Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

[Abi81]

Hi I'm new to this so excuse any mistakes sorry!! I have been dealing with bristow and author for a while now. I am on income support and have offered tem £5 a week for my debt and they have refused this payment and told me they want £43 a week off me which I jut can't afford. I wa paying them te £5 a week anyway in the hopes it would keep them at bay but no such luck. I paid them more some weeks when I could afford it too, they came to my house with a walking possession order but I wasn't there So try took the reg plate of a car on my drive that isn't even mine. Then after I had paid about £100 off my debt they sent bailiffs to my mom and dads house ( they have my address and phone number but did not come here first) where I haven't lived fr over 15 years and charged me £180 for the visit, I then offered them £7 a week but they said they wouldn't accept anything but full payment now and I would have my goods removed. They then went back to my mom an dads house, didn't come I my address again before visiting where they know I don't live, and chared me another £180 for this visit too. I have an appointment with the citizens advice bureau tomorrow night but on the school run this morning I have had a voicemail from a bailiff saying he is outside my house with a van and is going to Kick my door off and take my stuff without me there. I have never let them in my house so the only possession order they have is for a car that's not mine that has been sold now. I told the bailiff I had £80 and he could have it if he didn't break in he said no I want £500 then £100 a week til it's paid and if you phone the police there's nothing they can do if I break in cos I have a court order. I told him a lot of the stuff in the house is borrowed from friends and family and not a lot is mine apart from my 4 month olds pushchair and my 8 year olds bed and e said he will take those. Can he do this to me?? Can he break into my home without me there?? I'm scared to leave the house but acres to be at home. I can't let my 8 year old out to play in the garden coa I'm scared they'll see her. I won't sit downstairs incase they see me. I live in my bedroom petrified of what they are going to do. I am so scared. I have a letter pushed thru today saying the contractor fees are now £1500 ad they will remove my goods in my absence. Please help! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Abi

[ploddertom]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

Providing they have not been in your home there is nothing he can do to even think of forcing entry. Most important - do you still have the voicemail? Are you a single parent?

[ploddertom]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

You need to speak to someone at the Council and ask the following questions:
1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you
2 - the dates they were obtained
3 - the addresses they were for
4 - the period of time each covers
5 - how much each one was for
6 - how much is still outstanding
7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement
8 - the dates & amounts of any payments

[ploddertom]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

You next need to send off for a breakdown of the fees they are trying to charge you, use Letter 1 from http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...Useful-Letters

[Abi81]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

Yes I am a single parent. There is one debt for jut over £1000 originally but since b and a are charging me £180 per visit its gone up to £2000. I do have the voicemail still. I've even phoned the council begging them to take the debt back and attach my benefits but they won't. They did attach y benefits before when I lived with my violent ex partner. When he gave me bleeding on the brain I left him on the middle of the night with my daughter with jut the clothes we had on. All the paperwork for this debt was at that address and they never wrote to me at my new address, which they had on record, to inform me the attachment had stopped as my benefits had stopped as I had started working and I had been paying it for 6 months and had not remembered to set up a new payment plan as I had forgotten about the debt I had that much going on. I know it's no excuse but I was being beaten up nearly everyday still as my ex had found out where we were and e was taking me for custody. And I thought they were supposed to send a new final demand before setting the bailiffs on me. Sorry I'm rambling. I am just so scared of whats going to happen

[Abi81]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

I have just spoke to the council and explained everything I have said on here yet again. They don't care they said I have to deal with bristow and sutor. They said the bailiffs an charge me £180 per visit if they turn up with a van. They have only turned up with a van once that was today. And I can't even say for sure they did as I wasn't here and they lie all the time anyway. The council are charging me te debt from December 1st 07- march 13 2009. I moved out December 1st 08 tho. They said unless I can get a tenancy agreement confirming this they won't lower the amount. I have no agreement as they were all at my old address which as I explained I had to leave quite quickly with nothing. The outstanding amount is £929.88 but b and s say I owe £1998.05 and £1538 for contractor fees for the monster that came today.

[pepsie]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

Hi

B&S have really overstepped the mark....and I regret to tell you it sounds very much like your Council have outsourced their backroom collections to a firm called Capita..(they in turn own two bailiff firms equita andross & roberts) therefore it is very likely you have not been speaking to the Council, merely the same type of people who are threatening you.

Can you please contact your local ward Councilor with urgency and tell him/her exactly what you have told to the forum. and also contact your MP, the former has direct access to those at the top of the Council tree and can ask all the right questions to the right people...the latter needs to be advised to the way this Council permit their operators to behave. There are other bodies that will need to be notified to this appalling sequence of events but they can be informed at a later date, so no panic there.

Meanwhile continue to make the £5 pw payment direct to the Council using their online payment process. The fees you have had apportioned to this LO are outrageous and as I see from what you give in your post are maximum fees of £42.50....to even suggest a normal visit fee is £180 is in itself unlawful not to mention abuse of position...let them lift the car you mention and then the owner can also sue them.

PT is correct to say they can do nothing if they do not have a levy but you cannot 'live' in fear so get onto that Councillor NOW they are in my opinion in office to take your call anytime between 9am and 9pm 7 days a week, you can find them on your councils website but any problem with that and you hust need to come back here for help finding them.

That voice mail will probably get this mad man before a court to have his certificate removed, so keep it very safe.

[ploddertom]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

Let's see if we can make some sense of what needs to be done.

In my view you would be classed as vulnerable as said previously. To claim this you need to write a letter to both Council and B&S advising them of this - you are a single parent on Benefits. OK the NSEA are guidelines only and not enforceable in law but all Councils & enforcement agencies are signed up to abide by them. If they then refuse then you can claim the moral high ground in any further complaint to the Council.

As Pepsie has said contact your local Councillor(s) ASAP and ask they intervene - details of these on the Council website or if still unsure then ring the Council and ask. Again, in my view Councillors are available 7 days per week up until 9pm. If the are reluctant or refuse to get involved then go over their head to the Leader of the Council and his opposite number - again details are on the Council website.

I assume each time you have rung the Council you just get to speak to whoever answers the phone, they have a script to follow and cannot deviate. Best bet is to escalate any enquiry to someone in authority - Head of Revenues perhaps. I note they ask for to prove where you lived at a previous address - was this private or Council and was it within the same Local Authority area.

I would also suggest you ask the Council or your local CAB if there is a Welfare Rights Adviser you can see to make sure you are getting the correct Benefits & help.

[ploddertom]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

As for the Bailiffs, they are supposed to leave you with a sheet detailing their fees for each visit. If they have made a levy on goods either inside or outside they must leave you with a Form 7, Notice of Seizure. This must detail the goods seized - do you have any such document & if so can you list the goods seized exactly as described on it.

In post 4 I suggested you send off for a detailed breakdown of the fees - have you done this yet. Initially it is best done by email followed by a copy in the post. B&S don't make it easy to send an email but one can be sent to enquiries@bristowsutor.co.uk - sorry if I appear to be pushy but this is important and needs doing ASAP, until we can see what they are trying on it is difficult to see what direction you need to go in.

I think the Bailiff sees you as an easy touch - single parent, young family, easily intimidated or bullied. You have done OK so far and the most important bit is to deny him access to your home. Do you have his name, it should be on the documentation he has left - have you checked the online Bailiff Register to see if he appears there? http://certificatedbailiffs.justice....catedBailiffs/

[Meagainindisguise]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

I don't know what area you are in, however we have a safeguarding policy where people such as yourself who are vulnerable and are in a position where they can be taken advantage of are listed and given the help and support needed. All areas should have similar. You may even be classed as a PSH. (person susceptible to harm). The councillors must be told about what is happening. Have you got a DV/DA worker or key worker. I don't know how you feel about this suggestion but it has worked in the past so I will mention it although it has its pro's and con's. The local press love stories like this, they can rip into bailiff and Council. Like I said just a suggestion. They may also let you remain anonymous. Good luck, and don't let them get you down.




Maid

[Abi81]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

Hi everyone. Sorry I didn't reply last night. I don't want to stay at my house so I stayed at my mom and dads and my charger was at home. I have set off for a breakdown of bailiff charges to bristow and sutor but have not had a reply as yet. The bailiff phoned me again to ask if I had his money and I said no and he wasn't very happy. I asked him if he enjoyed bullying girls and he said yes that's why I have this job. Nice man. I hve downloaded and printed all the guideline links and am composing a complaint not just about bristow and sutor but the council and individual bailiff also. I am just googling my local councillors name and address so I can get in touch with them and I am seriously considering phoning the express and star ( my local newspaper) but am a bit wary of repercussions from the bailiffs if I do. I am at the CAB tonight I can't thank you all enough for all your help. Abi

[ploddertom]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

WE do have 1 problem and that is you are posting the same things in 2 different forums, it is better to stick to one or the other as it can cause confusion. I am however pleased to see you are gleaning the information to start to fight back, after all many of us have been there & worse in the past. I note you are going to CAB tonight and would suggest you do so with an open mind. CAB do a very good job but with limited resources and unless you hit on one where they know about these things they may well just suggest entering into a payment arrangement with the Bailiff - just be careful about what they do say.

[pepsie]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

Hi everyone. Sorry I didn't reply last night. I don't want to stay at my house so I stayed at my mom and dads and my charger was at home. I have set off for a breakdown of bailiff charges to bristow and sutor but have not had a reply as yet. The bailiff phoned me again to ask if I had his money and I said no and he wasn't very happy. I asked him if he enjoyed bullying girls and he said yes that's why I have this job. Nice man. I hve downloaded and printed all the guideline links and am composing a complaint not just about bristow and sutor but the council and individual bailiff also. I am just googling my local councillors name and address so I can get in touch with them and I am seriously considering phoning the express and star ( my local newspaper) but am a bit wary of repercussions from the bailiffs if I do. I am at the CAB tonight I can't thank you all enough for all your help. Abi

You seem to have everything in hand....just a small point to mention, CAB do have there uses but if you want the bailiff out of the picture and a repayment plan to suit your budget please be careful, I have seen so many goodwill CAB advisor's negotiate with bailiffs only to leave the debtor stuck with a repayment plan they truly cannot afford and leave the debtor thinking there is no other option....well there is so don't agree to anything you are not 100% comfortable with.

Pepsie

[bluebottle]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

Exposing this bullying bailiff in the media might be what is needed to curb the abuses and excesses he and B & S are indulging in. It might also bring your local authority up with a start and make them realise that B & S are not the blue-eyed boys they think they are and the local authority is liable to legal recourse if they do not keep them under proper control. The circumstances of your case will, I suspect, almost certainly cause your local authority major embarrassment.

[Meagainindisguise]

Re: Urgent help please re: bristow and sutor

Abi

How about you email a link to this thread to the Express and Star and the Birmingham Evening Mail and see if they will run with this for you. I think you may be surprised by the results if they do. Like I said they may well keep you anonymous if you wish.

Maid