My own experiences with Bryan Carter

[vityaz]

I moved to Northern Ireland from England in 2007. To be short, I wasnt in the best of health mainly due to the job I was doing and just packed in my job and left quietly without telling anybody where I was going moved to NI to be with my partner who I had met online. I didnt bother notifying my creditors as I figured id be unemployed for a while and so wouldnt be able to pay them.

In 2008 I received a letter from BC demanding £50 a month for a court order they had obtained in payment for my MBNA card. They pretty much wanted this money yesterday so I phoned them to tell them I didnt have it. The conversation went pretty much like this:-

 

Me:- I dont have this money

Them:- Well then we'll turn this over to the bailiff.

Me:- Just before you send anybody round I have a mental health condition that makes me prone to violence.

Them:- Youre making threats there. We will report that to the police.

Me:- I have threatened nobody. Im just giving you all the information you need to make the correct risk assessment to protect the welfare of your employees.

Them:- We have a court order for this amount. We can send a bailiff round if we want to.

Me:- How did you get a court order? Ive never received a summons.

Them:- We summonsed you at your address ********************** in Manchester.

 

Rather than have any hassle I made payments on the account for a while and then they sent me letters saying I hadnt paid and demanding more money. At this stage I had done my legal homework and was a bit better prepared when I called them. This time the conversation went like this:-

 

Me:- Ive already paid and I can prove it. Im not paying any more.

Them:- In that case we will pass this on to the bailiffs then. We have a court order.

Me:- From which court?

Them:- Northampton County Court

Me:- When was it obtained?

Them:- January 2008

Me:- In that case your judgment is illegal and unenforceable. I moved to Northern Ireland in February 2007 and its illegal to bring a civil prosecution against a person in an English court if they dont live in England, in the same way it'd be illegal for me to prosecute your company in a Northern Ireland Court.

Them:- Well we didnt have a forwarding address, so we prosecuted you at the ******** address in Manchester.

Me:- Really? Thats another offence under the outlawries bill.

Them:- The what?

Me:- The bill to prevent clandestine outlawries. Its a piece of legislation that dates back to the Anglo-Saxon days when failing to answer a summons meant somebody was declared an outlaw and could be killed on sight without fear of legal redress.

Them:- Well im sorry about that but we have a judgment and if payments arent made then we are allowed to bring a bailiff in.

Me:- Well go ahead and do that, if any bailiff sets foot on my property they will be going away in handcuffs.

Them:- Why? Theyre allowed to do their job, its not a crime.

Me:- It is in Northern Ireland. The legal system in Northern Ireland doesnt allow the operation of private bailiffs. In the event you had a judgment from a Northern Ireland court you would contact the enforcement of judgments officer at the High Court in Belfast, but he would only seize goods as very last resort. If you send b ailiffs around the minute they set foot on my property they are burglars and...

Them:- How would they be burglars! Burglars are people who break into your property and steal things!

Me:- The definition of burglary is trespass with the intent to committ a criminal offence. Your bailiffs are not welcome on my property and have no authority to enter therefore the moment they set foot on my property intending to seize goods or recover payment they are committing burglary and I will see them being taken away in an armoured landrover with handcuffs on.

Them:- Ill need to speak to my manager and ill get somebody to give you a call back.

Me:- Dont bother if the conversation is going to take a similar tone to the one weve just had. The law is on my side on this one.

 

This was the last conversation I had with them until 2012 when they phoned me to ask why I hadnt paid. I had actually sent them a letter explaining I was being made redundant from my job and wouldnt be able to make payments until my situation had changed. I havent heard from them since.

 

Knowledge is power!!!!

[Series3]

with power comes responsibility