Very Very Sad Story - Pay Or We,ll Take It Away !!

[dieseldick]

just watched it last night ( pay or we..ll take it away ) elderly british couple from london worked all their lives untill recently then welfare cuts came in last year, bailiffs called to the old couples home, they had one hour to pack their belongings and get out. had no where to go and probably slept on streets . the old girl was crying her wee heart out. god bless them .

truly heartbreaking, actually had tears in my eyes .

what the hell is happening in our society, migrants and scum are rewarded while elderly and ex servicemen are persecuted by the system and left penniless and homeless.

sad

[Svejk]

Were they thrown out of an old people's home onto the streets? Surely someone had to look after them.

[Islay]

You don't get the full story on programs like that.

What was the debt - had they talked to the debtors to set out a program of repayment.

You don't get evicted after less than a year. What was their debts for?

[lady-janine]

didn't see the programme but this sounds terrible. what the h**l is going on?

[waterboatman]

I agree with you DD. They let the scum of the earth in and our own needy get ignored. Disgraceful!

[bhg481]

I think the tears in his eyes stopped DD from watching the programme properly. They did not sleep on the streets; the one hour to pack came after several warnings etc. Yes, it was very sad, but not quite as DD said.

[douglas9401]

Somebody at the production company needs to tell the wee rough diamond with the heart of gold (Paul?) that excess flyaway nasal hair ain't a good look in HD.

[Old_Geezer]

Not even if they plait it ?

[aelmpvw]

with little red bows on the end?

[Boto]

How much did they owe? How long have they owes it? Had they made any effort to talk to the creditors? How many warnings had they received? Having said that I agree about migrants etc.

[douglas9401]

The problem with the red bows idea is the danger that the programme would come to be seen as cheap to make voyeuristic rubbish instead of the cutting edge social commentary that it so obviously is.

[RATTER15]

I often watch this programme, in nearly every case they have been given every chance to move out, often they have not paid their rent for years or are just refusing. Then the High Court Bailiffs come in with no notice at all and evict them.

I think it would be much fairer if the bailiffs gave them at least 24 hours notice. Most of them deserve their eviction, some really do not deserve it and can be very upsetting to watch.

[RATTER15]

Migrants are often evicted on that programme as well, I have seen it quite a few times.

[EDDIE51]

Bailiffs do not just turn up 'out of the blue' to evict someone. They give you a date when they will evict you at least a month in advance.
Do you suppose the TV film crew just happened to be 'in the area' when the Bailiffs turned up? They have to plan the filming well in advance and set up camera angles , view points etc.

[hc4361]

Eddie, these are high court enforcement officials and they definitely do not give notice of the eviction. The camera crew follows the officials.

The tenants would have many letters, a county court judgement and county court bailiffs in the previous months without success and the landlord has applied to the high court for enforcement. The high court officials have much more powers than the county court bailiffs.

So whilst it is true that the tenants would know of the county court action and pending eviction they have no idea that the case has been accelerated and upgraded. It is a complete shock to them that they have only one hour to get out.

[MallyJ]

Was that not because of government cuts to their housing benefit? I was startled when they were moved to Birmingham because it is cheaper there. I do wonder about calling large numbers of our population scum.... I owe my life and teeth and many other things to the children of those people that seem to have to be referred to as scum by those that feel that they are better than them. Interestingly we are all the result of various waves of migration to these shore.

[RandyMarsh]

I missed the scum awards this year, did Ant and Dec host it?

[hc4361]

I did see this episode, I think I've watched most of them.

The couple were given a letter by the high court agents to take to their local council stating they had been forcibly evicted and were homeless. The council put them in emergency housing, probably a B&B, and eventually they were given a flat in Birmingham.

I have seen many immigrants, some with young children, being evicted on this show. Many people are evicted because the landlord is selling the property, not because they are in arrears with their rent.

On one occasion the agents had to enforce a debt (not rent) owed by a famous retired footballer. I remember that well because his wife became very abusive and aggressive, throwing (hopefully) water over the agent.

People from all backgrounds feature on the series.

[cassa333]

These shows just pull on the heartstrings.

However, debt doesn't just happen. The debtor knows they are not paying their way. They get letters galore, notices galore and chances galore. It isn't a surprise or sudden event.

Should a landlord be expected to pick up the pieces of a debtor? Should a landlord be expected to lose money and be in debt because the tenant (for whatever reason) doesn't pay their rent?

Where there is undoubtedly bad landlords It is so easy to blame landlords for every evil of the poor oppressed masses.

I don't care who anyone is, where they come from or what thier job is. If you owe it pay it.

[hc4361]

This particular show tends to make it clear when the debtor has been taking the pee.

[Peter Pedant]

um I am not sure if you can evict for debt

rent arrears - yes and in less than a year
had they mortgaged ?

yes you dont see the back-story in all this

news watchers will have seen the old leddy evicted from her weaver vale house as a fire hazard - interesting back story on that on application

does anyone have the episode number ?