even though they never knock on my door just put the letter through).

So a dozen or more letters, and they will keep coming until the Council in question tells them to stop doing it. I wouldn't be surprised if the bailiff firm has billed this Council thousands of pounds over the last month or two, hundreds of pounds for each time one of their people comes round. If that Council, or the bailiff's, bothered to investigate (deeds of ownership on my property, electoral role, who is registered for bills, etc) they will see this person hasn't lived here for ages - if he ever did. My point here is that this is probably going on all over the place and local councils are paying out millions of pounds a year nationwide for things like this, while slashing services to their residents because they (apparently) have a tight budget. This is one of the worst cases of local authority wastage I've heard of. I am sure I will get a dozen more letters in the coming months, and the council tax payers in the borough in question will be paying this bailiff company loads more money.

The whole thing is ridiculous. Has anyone else on here had a similar experience of something like this?

[jimslip]

"The whole thing is ridiculous. Has anyone else on here had a similar experience of something like this?"

Be careful with this as I found after a similar experience that my actual address had been given a "Bad credit rating" due to someone who had lived there before and defaulted on a loan and ended on a register. The powers that be said, "Oh no credit isn't linked to an address anymore only to the person!". All the same I found I was being refused credit on stupid stuff like a mobile phone when I gave that address, when I gave another address, ie my office, it went through fine.

Luckily I moved away and have never had any trouble since, maybe it was all coincidence?

[RoddersUK]

Write to the Council concerned and threaten to put the matter in the hands of your solicitor if they don't inform the BB's (Bailiff Bastards) that the defaulter is not at your address. I have scant regard for any Council as they are manned by fucking useless selfish power mad bastard jobworths.
Councillors on the other hand can be voted in and out. Consequently, I suppose you could contact your local Councillor and explain to them and ask them to set the wheels in motion viz a viz Council to Council.

[JamesW]

"I'm guessing this bailiff company couldn't care less whether the debt is ever collected because they get paid each time they pop a letter through my door."

"I wouldn't be surprised if the bailiff firm has billed this Council thousands of pounds over the last month or two, hundreds of pounds for each time one of their people comes round."

The above statements are both untrue.

Bailiffs get paid when they collect the debt, charging all costs to the unfortunate person who is being forced to pay up.

Bailiffs may indeed get paid for each letter they deliver, but by the person who ultimately pays the debt, not by the council.

Only in an unsuccessful case (where the debt simply can't be recovered) does the bailiff get paid by the council and it would typically be around ?50 per case. This is normally known as a booking fee or a failure fee.

This explains why bailiffs are known to be persistent and/or aggressive in pursuing debtors, as in the event of failure they receive only around ?50, but in the event of success they can whack high charges on to the final bill at the expense of the person they have been chasing.

Councils who are paying bailiffs thousands of pounds per case is something that only exists in max's imagination. Indeed, in the event of a successful collection the council pays nothing.

[Robches]

You have to remember that there are two types of money, your money and public money. Public money doesn't count because it grows on trees. There's always enough for another climate change co-ordinator.

[max_tranmere]

Interesting comments there. I would be surprised if the baillif company didn't charge the Council in question a small fortune each time they come round with a letter. Think how much just a call-out is for a contractor, which excludes the work they will do, that is always high, and also (as I mentioned before) when they come to collect an outstanding parking ticket they bill you hundreds of pounds for the collection.

I have a pile of these letters, addressed to someone I've genuinely never heard of. Some with 'REMOVAL NOTICE' emblazened across the letter, others with 'TAKE FORMAL NOTICE'. Its strange how this shit arrives through your letter box, yet when you phone them and say you've never heard of this person, can prove you are the current occupier and that you are NOT him, they say "just ignore the letters, we can't force entry". They also go on to say: "we'll keep sending the letters until that Council tells us to stop". Nice little earner (or rather quite big earner) for the Baillifs.

[JamesW]

"I would be surprised if the baillif company didn't charge the Council in question a small fortune each time they come round with a letter."


As already explained, all bailiff costs are charged to the debtor, not the council.