EQUITA help with there charges

[madmonk12002]

on monday 4 march a equita bailiff walked into my shop and said i owed them 567.69 .for unpaid business rates,the bill started at 254.19 with charges of 313.50 .is this correct as i have had no letters saying that i owe them money they just turned up at my shop.he said they do not have to issue ant letters for a buisiness rate debt is this true some help would be a help.also he said his next collection was of a famous football player as his debt was a lot more than mine,this isnt allowed is it ,to discuss some one elses debt with me .

[tomtubby]

The government has not prescribed that a letter fee can be applied by the bailiff company when enforcing a debt for Council Tax or Business Rates.

Some, but not all, bailiff co's will send a letter. However, a bailiff visit to collect business rates will ALWAYS be a surprise visit. The reason for this is to stop the business owner moving his goods either to his home or somewhere else to avoid them being seized by the bailiff.

As for the gossip about a football player.....sadly I have come across this so many times. All it is is gossip.....no names were mentioned ( I assume).

More importantly however is that the fees charged to you are WRONG.

Do you have the name of the bailiff who visited so that I can check to see whether or not he is certificates. Please only sent me the name by PM.

[Screw The Bailiff]

The law in this case is Regulation 3(c) of the Non-Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provision) Regulations 1993

For an unpaid Business rates debt of £254.19 is:

1st visit = £15.00
Recovery: £0-£100 = £15.00
Recovery: remaining £154.19 at 4% = £6.16
Vat on fees = £6.33
Total fees = £42.49

He walked into your shop so he might try charging you Attending to Remove, the law doesnt set a specific fee but it must be reasonable. No goods were removed because you paid when given a reasonable opportunity, Attending to remove fee = £0.00

The law doesnt prescribe a letter fee.

Total payable to bailiff should have been = £296.68 including the original debt.
You paid = £567.69
You were defrauded of: £339.17 by Mr Bayleaf.

Reclaim it by writing to the bailiffs using this letter and it gives them seven days to refund you.
Write to the council using this template. They need to know their bailiffs are defrauding their constituents.

If the council is uncooperative then make a complaint of fraud, misfeasance and assisting an offender to the LGO quoting figures and the law.

If the bailiff is uncooperative then make a complaint against the bailiff using a Form 4 using this template. That'll put him in front of his cetificating judge to explain why he had defrauded you. Have a look through this checklist to see if you have further grounds of complaint.

Give the bailiff a chance to put things right and honour a refund, then if want to address the criminal element to this matter, you can file a report to the local police. If he is convicted under the Fraud Act 2006 then be cannot trade as a bailiff & thats one more criminal off the streets!

Check the bailiff is Kosher and report back if theres an irregularity.

Keep us posted to your progress.

[The Chunchmeister]

Unfortunately STB is incorrect on two counts, firstly the Bailiff cannot add VAT onto the costs and secondly the amount of costs may well add up to the amount the bailiff is claiminmg (see part C of the the schedule that STB has provided the link for) you should note that "reasonable" is not an agreement or what you may think is reasonable but it will depend upon the actions taken by the bailiff and whether or not they can justify the costs in connection with the actions, which they generally can.

The bailiff may have taken walking possession so you need to ensure you check all documentation carefully to see what it says before throwing allegations of fraud, which of course it may not be and you will probably lose all credibality when trying to negotiate with them.

Send me details by PM and I can probably help you to resolve this.

[Screw The Bailiff]

Originally Posted by The Chunchmeister

Unfortunately STB is incorrect on two counts, firstly the Bailiff cannot add VAT onto the costs

Regulation 3(c)(3(4)) Provides for bailiffs to charge VAT on fees when collecting unpaid Business Rates.

Originally Posted by The Chunchmeister

and secondly the amount of costs may well add up to the amount the bailiff is claiminmg (see part C of the the schedule that STB has provided the link for) you should note that "reasonable" is not an agreement or what you may think is reasonable but it will depend upon the actions taken by the bailiff and whether or not they can justify the costs in connection with the actions, which they generally can.

Its not for you to decide whether fees of £381.66 is reasonable and lawful for collecting a debt of £254.19. That's the courts job, and in any event the OP has a right to ask the court for taxation.

Originally Posted by The Chunchmeister

The bailiff may have taken walking possession so you need to ensure you check all documentation carefully to see what it says before throwing allegations of fraud, which of course it may not be and you will probably lose all credibality when trying to negotiate with them.

The OP has not indicated any goods have been removed or signed a walking possession agreement.

Originally Posted by The Chunchmeister

Send me details by PM and I can probably help you to resolve this.

And keep us appraised of your progress.

[The Chunchmeister]

Regulation 3(c)(3(4)) Provides for bailiffs to charge VAT on fees when collecting unpaid Business Rates.

Which SI does this refer to?

Its not for you to decide whether fees of £381.66 is reasonable and lawful for collecting a debt of £254.19. That's the courts job, and in any event the OP has a right to ask the court for taxation.

I don't recall saying I thought they were reasonable, please read my message correctly.

The OP has not indicated any goods have been removed or signed a walking possession agreement

I find it is usually best to establish the full facts and not make assumptions otherwise the advice you give can be misleading and wrong.

[The Chunchmeister]

STB

Regulation 3(c)(3(4)) Provides for bailiffs to charge VAT on fees when collecting unpaid Business Rates

I think you are actually referring to Regulation 4 in Schedule 3 of the The Non-Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Local Lists) Regulations 1989 SI 1058 1989 and The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 SI 613 1992 which both state:

References in the Table to paragraph 1 to costs, fees and expenses include references to amounts payable by way of value added tax with respect to the supply of goods or services to which the costs, fees and expenses relate.

This of course means that the prescribed fees include VAT and therefore cannot be increased by the VAT element.

Please be aware that VAT cannot be added to any of the prescribed fees in any circumstances.

[Screw The Bailiff]

Thank you sir, you've saved the OP £6.33.

[The Chunchmeister]

Apology accepted STB