How to kepp bailiffs at bay

BEATING THE BAILIFFS

If you are in arrears in paying Council Tax and rent then the Magistrates' Court can make a Liability Order to try to force you to pay up.  Bailiffs can be sent to your home to try to seize goods to be sold to pay the amount owed plus costs. You should be sent a warning letter at least 14 days before the first visit by the bailiffs.

CALLING AT YOUR HOME

Bailiffs should not call at your home before 6 a.m. and after 9 p.m. and on Sundays and bank holidays.

COMMUNICATIONS FROM BAILIFFS

Bailiffs will write to you and perhaps phone you to ask for payment.  Try to avoid communicating with them because each time they are in touch with you they will add a charge to the amount you owe.  Avoid speaking to them through the letter box.

ENTERING YOUR HOME

 Bailiffs do not have a right to enter your home unless you allow them in.  But they are allowed to gain entry if they can do so without using force. So lock your doors and windows.  Tell other residents in your home not to let bailiffs in.  It is not legal for a child to let a bailiff in.  If they legally enter your home then they are entitled to remove goods but only ones belonging to the debtor.

 Bailiffs are allowed to climb over (but not break down) gates and fences to enter your gardens and drives.  Try to make it difficult for them to gain entry in this way. To seize goods they can legally force entry to outbuildings such as garages, greenhouses and sheds not attached to your dwelling.  Avoid leaving valuable items outside or in outbuildings.  Don't leave vehicles on drive-ins or in the street because these can be taken.

 In general, remove valuable items from your home, especially those outside, if you think bailiffs are coming.

The police cannot help bailiffs gain entry to your home.  If bailiffs use forceful and threatening behaviour to try to gain entry to your dwelling then call the police.

 MOBILISE SUPPORT

 If you know the bailiffs are coming then ask people sympathetic to your situation to be present outside of your home.  Ask them to show their support for your refusal to pay up by displaying placards and chanting slogans.  Get photos taken of the bailiffs and ask the local media to cover the event.  This will pressurise the bailiffs to behave properly.  They and the Council do not want this sort of adverse publicity.  Also notify Anti-Austerity Action to help mobilise support.

 STANDING TOGETHER, WE CAN WIN!

 In Britain today the Coalition Government and local councils are waging a war on the poor.  It was the boundless greed of the bankers and financiers which created the financial crisis yet ordinary people are being forced to pay the massive debts run up by these parasites.  We are being asked to pay more Council Tax while vital local services are being ruthlessly slashed.  At the same time the millionaire bankers go on taking their multi-million pound salaries and bonuses.  

 Twenty odd years ago the Government introduced the notorious, unfair Poll Tax.  Millions of people refused to pay up. Councils tried to use the courts and bailiffs against the refuseniks but there were too many cases so the system clogged up. The Government had to abandon the Poll Tax.  We can do the same again.  The more of us who don't pay the harder it will be to persecute us.  People who can afford to pay Council Tax should not do so in solidarity with people being pushed below the poverty line.

CAN'T PAY, WON'T PAY!

ANTI-AUSTERITY ACTION

Contact: antiausterity@talktalk.net