Can bailiffs break in?

Many years ago this happened to us when we moved into a house. Neighbours must have wondered what their new neighbours were like! The police came 2/3 times even though on the first occasion we gave them our details and the name & address of our solicitors who could prove we had only just purchased the property. Then we had various debt collectors and also bailiffs. Heard eventually apart from previous owners owing money to several people they had also tampered with the electricity and were using it although it had been cut off by the electricity board. The electricity problem went on for months.

Just returning the letters by normal post is just not enough. Send them back with a letter of your own by registered post.

This happened to me until I phoned the debt collection agency and explained that they were trying to contact the previous tenant who had returned to New Zealand. I gave them the telephone number and address of the letting agency just in case they had a forwarding address.

I received a written apology for the trouble that they might have caused me and heard nothing of the debt after that.

People are frightened of debt collecting agencies because of the stories they hear but, in reality, they're just another business and, if you contact them, are ready to listen.

The foreign guy who rented our flat for 1 year before we bought it apparently run a business from the address. We got letter from the Council saying they had information that a business from run from said address. We didn't ignore, wrote a Registered letter sent by our Solicitor, and got an apology and case cleared. The man had returned abroad.

Don't worry. I had a similar situation. When the bailiffs arrived they were lovely. I told them what I knew of the previous occupants and never heard anything else.

When we were selling our last house I had a debt collector/bailiff at the door one afternoon asking for the young woman we were selling to.
She and her husband were being very awkward during the whole process.

I explained she didn't live here and he asked if she'd moved on already.
"Moved on? She hasn't moved in yet!" I replied.

Apparently she'd been using my address, which had a clear credit score, to borrow and buy all sorts.
I had a guy trying to deliver a lawnmower one day for her, he was surprised when I flatly refused to accept it and store it in the garage for her.

I had quite a chat with the debt collector, she was an old "client" of his and their last house had been repossessed.

When the surveyor from the building society they were using to buy our house came, he asked me if they were first time buyers as that's what it said on his forms.
"Well if that's what they've said, I wouldn't know," was all I could think of replying.
Nightmare! 😬

WOW!

Thanks for helping. Debt was DWP so I phoned them and they have took address off the record

Perfect explanation GRUNTY.