So Who Owns These Bikes?
Posted: April 28th, 2018, 10:26 am
I am trying to help a friend who sufferrs chronic mental illness. She is in her 50s and has psychotic depression. She lives in social housing and a young couple “befriended” her, visiting her and showing interest in her two dogs. They persuaded her to buy them two bikes at a cost of £500 plus a phone on contract. They have no credit but she bought the bikes from a Littlewoods catalogue and got the phone from EE. The couple agreed to pay her monthly for the phone and the bikes but have only paid one month out of three that they have had this stuff. She has no written contract with these people and is unlikely to recover money from them.
From what she has found out, they have conned another tenant into giving them money and the Council had to move her away. My friend is very impulsive and rang EE and cancelled the phone contract which did not please the couple.
She has been told by one of the neighbours that they are trying to sell the bikes that she is paying for.
I feel so sorry for her, left with a debt by cunning people who knowing of her mental illness, persuaded her to but goods for them with no honest intention to pay the money spent. She would obviously like to repossess the bikes but she is alone and is scared of them. Her housing officer asked a police officer to visit, but he said as no criminal offense had been committed there was nothing the police could do.
All I can think of is to ask the support worker to help her deal with Littlewods about the bikes and with two other companies who lent her money. She is on DLA plus PIP and housing benefits.
Having written all this down, I cannot see that she has any legal protection, but it seems so unfair that they could sell the bikes, get the proceeds and yet my friend has to pay for them.
She lives in the Midlands and I live in London so can only listen to her on the phone.
Is there anything to be done to help in this situation?
Penym
From what she has found out, they have conned another tenant into giving them money and the Council had to move her away. My friend is very impulsive and rang EE and cancelled the phone contract which did not please the couple.
She has been told by one of the neighbours that they are trying to sell the bikes that she is paying for.
I feel so sorry for her, left with a debt by cunning people who knowing of her mental illness, persuaded her to but goods for them with no honest intention to pay the money spent. She would obviously like to repossess the bikes but she is alone and is scared of them. Her housing officer asked a police officer to visit, but he said as no criminal offense had been committed there was nothing the police could do.
All I can think of is to ask the support worker to help her deal with Littlewods about the bikes and with two other companies who lent her money. She is on DLA plus PIP and housing benefits.
Having written all this down, I cannot see that she has any legal protection, but it seems so unfair that they could sell the bikes, get the proceeds and yet my friend has to pay for them.
She lives in the Midlands and I live in London so can only listen to her on the phone.
Is there anything to be done to help in this situation?
Penym