Drakes bailiffs

[tg167]

heres my story..can anyone help..

 

a few weeks ago 2 fat men from drakes turned up, for a parking fine against my wife, who is terminally ill and disabled. they stated that she had a parking fine from maidstone council for parking in a disabled bay without showing her badge, this was the first we knew of it however i told the bailiff fat man that i owned all the goods and chattels in the house and that he could not come in...he put his foot in the door and stated that he now had a pieceful entry so he could come in, i again refused to allow him in and he refused to remove his foot stating that that was good enough for a pieceful entry, i must admit i threaten to smack him if he didn't remove it, he called out to his mate to call the police which he did, they arrived and i explained to the policeman that i had refused him entry but he put his foot in the door and tried to push passed me, the policeman told the bailiff to leave the premises or be arrested, i admitted threatening to smack him, however the police clearly pointed out that without a warrant to enter the house even they can not stay if asked to leave...

the bailiff left stating he was going to court to obtain a warrant of entry.

i suspect that soon i will have another visit, can anyone advise me on them putting there foot in the door and refusing to remove it?? where do i stand under the admin of justice act 1970 ??? the bailiff claims he can take my wifes new car which is on HP..Can he do that?? i tried to speak with the council but they said take it up with drakes,

[powelll]

Did this go via the TEC ( Traffic Enforcement Centre ) at Northampton county court? If so the bailiffs will be for county court and CANNOT force entry unless peaceful entry gained. Peaceful entry IS NOT getting a foot in the door this is trespass and you were spot on to call the police. Peaceful entry is if you allow the bailiff in or they can enter through an open or unlocked door or window ( even if eg door is closed they could trun a handle to enter ).

 

If it's county court there's no such thing as a warrant of entry. If they cna't collect they will just have to pass the original warrant of execution back to the court for alternative enforcement to be looked at.

 

You can I think try for a 'Late Objection; via a Statutory Declaration. If it's gone through Magistrates' court may be different though.

 

They cannot take or levy on HP goods

[tg167]

whats a late objection?? have i any grounds under admin of justice act 1970?

[Belaflat]

Not really offering any help here bit it is nice to see that the Officer who turned up at your house knew his stuff and sided with you.

So many stories of Police attendance where they take the sides of the 'fat men' as you put it.

[389shell]

I know they certainly cannot take your wifes car as it is on HP and legally she won't own it until she has paid the last payment

 

'Hire purchase' means what it sounds like. You hire the article over the period of the loan, and do not own it until purchase; you make the last payment and purchase the article, normally after the payment of an option-to-purchase fee. Remember that under a hire purchase agreement the owner of the goods can repossess the goods if you've paid less than a third of the agreement. If you've paid more than that they have to go to court to get them back or to get the cash out of you.

 

What a fat idiot!

 

Good luck with this, as if you need any more worry.

[Aterlatus]

Drakes are known [edited] I've dealt with them myself for a magistrates court fine that I missed a payment on, and there was a documentary on them on TV around 3 years ago. In short, although they try to get you to believe otherwise, they can do NOTHING.

 

If they threaten you with an arrest warrant then first off - don't panic! It's actually helpful if they do, because if it's passed back to magistrates and an arrest warrant goes out their own charges (which are extortionate!) are dropped from the fine and although it sounds scary you won't be seeing the local PCs knocking on your door waving a pair of handcuffs. What does happen is you get a letter asking you to attend a local police station where you can make arrangements to pay on very fair terms.

 

Again, private baliffs like Drakes, although 'court appointed' actually have next to no rights. They can knock on the door and ask nicely, but they can't do much more than that. If you let them in they'll start taking inventories of all your gear and try to scare you into finding the cash, but in reality they can't actually take anything. When I had dealings with them I missed their first call so called the number they left. The guy at the other end was extremely rude and offensive, and started saying there'd be another £200 if he had to call around again. I called his bluff, and came out of it only having to pay the original fine:)

 

Edit: Forgot to add - if they happen to call again and start getting threatening, call the police yourself. They'll scarper as soon as you reach for the phone.

 

Edit2: Apologies to all for getting a bit heated - Drakes got my goat up for a good while.

Edited August 17, 2008 by Aterlatus

[babey.girl]

has any1 gt a contact number 4 drakes

[42man]

Hi Babey....can I suggest having a look OR starting a new thread in the Bailiffs forum....this is probably a better place to ask - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bailiffs-sheriff-officers/