I Have Received A Bailiff Notice, What Should I Do?

A bailiff is a person who has the power to collect a debt from the debtor on behalf of a creditor. A bailiff may be authorized by the government or may be working privately. A bailiff who has been authorized by the government has the power to remove goods or other possessions from your house or property. He can sell the same and collect money from it to compensate for the unpaid debt. There are many types of bailiffs such as Equita bailiffs, private bailiffs, county court bailiffs who have got varying degree of powers to collect debts. Visit of a bailiff at your home is a stressful experience but you can avoid it by following some simple tips. You need to take some action upon receiving a letter from a bailiff.

Calling the creditor or the concerned organization- The foremost step after receiving a letter from a bailiff is to call your creditor or the organization to which you owe money. You can promise them some certain amount of money to be paid back in instalment per week or month to pay your full debt. Also request them to call back the bailiffs coming to your home for debt collection purpose.

Clarification of the debt that has already been paid- In case you have already paid full amount of debt, you can write a letter to the corresponding authority and inform them about the same. A copy of this letter must be sent to bailiff as well as keep a copy with you. It will certainly avoid unnecessary visit of the bailiff.

Ask for council policies- In case, you have taken debt from a council, ask them for some policies which permit debtors to clear all debts by closure of financial year. This way you can pay your debt in small but apt amount of instalments each week to clear all the due payment by the end of financial year. It will postpone or completely avoid visit of bailiff to your property in case you are successful in paying off the debt as promised.

Getting some more time to pay-off debt from bank or other concerned organizations- The best way is to request for some certain period of time to pay off the debt completely or in small instalments. You must start paying instalments immediately to avoid coming of bailiffs to your property.

Calling a friend to be witness- In case, there is no other option left to avoid a bailiffs’ visit, you should call a friend to come to your property and be a witness of all the sequence of events or the conversations that would take place at your house during visit of a bailiff.

Be alert and polite- Since you have got a notification from the bailiffs, therefore they can visit your property any time within the set time limits by the government or the concerned organization. So you should be alert all the time. But don’t go panicky. Behave in a polite manner and make your problem or point of view clear to them. Negotiate with them and ask for some time to pay your debt. After all, they are also human beings and hence will try to understand your problem.