Now Ye're Talking - to a Debt Collector

Boards.ie: Niamh · 20-03-2018 6:28pm #1

Our next guest worked as a bailiff/debt collector for 6 years in the UK enforcing warrants issued by the courts.

I'm sure he'll have some interesting stories, let's have some questions!

PTH2009 · 20-03-2018 6:30pm

what was the worst case you had in terms of it having an emotional effect on you ??

Sinister Kid · 20-03-2018 6:51pm

Is there any part of the job you enjoy?

What's the most expensive thing you have seized?

Did you sleaze whole house contents? Did you ever feel pity for the person & pretend not to notice something?

Stephen Hawkins football boots · 20-03-2018 7:01pm

You don't know where I live do you ?

marklazarcovic · 20-03-2018 7:05pm

Ever get a slap? Is their a higher percentage of one type of person you dealt with? Who knows the game best so to speak?

endacl · 20-03-2018 7:09pm

Did you ever come across any 'Freemen on the Land' in the course of your work?

Are they as funny in real life?

emo72 · 20-03-2018 7:10pm

Can imagine it's a horrible job. Why did you do it? Did you ever feel bad doing it?

eurokev · 20-03-2018 7:18pm

What's the pay like? It has to be half decent surely to make it worth your while

[Deleted User] · 20-03-2018 7:42pm

Do you get commission?

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 7:57pm

PTH2009 wrote: »

what was the worst case you had in terms of it having an emotional effect on you ??

Don't think i ever had a particular one worst case, the hardest for me to deal with on a personal level was when kids were involved, some houses i visited and the debtors lived in absolute squalor, dog crap on the floor, dirty nappies all over the place, they had nothing, those were the cases that really affected me as i had 3 young kids at the time.

Of course i still had to call out but i'd be in the gaff for maybe 5mins, wouldn't even push for a payment, just return the case to the courts/council listing it as 'no effects'

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 8:03pm

Sinister Kid wrote: »

Is there any part of the job you enjoy?

What's the most expensive thing you have seized?

Did you sleaze whole house contents? Did you ever feel pity for the person & pretend not to notice something?

The challenge, when you went to a house and they had everything, quality house, top of the range car, 50" Plasma tv's, the challenge of getting the cases paid was the main driving factor when visiting places like this. Also the freedom to do my own hours, if i didn't fancy starting work until 11am then i didn't

Most expensive item i seized was probably a BMW car, think it was valued at around 20k, debt was 12k, when i ran the finance check and there was no finance on it then it was game over. Car was removed, debtor paid up by the end of the day, including all removal costs

I did the job for just over 6yrs and did a full house removal maybe 3 or 4 times, avoided full removals like the plague as it's a LOT of hard work, both physically and mentally with all the paperwork you have to do.

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 8:04pm

Stephen Hawkins football boots wrote: »

You don't know where I live do you ?

Could find out :pac::pac:

ads20101 · 20-03-2018 8:09pm

Do you ever feel anxious or even worried when attending a collection?

The reason I ask this is there are aggressive people out there who may try to intimidate and bully themselves out of their responsibilities.

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 8:10pm

marklazarcovic wrote: »

Ever get a slap? Is their a higher percentage of one type of person you dealt with? Who knows the game best so to speak?

Yep, got a few slaps, had bats/shotguns/knives pulled on me, in them cases we just called the police, told them what had happened and their assistance was required, police turn up and we just carried on.
Had my elbow broken (compound fracture) on 1 case, we were attacked by 5-6 lads who had nothing at all to do with the case, they just seen us pulling up and laid into us

I worked on Magistrates Courts Fine/Council Tax/Inland Revenue and i'd say maybe 75% of them were Council Estates, Slightly higher % for the fines/council tax, lower % for income tax

The Bailiff will know the game best, or he will if he's worth anything, you'd get these people who'd be screaming and shouting 'i know my rights' but whatever they did know they were wrong.
Some who actually did know the game would be straight on the phone to the council/courts, pleading poverty, apologising, begging for mercy, in some of them cases we were instructed by the client to walk way, which was frustrating when the person had an amazing house/car/goods and just didn't want to pay

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 8:11pm

endacl wrote: »

Did you ever come across any 'Freemen on the Land' in the course of your work?

Are they as funny in real life?

Had to google that, Nope, never came across any

lifeandtimes · 20-03-2018 8:12pm

Have you ever come across a case where the person proved to you legally you couldn't collect the debt for one reason or another and you were left with no choice but to abandon ship as it is?

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 8:14pm

emo72 wrote: »

Can imagine it's a horrible job. Why did you do it? Did you ever feel bad doing it?

It changed me, there was a lot of violence involved and you really never knew what someone might do. I'm out of the game now and think i'm back to my normal self

I did it because i needed a job, i was working the doors at night but 3 nights a week just wasn't enough to support my family

As stated previously, felt bad when kids were involved and the debtors had nothing, but i walked away then

L1m1tless · 20-03-2018 8:14pm

How many brown envelopes have you been offered?

Dog walker 1234 · 20-03-2018 8:15pm

How did you get into the job? Is there much training given?

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 8:16pm

eurokev wrote: »

What's the pay like? It has to be half decent surely to make it worth your while

derekeire wrote: »

Do you get commission?

When i finished up i was on 15k per annum (sterling) plus commission, i was good at my job so the commission could get an extra 1,500 a month

Free car/van with fuel card that i could use for personal time too

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 8:18pm

ads20101 wrote: »

Do you ever feel anxious or even worried when attending a collection?

The reason I ask this is there are aggressive people out there who may try to intimidate and bully themselves out of their responsibilities.

No i didn't feel worried, if i did then i'd be no use, the most anxious i ever became was when visiting the fixed traveller sites, in the areas i worked there was always a council worker at the gate in a hut, i'd go up to him, ask if Mr X lived there and was he approachable, 9 times out of 10 i'd walk away there and then

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 8:20pm

lifeandtimes wrote: »

Have you ever come across a case where the person proved to you legally you couldn't collect the debt for one reason or another and you were left with no choice but to abandon ship as it is?

On a few occasions there was a mistake on the warrant, be it a name spelt wrong, or a wrong D.O.B. In those cases we'd walk away, return it to courts/council who would correct the error and then revisit a few weeks later

PopTarts · 20-03-2018 8:24pm

15,000 is awful for that position! You’d earn more doing a lot less. Even with the extra 18,000 bonus it’s pretty bad.

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 8:24pm

Dog walker 1234 wrote: »

How did you get into the job? Is there much training given?

I was working the doors and the boss of the bailiff company used to do the odd night and was a mate, a vacancy came up and he asked me if i'd like to ry it out as i'm very level headed and excellent at talking to people.

I worked with him for 2 weeks, then another bailiff for a few weeks as i wasn't able to work alone with being registered, started learning about the laws of distress and applied for my cert, you then have to go and have a chat with a judge in his chambers, he's ask you all sorts of questions about what you can and can't do, then he'd issue you with your bailiff certificate, this had to be done every 2yrs, along with criminal record checks and credit checks

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 8:25pm

L1m1tless wrote: »

How many brown envelopes have you been offered?

Was offered a few things by ladies once or twice but always refused, not even worth going down that road

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 8:26pm

PopTarts wrote: »

15,000 is awful for that position! You’d earn more doing a lot less. Even with the extra 18,000 bonus it’s pretty bad.

For the area i lived in that was a pretty decent wage, Bailiffs in the cities get a lot more

Gloomtastic! · 20-03-2018 8:41pm

What are you doing now?

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 8:45pm

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

What are you doing now?

Watching a bit of tv, wife is out so i get to watch the boring stuff she hates :pac:

Job wise i'm in security still, but a pretty decent position that doesn't involve violence and debtors

EIREDriver · 20-03-2018 9:16pm

Do you wear stab vests, bulletproof jackets or any other protective gear while going out on jobs? If so, do employers provide them?

Have you seen Can't Pay We'll Take It Away, and if so, how realistic is it?

I'm a debt collector, AMA · 20-03-2018 10:30pm

EIREDriver wrote: »

Do you wear stab vests, bulletproof jackets or any other protective gear while going out on jobs? If so, do employers provide them?

Have you seen Can't Pay We'll Take It Away, and if so, how realistic is it?

No, we didn't wear anything like that, just a pair of trousers, shirt and a jacket

Seen a few episodes and yeah, it was pretty realistic

DrPhilG · 20-03-2018 10:48pm

Do you ever get abuse or looked down on by people, other than the people you're collecting from?

I often see posts on facebook etc where there are videos of bailiffs etc carrying out evictions and the comments are always about how scummy those enforcing the eviction are. Personally speaking, while I don't like seeing someone booted out of their house, at the end of the day if they can't pay the bills something has to give. Maybe a bit different when someone is losing their house because of mortgage arrears. As a landlord myself I would hope I never find myself in the position of having to evict someone.

Now Ye're Talking - to a Debt Collector

Comments