The Warrant looks fake

Bailiffs are required to provide proof of their authority to enter premises upon request. This authority is granted through the warrant of control. However, some bailiff companies have a practice of presenting a counterfeit warrant instead of the genuine one.

The authentic warrant consistently displays the precise enforcement address, whereas the counterfeit warrant may feature an altered address if the debtor is discovered to reside elsewhere.

Moreover, the legitimate warrant always reflects the accurate adjudged amount, whereas the counterfeit warrant may indicate a higher sum.

Any instances of this offence should be reported to the police.

You have the option to request a certified (sealed) copy of the warrant from HM Court Service.

Template email: Request a certified copy of the warrant from HM Court Service.

Capture screenshots of the sent email and text message to the bailiff, noting the time of transmission, and if necessary, present them as evidence.

The Law:

Paragraph 26 of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 states:

(1)The enforcement agent must on request show the debtor and any person who appears to him to be in charge of the premises evidence of—

(a)his identity, and

(b)his authority to enter the premises.

(2)The request may be made before the enforcement agent enters the premises or while he is there.

The Law:

Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 states:

Punishment for unlawful harassment of debtors.

(1)A person commits an offence if, with the object of coercing another person to pay money claimed from the other as a debt due under a contract, he—

(a)harasses the other with demands for payment which, in respect of their frequency or the manner or occasion of making any such demand, or of any threat or publicity by which any demand is accompanied, are calculated to subject him or members of his family or household to alarm, distress or humiliation;

(b)falsely represents, in relation to the money claimed, that criminal proceedings lie for failure to pay it;

(c)falsely represents himself to be authorised in some official capacity to claim or enforce payment; or

(d)utters a document falsely represented by him to have some official character or purporting to have some official character which he knows it has not.

(2)A person may be guilty of an offence by virtue of subsection (1)(a) above if he concerts with others in the taking of such action as is described in that paragraph, notwithstanding that his own course of conduct does not by itself amount to harassment.

(3)Subsection (1)(a) above does not apply to anything done by a person which is reasonable (and otherwise permissible in law) for the purpose—

(a)of securing the discharge of an obligation due, or believed by him to be due, to himself or to persons for whom he acts, or protecting himself or them from future loss; or

(b)of the enforcement of any liability by legal process.

(3A)Subsection (1) above does not apply to anything done by a person to another in circumstances where what is done is a commercial practice within the meaning of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the other is a consumer in relation to that practice.

(4)A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than £100, and on a second or subsequent conviction to a fine of not more than £400.

Money "due under a contract".

In this instance, the agreement referred to is the HM Court Service Enforcement Services Contract. You can obtain a copy by submitting a Freedom of Information Request to the Ministry of Justice.

The Law:

Section 78 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 states:

Defect in distress warrant and irregularity in its execution.

(1)A warrant of distress issued for the purpose of levying a sum adjudged to be paid by the conviction or order of a magistrates’ court shall not, if it states that the sum has been so adjudged to be paid, be held void by reason of any defect in the warrant.

(2)A person acting under a warrant of distress shall not be deemed to be a trespasser from the beginning by reason only of any irregularity in the execution of the warrant.

(3)Nothing in this section shall prejudice the claim of any person for special damages in respect of any loss caused by a defect in the warrant or irregularity in its execution.

(4)If any person removes any goods marked in accordance with rules of court as articles impounded in the execution of a warrant of distress, or defaces or removes any such mark, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.

(5)If any person charged with the execution of a warrant of distress wilfully retains from the proceeds of a sale of the goods on which distress is levied, or otherwise exacts, any greater costs and charges than those properly payable, or makes any improper charge, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.

The Law:

Section 3 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 states:

The offence of using a false instrument.

It is an offence for a person to use an instrument which is, and which he knows or believes to be, false, with the intention of inducing somebody to accept it as genuine, and by reason of so accepting it to do or not to do some act to his own or any other person’s prejudice.

The Law:

Section 7 of the Fraud Act 2006 states:

Making or supplying articles for use in frauds

(1)A person is guilty of an offence if he makes, adapts, supplies or offers to supply any article—

(a)knowing that it is designed or adapted for use in the course of or in connection with fraud, or

(b)intending it to be used to commit, or assist in the commission of, fraud.

(2)A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

(a)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or to both);

(b)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to a fine (or to both).

(3)Subsection (2)(a) applies in relation to Northern Ireland as if the reference to 12 months were a reference to 6 months.

Genuine warrant

Fake Warrant