Door to Door Salesmen

Thought you might be interested in this one! Its getting to that time of year!

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Door to Door Sellers - Pedlars Licence

This is a message sent via Lincolnshire Alert. This information has been sent on behalf of Lincolnshire Police (Please do not reply directly to this email, please use the Reply button at the bottom of this message) Message sent by Sharon Horne (Police & NHWN, NHW Administrator, Lincolnshire) Message from Lincolnshire Police Headquarters, Friday, 27 September 2013. Door to Door Sellers  With the recent activity of door to door sellers in our County it is probably appropriate to circulate again the legislation and advice if they come to your home. Often these people will be carrying holdalls containing linen and cleaning products and will try and engage the householder in conversation with the aim of persuading them to buy goods often at highly inflated prices. Our advice would be to try and see who is at your door initially if you have an overlooking window.  If you are not sure who is at the door do not open it.  It isn’t rude at all to decline to answer the door – it is your choice. Please do not buy from the door. If you do answer please ensure you put your chain on first before opening the door. The sellers may say that they are on a “rehabilitation course” arranged by probation services or other organisations trying to find people work. This is not the case and often they are known criminals. Probation services do not run such schemes. They may also show a card which claims to be a “Pedlars Licence” or work permit.   Would you know what to look for or what the Law states? The Pedlars Act 1871 is the legislation that governs the regulation of door-to-door selling. A  pedlar’s certificate is a certificate that allows a person to trade whilst on foot.  Pedlars can travel from door-to-door, place to place or town to town. A pedlar’s certificate is obtained from the Chief Officer of the Police from the area where the person lives. The applicant will require two forms of identification, one with a photograph and the other showing an address where the applicant has lived for at least 28 days. The applicant must be over 17 years of age. This information is used by the police to check the applicants’ identity and that they are of good character. The cost of a certificate varies but is around £12- £15. The certificate is valid for one year from date of issue. Once a certificate has been obtained, they can be used anywhere in the United Kingdom. We have attached an example of a legitimate pedlar’s certificate but there may be local variations on the appearance. The other example attached “work creation hawker” is not valid and has been seized locally. They are breaking the law if they are using anything like this. If you see any suspicious activity then please call the police non-emergency line on 101 If you are being threatened by someone at your door then do not hesitate to call on 999 Sergeant 948 Caroline Broughton Lincolnshire Police Criminal Justice