Bailiffs drive vulnerable people to the edge. Why do Councils still employ them?
Recently, I spent some time with an older gentleman who is ex-army. ‘Peter’ served in the 70s and 80s and, like so many veterans, remembers his service number without looking it up.
He is quite disabled, physically and mentally, suffering with PTSD, depression and debilitating anxiety.
Peter received some -45 - letters from a bailiff firm a few months ago and thought about ending things. Sadly, this is not unusual in debt advice – debt is heavy, relentless and grinding on the mind, body and soul. He remembers being at a train station, but was anxious that there were too many people around, so he rang the local NHS crisis team for help.
A referral for debt advice happened quickly.
When we meet, he talks about feeling down and hopeless. About how he is so frightened of his energy and water bills that he tries not to use any.
He doesn’t flush the loo very often (he apologises though I tell him no apology is needed). He doesn’t wash very often either. Again, he’s sorry but he might smell a bit. I don’t notice.
He doesn’t cook very often , because he doesn’t have much of an appetite anyway.
It’s so sad, isn’t it?
If things go well for us, we should all get old, but it shouldn’t be like this, surely?
The bailiffs are quickly removed from this gentleman’s life with a phone call to the Council Tax recovery team. We have a plan which means that their intimidation and badgering ‘services’ are no longer needed. So that helps reduce the immediate threat but I have come to understand over the years that when people are this depressed, the space that was taken up with worry over one thing, simply fills up again with an expanding malaise over something else.
It’s not just the debt, it’s everything: being old, being disabled, feeling de-valued by a society that constantly demands something from you that you haven’t got. Capability for work for instance. Motivation to have a wash. Motivation to cook a meal.
Depression puts these apparently normal everyday events beyond our grasp at times. And then a bailiff letter arrives and states that someone is coming to take your worldly goods – they’re not unless they have a Controlled Goods Agreement signed by you, but they often ‘forget’ to mention this – and you can quite understand why people think about giving up.
Don’t though. (Easy for me to say). Just find your nearest debt adviser – try Citizens Advice, try your Council and if they don’t provide debt advice in-house then they should provide details of what’s available locally. Council debt advisers must offer independent advice – even if Council Tax is the debt! (Take a wide berth around any advert on social media describing little-known-about government schemes.)
Given half a chance, debt advisers will listen, try to power you up with options, help you map a route out of the debt maze and we honestly don’t care if you smell a bit.
Peter went forward with a Debt Relief Order in the end. The Council Tax debt has been written off (along with all his other debts) and the bailiffs never came back.
If you are receiving letters like Peter was and need help, seek debt advice. It will help.
