Tomorrow Scottish Power will be visiting to install a pre payment meter. i have just found out about this from my flat mate as he hasnt been paying bill! the warrant has been accepted. he now owes £1411. Is there anything i can do e.g setup a payment plan or is this too late? If it is too late, what actually happens tomorrow? i will be in, will they activate meter straight away? will the cut gas but not electricity? any scottish power representatives that can help me out? if i could pay it all off i would, unfortunately i could only afford £75 a week (weekly pay) thanks in advance Steve.

I had a debt with Northern Rock when they folded up and was forced by the court to sell our house and pay in full the debt (only just under £6K) which was done in April 2008. The debt was entered onto my CR files with all the agencies. The persons dealing with collecting the debt received the monies but never entered a "Satisfied" entry on the CRA's entries. Next year is 6 years since the debt was paid off and we have a letter from our solicitors at the time showing the debt was paid off. now my questions 1/ Does the entry still remain active on my file because it is not marked as satisfied or does it still drop off after 6 years? 2/ 2 years ago we went into a Debt Relief Order for all our debts and was discharged after 12 months as the terms of the DRO. I have noticed on my CR files that some of the companies that had debts written off under are still entering "defaulted" on every month onto my files. Are they allowed to do this? 3/ I know that the DRO stays on record for 6 yrs and am quite happy about that, it just worries me that because they keep entering Defaulted every month that will keep the entry on there after the 6 yrs has gone because of their updating of the file that way. Are they allowed to do this? some of the other debtors have written the debt off back to zero and no other entries have been made. I hope you can help me so as to stop me worrying any more than I have to.

Just logged onto Noddle at the Welcome finance Loan entry has vanished. Its been ' 6 payments late' for over 4 years and I've been paying £1 a month. Now its not there (was there last week) its also not on equifax but I think it never was on that one. What do I do?Keep paying? Obviously I will keep paying but its rather odd..... I think it was taken out August 2008 so it wouldn't have dropped off my file yet

I've received a letter saying that BG has obtained a warrant of entry. I received no prior notification of this. I have an outstanding complaint against BG with the ombudsman. How can I get this warrant stopped?

Today, I started a new thread entitled: HMCS Forced Entry Protocol for use by bailiffs enforcing Magistrates Court FINES Given the importance of this subject the moderators have put the thread as a STICKY (link below) http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?407528-HMCS-Forced-Entry-Protocol-for-use-by-bailiffs-enforcing-Magistrates-Court-FINES(22-Viewing)-nbsp If anyone has any questions or comments can they make them on the forum and not on the Sticky. I will do my best to answer any queries that you may have. Tomtubby PS: I would like stress that the "exceptional" right to force entry is ONLY applicable to bailiffs enforcing a Magistrate Court FINE ( which are referred to a criminal offences).

British Gas broke into businesswoman's home over an unpaid bill despite not having any gas appliances in her flat Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2431864/British-Gas-broke-businesswomans-home-unpaid-despite-having-gas-appliances-flat.html#ixzz2gMoyfcLV I would hope they provided this poor woman with more than just an apology !! This is not a one off situation, there are many similar stories on CAG

Advice needed please, My disabled aunt is a tenant and has a genuine dispute with gas and electric supplier over previous tenants bill being added to hers (she's only been there 6 months). Despite this and without any warning a bailiff turned up with a warrant to force entry and fit prepayment meters while my aunt was out. This they did but during the process not only has the house been searched, and internal door (unlocked) damaged, things moved, drawers opened and letters removed from envelopes, her dog was 'subdued' by a dog handler? and is now seriously ill at the vets possible overdose of what ever was administered. No warrant was left and the key does not work properly. Her neighbour who was present asked to see the warrant and the bailiff refused to let her see it because she was on the phone to my aunt and claimed he had not forced entry but had used a key. I would like to know exactly what a warrant allows 1 is it a case that they can enter and fit meters and no more ie exactly what is written in the warrant. or 2 does it mean that they can force entry, fit meters and have a good look round remove items search drawers while a small dog is restrained and doped to the point that it is unconcious. Do bailiffs now carry 'master keys' with them to gain entry and do they have top leave a copy of the warrant. Any advice would be appreciated

Hi, I have checked my credit file and I have a Barclaycard debt dated last delinquint on 09/2012. How do I know if the delinquint date correct, as I am trying to sort out my debts and clear my credit file up. Also the delinquint date is the same date as my final payment. Will be disappointed if this will remain on file until 2018. Any advice?

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?398052-Bailiff-Warrant-to-force-entry-amp-fit-prepayent-meters-searched-house-and-injured-animal&p=4302934#post4302934

Hi there, Let me start by saying I hope I have posted this in the correct area, I narrowed my options down to two and ran with this one! Firstly, I have a UK debt with two high street banks and one high street shop chain. I would think total debts are around the £10,000 mark. I am working through my options as to what I can do about clearing this. Secondly, I am flying to the ROI via Heathrow this year from my home country of Australia and was concerned as to whether I might encounter any visa issuing problems as I pass through UK Customs? I have read quite a bit on this matter and have found a variety of answers which has led to my concern and confusion on the matter. Any information on the UK Entry query would be much appreciated. I would also like to say a general thanks to the contributors on this forum as there is some great information and very thorough answers being left! Thanks again.

Hoping someone can help! Expecting a parcel delivery and was out today, got home to find note through door from courier stating 'item at back door' How is this possible when there is a 5 foot double bolted gate stopping anyone getting to the rear of our home. Went to investigate and they have forced entry. The gates were put in place a few weeks ago after moving here to stop our dog getting out and to also stop people coming round the back of our house!! They are nothing fancy but good enough for what we required. Now surely, fair enough the courier tries the latch and cannot gain entry but to clearly see the bolts, bend the gate and force open the bolts is a criminal offence, unlawful entry/criminal damage etc surely!! The gate is now bent and difficult to shut and bolt/latch etc. So , so annoyed.....are they allowed to do this?? Good job there wasnt a dog in the back garden, assume if there was and it had taken the couriers leg off then they would sue us right??? Any help appreciated! x

Dear all, A lovely but windy Saturday morning has been ruined by Camden. I am not told WHERE this contravention took place - surely on such a document, the exact location of the alleged contravention must be stipulated? Advise sought. Yours, ShivaYash Stoke Newington, London Camden PCN - no entry sign 15.06.2012 - EMAIL.pdf

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

Hi all Was checking my Experian credit file to find out that virgin media has added an entry onto my account saying that i owe them money from 1999 yet the entry was put onto my credit file last month. I was fuming. Always kept my credit file spotless. Spoke to Experian who said straight away that something does not look right. They asked me to contact virgin and then call them back, which i did. Virgin told me that the account was closed in the year 2000. I then asked that, if i owed them this money why they had not contacted myself (still at same address 14 years later). Their response was that they had sent out a letter in 2000. I then asked why did they not send another letter asking for the monies owed. thier response was they ONLY SEND ONE LETTER ASKING FOR PAYMENT WITH NO REMINDERS SENT OUT. I could not stop laughing at this point. I then asked for copy invoices for which they replied they had none, only a statement could be provided.(What a joke). Virgin have asked me to write to them requesting the info held but a statement does not mean anything. Entry on my file is saying this amount owed has now started from 12/2012 with no payment history logged for the last 14 years. I spoke to Experian and explained the conversation that i had with virgin. They knew full well that this entry should not have been placed onto my credit file. They said they would investigate and contact virgin and i would know the outcome in 14 days. Question is do i have any recourse against virgin for any damages because I was going to purchase a new sofa and wanted to check my report before I purchased. Good job I did otherwise I would not have noticed. Secondly my score has gone down because of this entry. If they refuse to remove this from my file should i file a court action against them or am i rushing into things. All suggestions much appreciated. Will contact the ICO in due course after Experian investigation.

hi there I have lived in this rented house for 3 years, I have had escalating bills for the last year and a half and even tho I came to agreements to pay, after every review they became so high I now cannot afford to pay what they are asking. The origonal debt was £258 and is now £1200. In between all this added debt, I was trying to set up an AFFORDABLE payment plan, they would not accept what I had coming in and what I could afford to pay out so I wrote a letter complaint to one of the directors of NPOWER and agreed to accept my payments. It was all ticking along nicley and then my JSA was stopped because I went into hospital and they changed me over to Employment and Support Allowance, which in turn affected my rent payemnts etc. Then out of the blue with no warning NPOWER merged both my accounts for GAS and ELECTRICITY. Instead of paying two direct debits they now tried to take the whole amount out at once in Dec 2012. Back to square one, letters threats of entry. They have tried telling me I need a meter fitted, but I can bearly afford to heat the home now, without the added cost of the meter billing. Plus I am a private tennant, the landlord has told me he specifically does not want a meter fitted. The reason they were separate in the first place was if one DD did not go through I could easilyring and pay over the phone, but with the JSA mix up and the ESA payments be lower than JSA I could not afford to pay the DD. Any idea what to do next please all help would be greatly recieved.

Noddle are showing satisfied CCJs as a separate entry from the original CCJ making it look as if there are lots of CCJs - is this legitimate ?

Guys, This thread is slightly different from another on here relating to British Gas seeking a warrant of entry for non-payment of a bill, so please bare with me... About 2 weeks ago I received a letter from BG informing me that £577 remained unpaid from my last bill and that they would be seeking a warrant of entry on 8th January 2013 from the local court. This would allow them legal access on 16th January to either disconnect my electricity supply or fit a pre-payment meter (the latter being the most likely course of action, obviously). No dispute over the amount - I owe it. I haven't been able to pay it because I am unemployed and my only income is fortnightly Job Seekers Allowance. I have tried repeatedly to set up online a monthly Direct Debit payment scheme, but they won't allow it because previous DDs have been returned unpaid. Nonetheless, since receiving the letter I have managed to scrape together a total of £437, and am going to pay another £50 on January 2nd. But that means I still owe a further £90, which I simply don't have, and won't have until the 16th January - the day of the execution of the warrant. So, my questions really are these: would BG really go to the trouble of applying to the courts for a warrant for such a small remaining sum? And if so, if I attend court on the day of application and plead my case, is it likely my personal circumstances will be taken into account and more time granted me in which to pay? Any advice gratefully received. Thanks A.

Hi, My partner put this on the banana forum as well but assuming not everyone goes on there I wanted to post it on here as well. This morning at around 6.30am 2 Bailiffs from Marstons knocked on my door. One of them had knocked the other night as well and told where to go - I had already rang them on their first letter telling them I was going to court to sign a stat dec as I didnt know about the summons. They're collecting on a distress warrant for Non payment for TV licence at my old address. At 6.30am this morning 2 Bailiffs from Marston Group Limited called at my address and starting banging the door. There were intermittent flaps of the letterbox proceeding with more banging. They were claiming for a distress warrant for using a TV set without a Licence. The Claimed offence occurred on the 18th December 2011 at my previous address. At 6.45am I went to my front door and informed the bailiff that I had removed their implied right of access to my property and that they must leave. They didn't and carried on banging on the door. At approximately half past 8 in the morning the police arrived after being called by the bailiffs. I reminded the officers of their duty to keep the peace and that is all that is required of them and invited them into my home leaving the bailiffs outside. The police officers explained to me what they're understanding was in regards to a Distress warrant and that they had a similar situation last week and that the bailiff did have the right to forced entry. I explained that this was incorrect and that I had removed their right of implied access to my property and I do not have to let them in as they can only go through an open door or window etc but not by force. I explained that they would need a signed warrant of execution to enter the premises and that a distress warrant not even signed by a Judge is not valid. I showed proof on my calendar that I was due to go to Hastings Magistrates court on the 28th December to sign a Statutory Declaration along with proof that I did not live at the address the summons was sent to on the 25th May 2012. Remaining impartial the police officer recommend that I go and explain this again to the bailiff and that they would not let her enter my property. I obliged asking one of the police officers to stand in front of the bailiff so she can't force her way in. The other police officer stood behind me in the house. The bailiff accused me of lying and that she was coming in. I repeated that I had removed her implied right of access to my property and that she was currently trespassing and that I had an appointment booked for the 28th December for the Statutory Declaration. She said she doesn't care and she is coming in. At this point she lunged towards me and attempted to push her way in leg first to which I responded and stood my ground by removing her leg.from my Porch. She then attempted to push her body weight into me but I'm a bit bigger than she was and was unsuccessful. The Police officer behind me held onto my arm attempting to remove it from holding onto my door frame hence allowing the bailiff to enter to which I asked him politely to remove his hand from my arm of which he obliged. The Police behind me kept on telling me that the bailiff have the right to enter and I am breaching the peace. The Policeman in front of me told me that if I didn't let them in I would be arrested. I put my hands behind my back and said Ok. They cuffed me and walked me to my bedroom and allowed the bailiffs to enter the property. My Partner followed the bailiff around whilst they took down a few serial numbers of her property in the bungalow. The bailiffs were informed that all the Furnishings fixtures of the property are hers. Whilst in the bedroom with the police officer I asked him if I was actually under arrest as I hadn't been read my rights and he said no. I asked him to them take the cuffs off me. At this point it transpired that they didn't actually have a key with them for the cuffs as they were the older style cuffs that everyone still wants and from hearing his colleague on his radio they were talking to someone on the in the next town over was bringing the keys over. I had to sit and wait cuffed for no reason while the bailiff was free to wander around my home. At 9.15 approximately the bailiff received word from the court that they had a record of my phone call for the appointment on the 28th December and told me they would give me 7 more days. I informed them that 7 days from now is 1 day before I'm due in court to which they replied and... The Bailiff then left followed by the police officers shortly afterwards.

Hi all Can anyone help me on the correct procedure for Eon (electric) have to do to gain a warrant of entry, Also what is the procedure after the have gained the warrant, and come to the property. Thanks in advance Leakie

To be very quick. I had 2 court fines. I came home from work one day and found a letter for both, one £330 the other £530. I rang the bailiff and paid the £330 and told him I can pay the £530 on the 16th. Last week my car broke down and I had to buy a new one. This obviously ate up my money. Today I received a text from the bailiff confirming that the payment is due today. I said that I don’t have the money to pay it, can you email me the court letter and I have spoken to citizens advice and shall pay it online His reply “Not a problem, I’ll let the removal team know they need to attend to remove goods from the house. Broken payment arrangement. This warrant has a power of entry from the court and I will be enforcing it” Seriously what can I do? Any help greatly appreciated

Hi, Thought this might be a good place to seek advice, I am trying to help a friend. British gas have been granted a Warrant of Entry to fit a pre-payment meter. We want to try and stop fitting of said meter as we believe we have a strong argument. My friend was abroad when they were granted the warrant in the County Magistrates and hence was unable to attend the hearing to argue why the meter should not be fitted (various reasons, but main reason is because meter is outside and she is a disabled person living alone). We rang the Court for some advice in hope there is a form to fill out, but no joy there. Apparently (through information on the internet), you can appeal to the Crown/Magistrates but the only form I can find is: Appeal Notice (Criminal Procedure Rules, rule 63.3) http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/criminal/docs/crim-pr-form-part63-appeal-notice.pdf But then another website saying to use Form N244 - Application Notice of a request to a court to make an Order (But this seems to be for Civil matters i.e. used to set-aside CCJ's etc. Bit of a nightmare really, not much help/info from anywhere, I just need to know how to stop this as I personally believe we can stop this, but it's just a case of following the correct procedure. Thanks for any help

Scottish Power are demanding half the balance of £1125.70 that I owe or they will come and fit a prepayment meter in my home, with force aparently. I have already paid them £25.70 and offered them £250 today and said I would pay £300 on 07/11/12 however they have turned around and refused unless I pay them £550. Surely as I am willing to clear the debt quite quickly they would just accept that payment and stop their plans. They have told me to "be home" on Thursday. But won't tell me what time and we are in work all day. I live in an apartment block and don't know where our meter is, it is not within the apartment so if they break in the door they would just be causing damage with no purpose. Please help!

Hello, I owe Scottish Power £1125.70 and have not been able to pay the bill. I didn't hear from them for a while and to be honest forgot all about the debt. I then received a letter saying they have a warrant of entry and are coming to fit a prepayment meter, whether I am home or not. I called the company and paid them £25.70 and said I would try to get some more money together to which I was told they wanted half the debt or they would still use their warrant. I live in a large apartment block and am not even sure where the meters are myself so I don't see them breaking down my door being much use as the meter is not even in there. I also rent and know that my landlord could kick us out if the locks are changed and the meter is installed. I called them today to pay them £200-£250 and advise that I could make another payment of around £300 on the 7th November. But basically they refused to stop the meter being fitted unless I pay £550 today or tomorrow which I do not have. Basically they have now advised me to be home on Thursday when they plan to visit, but won't give me a time. Both me and my fiance can't be present on the day they are coming as we are both in work, and all they can say to us is "it's in your best interests". Well obviously getting sacked from work for staying home to wait for them is hardly in my best interests is it. Just wondered if there is any help out there. As we have offered a payment shouldn't they accept it? Also as we live in a large block can they mess with the meters, we have 24 hour concierge and they would have to be let in by calling our apartment number. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi All, I bank with Natwest. As a result of their recent outage I missed a loan repayment. I received an apology from them and was told that it would not affect my credit score. I decided to check this out online the other day. I got reports from Equifax and Call Credit. I was somewhat surprised to see an "AP" entry for my current account from the month before the outage on my Equifax report. There was no such entry on the Call Credit report. Curious, I have queried this with Equifax. Equifax told me to speak to Natwest. They are, of course, currently snowed under with complaints so I may have to wait a while to get a response. I understand that AP stands for Arrangement to Pay and is applied when a person in debt renegotiates with the creditor to pay less than the required amount to satisfy repayments. Whilst I was in my overdraft at the time, no payments were missed and at no point have I exceed it. I am a bit confused, therefore, about how the AP marker has got there. Would I have had to have agreed something for it to go on? Would someone have had to have warned me? I am completely lost. The plot thickens because this AP marker does not appear on the Call Credit Report. Do they not use the same information? I am wanting to apply for a mortgage in the next few weeks (hence paying off said overdraft etc) and am concerned that this AP marker will affect me, particularly as Natwest aren't in a hurry to get back to me. My credit rating remains at the top end of the "fair" bracket, despite the hit that the AP marker has caused. Help, anyone?

I have a long running complaint with Santander. Between January 2007 and June 2007 santy applied £1,050 of charges onto a joint account that I was named on. I put in a claim for a refund of the charges just as the stay was granted. (Typical!) The lovely people at the bank decided it would be nice to register the account as delinquent with the CRA’s and placed it at 3mths in arrears, where it stayed in default for the whole duration of the OFT Test Case. (It was an overdraft that I refused to pay as it was wholly comprised of bank charges). My argument at the time (and still is) is that in registering a disputed sum the bank had broken S13.6 of the Banking Code. The nice people at the bank would not acknowledge this ,I took my complaint all the way to the Ombudsman. In December 2010 the adjudicator decided that Satan’s bank were not required to amend thecredit file entry. I appealed this decision and was in the process of evidence gathering for the Ombudsman, when as part of my evidence gathering I spoke to Experian, who verbally advised me in January 2011 and I quote ‘At somepoint between Sept 2010 and Dec 2010 the record had been removed from your file’. With this news I was delighted as I had achieved my objective of having this damaging entry removed from my file, so I spoke with the to advise them of this. The adjudicatorthen asked me if I wanted to drop my complaint as I had achieved my objective and I agreed. The adjudicator advised me that I could always take up mycomplaint again if I needed to. I thought all was well, until recently when I applied for a mortgage and the underwriter advised of something on my credit file that should be okay with an explanation. This comment raised my suspicions I immediately signed up to Experian to look at my file and low and behold there is an entry from Santander for the sum, now marked as settled in Dec 2010 with a nil balance, but still showing more than 3yrs of arrears (stuck at 3mths, save for the last entry which has been put in as 6mths just for good measure). I have never paid this sum. I have spoken to the complaints team at Santander and they have spoken to the credit data quality team and they have come back to me and said that they have never amended the entry and it has always been there. I have reopened my complaint with the FOS. It’s actually a new complaint, which is not what the original adjudicator (who has now left) had advised, but hey ho, from what I am reading about the FOS on these pages I had better adopt a more aggressive strategy than using the FOS. So my question to you my learned friends is this:- I want to take the bank to Court for registering a disputed sum with the CRA’s. My argument is that when they made the entry it was indeterminate in length as is now being proved. This negative entry started to impact on me in 2007 and as it now shows that it was settled in Dec 2010 it will not be removed from my file until Dec 2016 meaning that their charging, is going to impact my otherwise unblemished credit profile for 9 years in total, which cannot be right, or can it? Please advise. Additional items for consideration. During the dispute I always maintained I would pay the sum if it was proven to be lawful. As the matter has already been 5 years in the making I no longer care how long this will take to resolve people. I have a file about an inch thick of all the letters that I sent and the replies which I can put up online for you perusal if some kind person advises me how. If anyone out there wants to help, advise or mentor me on my quest for justice (or just to give them some pain) your input will be very greatly appreciated. Thanks Anthony