[Travel] Bailif advice needed

[LockStock]

I apparently got a ticket in a council car park in Blackpool summer 2019, I dont recall getting one but it is possible as we did go there around this time.

The first I heard of any of this is was when I got a text out of the blue on 17th march this year saying from a company I've never heard of called CDER group saying we owed £123.00, stupidly I ignored this as I didn't know who it was from or what It was for, half just thought it was a scam. It didn't say what it was for, just a link to pay this amount.

Then today I got a call from a Bailiff saying I now owe £393.00 to be paid immediately or they will attend my home to remove goods. He said they have been trying to contact me at my old address as that is where the car was registered too but I moved 2 years ago and updated my driving license straight away. We sold the car just after the move so the last address linking me to the car was my old address.

I dont mind paying if I owe it but it seems an excessive jump up in 3 weeks, I have managed to put this hound off till tomorrow but I'm worried about then turning up at my door or and giving my family grief whilst I'm at work.

Is there anything I can or do I just have to stump up?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I would seek proper legal advice.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Did they show you court order to remove goods ? Many debt collectors claim to be bailiffs when they are not.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I'd hope Citizen's Advice would be able to help. [MENTION=18265]LadySeagull[/MENTION] on here is pretty good with parking companies.

Or you could always get someone's shouty old Nan to detain the bailiffs at the edge of your property before offering a payment plan of £5 a week. That's what they show on the telly.

 

[beorhthelm]

id forward to police, council involved and MP as thought this sort of practice was made illegal. if they get bothered enough they might do something about it. doubt anyone will turn up, it would need to go a court first.

 

[LockStock]

Thank you everyone so far, I've seen no paperwork at all. I've only had the text from CDER who I assume have brought the debt from the council. The bully on the phone has now called me 8 times in 2 days and has also started texting and said if no payment is made today the cost will go up again.

They may have issued paperwork but non has come to my current address which he did confirm but on the phone, not in writing.

Not sure what my options are to fight it without the cost going up.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

If they were real bailiffs then they can't force entry to a private home ( Unless to turn off utilities ) - just make sure you keep everything locked and NEVER let them in. You might want to pay a tenner to use https://bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/ - CAB don't always give the correct advice.

Edit - my understanding was that all court appointed bailiffs had been blocked from home visits during lockdown.

 

[junior]

I'm not going to comment on the right or wrong and this is not legal advice, but I'd be inclined to stump up, suck it up and pay up and move on with your life. Far too many people get tunnel vision due to a sense of injustice and want to do all in their power to fight these things so they don't feel they've 'lost'.

It's not really about right or wrong, because you've already admitted that you probably did get the parking ticket (although i don't agree with these private parking fines).

I find it best to apply the reasonable person test. I.e if a reasonable completely unbiased personlistened to both sides of the story, baring in mind the company wrote to you at your old address, sent a message to your phone (which you've admitted you read), would they feel that the parking company have done enough, or would they think you have a good reason not to pay?

Good luck anyway, these private parking fines companies piss me right off. But in summary, lifes too short. Pay it and move on with your life.

 

[stewart12]

first and foremost, never ever let a bailiff inside your property- or even open the door to them. They have absolutely no authority to enter your property unless you let them

Threatening bailiffs is usually a scare tactic to get you to pay in full- it's quite costly for debt collections agencies and rarely yields particularly great results, but it might be worth getting some advice. Depending on where you live there are some good advice services around. I used to work for St Luke's Advice Service but this only covers Brighton & Hove. You also have Christians Against Poverty or your local CAB. They can either advise you or advocate on your behalf

 

[beorhthelm]

I'm not going to comment on the right or wrong and this is not legal advice, but I'd be inclined to stump up, suck it up and pay up and move on with your life. Far too many people get tunnel vision due to a sense of injustice and want to do all in their power to fight these things so they don't feel they've 'lost'.

It's not really about right or wrong, because you've already admitted that you probably did get the parking ticket (although i don't agree with these private parking fines).

I find it best to apply the reasonable person test. I.e if a reasonable completely unbiased personlistened to both sides of the story, baring in mind the company wrote to you at your old address, sent a message to your phone (which you've admitted you read), would they feel that the parking company have done enough, or would they think you have a good reason not to pay?

Good luck anyway, these private parking fines companies piss me right off. But in summary, lifes too short. Pay it and move on with your life.

a reasonable person might say its fair to pay a small fine, £20-50, to the council involved for sake of enforcement of thier parking rules. being bullied years later into some that may not have happened, not able to defend against, and paying hundreds of pounds is not reasonable. imo councils shouldnt be allowed to sell on the debt, if they dont want to collect it they cant be needing the money.

 

[Billy the Fish]

http://forums.pepipoo.com/

This is a forum dedicated to these kind of things. I think moneysavingexpert forum also had people ITK

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I'm not going to comment on the right or wrong and this is not legal advice, but I'd be inclined to stump up, suck it up and pay up and move on with your life. Far too many people get tunnel vision due to a sense of injustice and want to do all in their power to fight these things so they don't feel they've 'lost'.

It's not really about right or wrong, because you've already admitted that you probably did get the parking ticket (although i don't agree with these private parking fines).

I find it best to apply the reasonable person test. I.e if a reasonable completely unbiased personlistened to both sides of the story, baring in mind the company wrote to you at your old address, sent a message to your phone (which you've admitted you read), would they feel that the parking company have done enough, or would they think you have a good reason not to pay?

Good luck anyway, these private parking fines companies piss me right off. But in summary, lifes too short. Pay it and move on with your life.

There is a small chance I'm wrong but I suspect that is the worst possible advice. You may have hundreds of pounds to toss around but that doesn't apply to everyone.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I'm not going to comment on the right or wrong and this is not legal advice, but I'd be inclined to stump up, suck it up and pay up and move on with your life. Far too many people get tunnel vision due to a sense of injustice and want to do all in their power to fight these things so they don't feel they've 'lost'.

It's not really about right or wrong, because you've already admitted that you probably did get the parking ticket (although i don't agree with these private parking fines).

I find it best to apply the reasonable person test. I.e if a reasonable completely unbiased personlistened to both sides of the story, baring in mind the company wrote to you at your old address, sent a message to your phone (which you've admitted you read), would they feel that the parking company have done enough, or would they think you have a good reason not to pay?

Good luck anyway, these private parking fines companies piss me right off. But in summary, lifes too short. Pay it and move on with your life.

Wrong on so many counts and also this doesn't appear to be a private parking ticket which you should NEVER pay.

 

[brianwade]

Thank you everyone so far, I've seen no paperwork at all. I've only had the text from CDER who I assume have brought the debt from the council. The bully on the phone has now called me 8 times in 2 days and has also started texting and said if no payment is made today the cost will go up again.

They may have issued paperwork but non has come to my current address which he did confirm but on the phone, not in writing.

Not sure what my options are to fight it without the cost going up.

I would contact the ombudsman immediatly , report to Police for threatening behavious and also check with Blackpool city council . Send copies of these communications to the company chasing you .

Also a bucket of piss or dirty water from the top bedroom accidently thrown out when they arrive - make sure its not the postman though...

 

[PeterOut]

Apparently a tactic that this particular firm uses is to turn up and clamp your car till the debt is paid.
I have no idea if this is legal or not, but it is probably not a good idea to leave the car outside your house until it is all sorted.

 

[junior]

Wrong on so many counts and also this doesn't appear to be a private parking ticket which you should NEVER pay.

It's not really a right or wrong though is it? It's more of a "what would you do?" type of thing, and i said what I'd do.

I fairly regularly issue fines out at work (which i REALLY don't like doing but often have no choice) and you'll be amazed how many people seem to think that i/others don't have any right to, just because they don't agree with it.

 

[LockStock]

I'm not going to comment on the right or wrong and this is not legal advice, but I'd be inclined to stump up, suck it up and pay up and move on with your life. Far too many people get tunnel vision due to a sense of injustice and want to do all in their power to fight these things so they don't feel they've 'lost'.

It's not really about right or wrong, because you've already admitted that you probably did get the parking ticket (although i don't agree with these private parking fines).

I find it best to apply the reasonable person test. I.e if a reasonable completely unbiased personlistened to both sides of the story, baring in mind the company wrote to you at your old address, sent a message to your phone (which you've admitted you read), would they feel that the parking company have done enough, or would they think you have a good reason not to pay?

Good luck anyway, these private parking fines companies piss me right off. But in summary, lifes too short. Pay it and move on with your life.

In summery I do agree it is wasted energy but... this was not a private company but a local council. Surely in times like this they should not be selling on a debt to these hounds.

Luckily for me, I dont feel overly worried by his bully boy tactics and am fortunately in a position where I can pay the money if I have to, but I'm sure they apply the same forceful tactics on people who really are on hard times at the moment and behavior like this could be enough to push someone over the edge.

Also do you think 1 text message from a completely unknown company with no details on why they are demanding money is reasonable? If they are going to send demands like this which escalate in cost so rapidly they should at a minimum tell you why they are contacting you in the first place, when generally the advice is do not give out your bank or card details. It seems as if its set up for people to fail so the cost is pushed up very quickly.

 

[studio150]

Interesting reading these reviews of CDER

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.cdergroup.co.uk

 

[Eeyore]

Thank you everyone so far, I've seen no paperwork at all. I've only had the text from CDER who I assume have brought the debt from the council. The bully on the phone has now called me 8 times in 2 days and has also started texting and said if no payment is made today the cost will go up again.

They may have issued paperwork but non has come to my current address which he did confirm but on the phone, not in writing.

Not sure what my options are to fight it without the cost going up.

I can only talk about the calls themselves.

If you are called again, inform that under the terms of the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949 you refuse them permission to call again.

I have used this before and it worked.

 

[junior]

In summery I do agree it is wasted energy but... this was not a private company but a local council. Surely in times like this they should not be selling on a debt to these hounds.

Luckily for me, I dont feel overly worried by his bully boy tactics and am fortunately in a position where I can pay the money if I have to, but I'm sure they apply the same forceful tactics on people who really are on hard times at the moment and behavior like this could be enough to push someone over the edge.

Also do you think 1 text message from a completely unknown company with no details on why they are demanding money is reasonable? If they are going to send demands like this which escalate in cost so rapidly they should at a minimum tell you why they are contacting you in the first place, when generally the advice is do not give out your bank or card details. It seems as if its set up for people to fail so the cost is pushed up very quickly.

Unfortunately that's how they make their money. Again devils advocate could argue that in times like this the council are so strapped for cash they've (sadly) resorted to things like this, although i suspect it isn't a new thing.

As you've already said, sounds like it's close to going up again. Personally i couldn't be bothered with the stress and wouod just put my hands up. FWIW i probably couldn't afford to pay it outright and would have to offer it in staged payments.