Recording your calls with bailiffs
You do not have to tell the bailiff or creditor you record your calls. If you are a debtor and an individual, you may record calls with a bailiff without them knowing.
Section 36 of the Data Protection Act 1998 states:
36 Domestic purposes.
Personal data processed by an individual only for the purposes of that individual’s personal, family or household affairs (including recreational purposes) are exempt from the data protection principles and the provisions of Parts II and III.
Download an app for your phone that enables call recording.
Its a perfect way to capture the attitude of the bailiff or creditor as well as proving intentional non-compliant or unlawful action.
The bailiff or creditor will nearly always hang up the telephone when presented with facts they disagree, or do not intend to to comply with.
The creditor states that you must deal with the bailiff. That is not possible if he won't answer his phone or hangs up and refuses to speak with you.
The court will know that hanging up is not the way one would expect a professional, acting on behalf of a Government agency to behave. Bailiffs must carry out their duties in a professional, calm and dignified manner. Paragraph 26 of the Taking Control of Goods National Standards 2014 published by the Ministry of Justice states:
Enforcement agents must carry out their duties in a professional, calm and dignified manner. They must dress and speak appropriately and act with discretion and fairness.
Before speaking to a bailiff or creditor
1. Write down a list of questions, and the answers you expect
2. Gather your facts
Speaking to a bailiff or creditor while recording
1. Get the name of the person you are speaking to
2. Speak slowly
3. Never talk over them
4. Tell them what is wrong, and invite them to put it right. Repeat slowly for a maximum of three times.
5. Let them do the shouting and arguing
6. Don't get side tracked with a chronicle of the history of the debt.
7. Add the bailiffs number to the Google Caller ID. It tells other Android Phone users their name and that he is a bailiff whenever he calls them for the first time.