Advice for debtors faced with bailiffs & a camera crew
Reality TV has thrown up new challenges for debt lawyers as well as a never-ending cast of “wannabes”. Defamation and privacy actions are two possible means of recourse for anyone who finds bailiffs and a camera crew at their front door, according to barrister Stephen Boyd, of Selborne Chambers, writing in this week’s NLJ.
“In showing the enforcement officer attending at premises, the innuendo would be that the subject of the execution was a judgment debtor,” he says.
“This would be actionable, if false.” However, existing caselaw makes this line of attack unlikely to succeed.
Boyd offers advice on what the debtor should do when first confronted, and in the following days. “Consideration should be given to challenging the right of the television company to screen what footage they have on the basis of breach of the subject’s Art 8 rights.
They should be asked to provide, say, 10 days’ notice of their intention to screen the film so that appropriate steps can be taken to apply for an injunction,” he says.
