Bar Steward

I'm in the bad books. Had a nice chap at he door asking for my eldest daughter who left home five years ago. I knew what he wanted. I did his job for a while some years ago. I've also had five years of phone calls and letters about her debts.

"Is it this address, or this one?" he said tapping a printout. As it happens, she lives a couple of minutes away at a similar number and road name. Right. I thought. Time to do the Dad thing. "That one" I said. "Yeah, similar, aren't they?"

Predictably, the phone rang five minutes later, and I'm the biggest barsteward in the universe. "Bailiffs will burst their way in and even price up and take away baby's toys! They'll take me to court. That's what happened to Mrs J who used to live next door, and they've had to move house twice to avoid them! You should have told them I was a previous tenant!"

Uhuh. I'm sure Mrs J. did. There's an element of truth in that. No, they don't take away the kids toys. But if you invite them in they will asses anything you have deemed to be of value at one third the retail value. Like your kids Xbox, TV and PlayStation.

A bailiff in the uk, which is a last resort, can only enter your home if you invite them in. If they "burst in" it is entering illegally, and you are quite entitled to call the police.

But as I've explained, it can be avoided if you talk to your creditors, you fill in a means form detailing your outgoings, and make an arraignment to pay, if only it's a couple of quid a week. If you are on unemployment benefits, there is a limit to what they can ask for.

Debts are bought and sold between companies. The original creditor recovers the amount they loan at a small profit. The credit buyer attempts to recover that debt with their incurred costs on the information they can glean. They will get information from the electoral register, names and addresses sold between companies, whether that's Tesco Club point schemes or 192.com or other creditors and banks.

Buying and selling names and addresses is big business.

Being taken to court for debt is awful and stressful but like divorce, it is not a criminal offence. But if you take out loans or obtain goods and/or services on credit and you won't, or refuse to pay up, it is fraud.

If it's down to genuine need, any hassle can be avoided. Talking to creditors is a good thing, because it can help you learn how to structure finances and budget. Burying your head in the mud gets you nowhere.

So I'm an awful Dad. But I know I'm right. As for Mrs J. her hubby and children who keep moving house to avoid their debts? Bit expensive and extreme, and one wonders ........