Bailiff turned up less than 11 days from the Notice
Enforcement agents are required to wait for a minimum of 7 consecutive days, excluding Sundays and public holidays, in addition to the time taken for first-class postage, before they are permitted to take control of goods.
The commencement of this waiting period is determined by examining the date of the notice issued at the beginning of the document, starting from the subsequent day.
According to the law, first-class post is typically delivered on the subsequent working day.
If the Date of Issue indicated on the Notice of Enforcement specifies a time of 23:59, an additional day should be included. This is due to the fact that Royal Mail post offices close at 5:30 pm, and main sorting offices close at 7:30 pm.
The Law:
Civil Procedure Rule 6.26 states:
1. First class post (or other service which provides for delivery on the next business day)
Deemed date of service
The second day after it was posted, left with, delivered to or collected by the relevant service provider provided that day is a business day; or if not, the next business day after that day
Civil Procedure Rule 6.3(1)(b) states:
(b) first class post, document exchange or other service which provides for delivery on the next business day, in accordance with Practice Direction 6A;
Civil Procure Rule 6.2(b) states:
Keep the envelope the Notice of Enforcement came in.
If it was made by 2nd class post, then delivery is on the 4th business day.
Upon the deemed date of service of the Notice of Enforcement sent by post, the law mandates an additional 7 consecutive days before the bailiff is authorised to attend.
The Law:
Regulation 6 of Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 states:
(1) Subject to paragraph (3), notice of enforcement must be given to the debtor not less than 7 clear days before the enforcement agent takes control of the debtor’s goods.
(2) Where the period referred to in paragraph (1) includes a Sunday, bank holiday, Good Friday or Christmas Day that day does not count in calculating the period.
(3) The court may order that a specified shorter period of notice may be given to the debtor.
(4) The court may only make an order under paragraph (3) where it is satisfied that, if the order is not made, it is likely that goods of the debtor will be moved to premises other than relevant premises, or otherwise disposed of, in order to avoid the goods being taken control of by the enforcement agent.
If bailiff fees or goods are removed following a breach of this regulation, you have the right to commence legal proceedings under the mentioned legislation. This should be supported by evidence such as a copy of the Notice of Enforcement. Furthermore, if relevant, you should provide the envelope used for dispatching the Notice, along with evidence indicating the date when the bailiff took control of goods or extracted a sum of money under the threat of removing goods.