18.11.22

There are two types of clients with bailiffs.

There are the clients who are terrified. The clients for whom the idea of some aggressive men turning up at their door demanding payment is simply unthinkable. These clients can be tough, because as a debt adviser I can't guarantee I can prevent this, but I want the client to still trust me and believe I can help them.

And then there are the clients who are used to it. 

This week, I saw one of the latter, and it broke my heart. She comes in with the stereotypical bag of letters - although in a slight departure from the norm, it's cloth rather than plastic, and there's also a ringbinder from several years ago when another local agency tried to set up payment arrangements with the council. When I ask if she managed to keep those up, she laughs.

In amongst the papers that cover my desk are several bailiff letters going back the last few years. I start to explain about bailiffs' powers of entry, and she cuts me off. "Yeah, I know to just ignore them." But your car- "I'm just a named driver on the insurance, it's in someone else's name."

How about your housing? "I hate my landlord, he turns up whenever he wants. Doesn't give the 24 hour notice he should. He's evicting me under Section 21, but I know not to leave until the day the bailiffs turn up 'cause if I go earlier the council might not help me."

I've known debt advisers with a less solid grasp of things. The fact is, this lady is unwell. She still receives ESA, which gives you an idea of how long she's been in this situation. She receives the full rates of PIP for mobility and daily living (after having to go to a tribunal), and while you can of course work while receiving PIP, this certainly gives an indication of her health.

But this is her life.

I have a good idea of who her creditors are, but not the current amounts or statuses of the debts. And that's where the fun really starts. One council tells me they can't give me information about PCNs 'because of data protection'. I sigh and send back a grouchy response, while preparing a Subject Access Request just in case. Others make me go through a labyrinth of online forms, or want me to call with the client present - which I'll do if I have to when I next see her, but it'll eat in to my limited appointment time. An energy company 'can't recognise my email address' (unsurprising, as I'm not their customer) so wants me to provide the meter serial number, despite me giving them the account number to locate the account. I contact an insurance company on an email address that is blatantly intended for people with Power of Attorney, and for a couple of creditors, I have no option but to post them letters, incurring cost to the charity where I work.

It is, frankly, a fucking pain.

Another client calls me and asks me to put her into the Breathing Space we've previously discussed, just so she can have a break from her multiple priority creditors. I remind her that we can only do this once a year, and she understands that, so I set it up. I also call a new client who has it turns out has a Notice to Quit for nearly three months' arrears, and I spend quite some time trying to find a local housing advice service with capacity to help her.

Last week I said I was bored. This week, I'm knackered. At least there's some good news about the Money and Pensions Service, whose ineptitude has been prevented from completely destroying the sector by the efforts of frontline debt advisers. This from We Are Debt Advisers hits the mark: https://wearedebtadvisers.uk/news/a-huge-relief-but-now-maps-must-now-be-changed-for-good