Hi I wondered if you could help me, please. My carer today spoke with my electricity company and asked to remove the pre-payment meters I have at my home. The electricity company asked to perform a credit check on myself. I did not agree to the credit check and the electricity company did not ask me permission, only asking my Carer to give permission. I believed there are strict rules about credit checks being performed and the company should have asked to speak to myself. Can anyone please confirm if this is correct? Thank you.

Thanks Brigadier and everyone else who took the time to respond! Thank you also to Ploddertom for his posting about Devon and Cornwall's Police Force policy on Bailliffs. I cannot link it as I'm only a junior on here, but it's at the top of the main index. Anyone reading this thread and in a similar situation should have a read of it, it contains everything you need to know and you should perhaps print it off and keep it by your locked front door. All the best to you all. Anton

Hi there everyone, The debt is 5 years old, it will be 6 years old at the end of this year (October). I think the ex-landlord is having 'one final gasp of breathe' to try and get his money before it becomes statute barred; money he isn't actually owed, either (see below). The police gave me a crime reference number but yes, they reminded me that it's a civil matter and that they would only attend in person if there was a breach of the peace. I told them that my client is a man living alone with schizophrenia and is considered vulnerable and they said that the bailiffs/HCEOs still had a right to collect money irrespective of any mental illness of the debtor and that baillifs have a hard job to do and often hear these types of 'excuses' to wriggle out of facing up to one's debts. This response I find truly astonishing. This rogue landlord has emailed me stating a brick would be thrown through the window and the bailiffs would break in and cart this gentleman off in handcuffs and he'd be committed to prison. * * Deep breathe * * My feeling from having watched recently The Sherriffs are Coming and having seen some of these bailiffs/HCEOs at work is that the police's response to me does not seem to be the same attitude of the police portrayed in these programmes. My solicitor phoned me this morning and has advised me that no HCEO/bailiff, no matter what he might say, can enter a previously-unentered dwelling-house (unless a window or door is left open or he is explicitly invited in by the occupant). This message has been repreated by many good people on these forums too. However, I suspect that this particular TV programme is very much biased towards the bailiff/HCEO. I can see that these bailiffs/HCEOs rely on intimidation and fear: making as much noise and causing as much alarm when outside those peoples' properties. No doubt they've travelled miles and they hear all sorts of excuses and they just want to go for the Short-Sharp-Shock tactic to get their money and, more importantly, their fees. Whether or not they have limited rights of entry, these men seem to think they can say what they like and the debtor will believe it to be true. However, this won't be the case if this rogue landlord does find my client's new home address and sends any hardened bailiff/HCEO round to try and enforce this fabricated debt, because my client simply won't answer the door and there is nothing on the driveway or in the locked garden area of any value (unless moss-covered garden gnomes are of value to bailiffs?). I do feel that the ex-landlord's email was abusive given the polite and conciliatory email I sent him, so I'm going to escalate it to the Chief Constable of the local constabulary, and see what happens. I have access to my client's bank statements going back 6 years and it turns out he owes nothing like the £12,500 that was stated in the CCJ; more like £2,500. I spoke to my client this morning and although he was very distressed and confused about the whole situation and still believes that there's going to be a knock on his door any day, he did manage to say to me the words "An Englishman's home is his castle. I'm not going to be letting anyone in, other than you" so your advice given here has certainly helped him. He lives many, many miles away from the ex-landlord in an entirely different part of the country too, so at least the distance is reassuring to him. He's not on the Electoral Register and doesn't have a bank account that would show up on a credit search at any address so I think he should be pretty undetectable should this person try and trace him. Thanks everyone! best wishes Anton

Hi Brigadier, thanks, that's a very good idea. Surfboy, thanks also. He has asked me about getting a CCTV installed to monitor people coming and going, so I will organise that for him. What would a bailiff do if this gentleman simply refused to open the door and refused to speak to them on every visit? My client doesn't answer the door even to the postman or milkman, this is because of his illness and his fears, and so he's hardly likely to speak to a bailiff. What do you think could happen if he just refused all contact, not even speaking to them through the letterbox or acknowledging they're out there? Just a complete denial that they even exist? This is the way he feels towards visitors (there tend to be a lot in his area, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, sales people, etc). thanks again Anton

Hi guys and girls, I'd like to thank every one for their comments. I do not have Power of Attorney but it does seem that the rogue landlord who is chasing my client does not know where he lives. I've emailed the rogue landlord to try and ask for details and he sent me an abusive reply saying he wanted to know my client's new home address and that he was going to 'break my nose'. He also said he'd found 'the most violent bailiff in the Southeast' and that they would be traced my client and seizing all his assets. He also said he used to work as a bailiff and knows every trick in the book for getting into people's home. "The bailiff has more right to be in your home than you do" was how he put it. Ive reported this to the Police, esp the threat re broken nose. I think you can see why my client feels scared. I have told my client not to answer the door to the bailiff, and to keep all his windows and doors locked. This should not be any problem given his concerns over general safety. I am guessing that if my client does not open the door to bailiffs, nor does he speak to the bailiff if they were ever to arrive, there's nothing the bailiff can do to enter my client's bungalow and seize goods? thanks again everyone. Anton

Hi there, I'm new here and have been reading for some time... I need some advice, please: I'm an employed Carer and I look after a man who has paranoid schizophrenia. He lives alone in a privately-rented bungalow. This gentleman tells me that he has a large debt from one of his previous addresses and he worries that the bailiffs are coming "to get him". I've been reading various forums and want to know, if this disabled gentleman were to refuse the bailiff's entry into his home, is it impossible for them to take away any goods? The gentleman does not have a car, the garden area is secure (walled with barbed wire and he has 2 dogs) and because of the paranoia associated with his illness and his fears, he says he always keeps all the doors and windows locked. He does not answer the door to anyone and only goes out late at night to the shops. He has developed a fear that the bailiffs are going to break into his home when he is out at the shops. He has not had any contact from bailiffs, but is convinced they are "coming for him" for an old debt. If they do come, should he refuse to let them in? If he does this, what effect does this have? If he continues to refuse to let them in, what happens then? As far as I can see, the debt he has (CCJ) is for rent arrears for a sum of £12,750 from a flat he lived in 5 years ago; it seems the landlord was an unscrupulous and abusive one and fabricated most of the claim but it was undefended in the County Court, so the CCJ remains. I am trying to initiate contact with a solicitor to get this claim Set Aside but don't know how easy it will be (in reality, he owes about £2,500 at best). If anyone can answer the above questions about bailiff entry, it would help me greatly. He is of very confused mind and behaviour and any simple advice I can give him would be greatly appreciated. He's also on disability benefits with no other income, so I don't know if that changes the situation. thank you! Anton