I would say, first off pay the normal amount, but also ask them for a formal breakdown of whst these costs/charges are. There are legal limits to what they can charge for and how much - an 200 is a lot. Report it to your council (they will probably ignore you) - in writing and Equita (also in writing) and go see the CAB about it. They may make a nice little threat for you that will get Equita to backdown. As for the online thing, it breaks down all the time - its really flakey - I have found if you leave it until late at night it seems to work better - during the day it takes half a dozen attempts. ...but get that breakdown of charges.

Angie, you missed a payment to Equita (agreed amount?) or you missed your Council Tax and the council passed you to Equita? If the former, then Equita IS the baliff - and they just assigned it to an agent/collector within their company, so what were the charges for? A visit is less then £25 max (law) and interest is linked to base rate (a few points above) - which is pretty low right now So what's the £160 new charges for? If the latter, then they do charge their supposed costs (and 160 is light from what I've seen, believe me!). Careful the £160 doesn't mount up with interest and further charges - get the CAB to question these costs for you - I assume you have already asked for a breakdown and been ignored Good luck

If they say they will not make an arrangement with you, then get the CAB to call them (they will make a record of it for you too). The law is pretty hard on people that ignore tax debts, but they are also quite hard on companies that refuse to make agreements (its a waste of the court's time) - and Equita know this, so make sure you record your contacts (recorded delivery letters - keep the slips and staple to copies of the letters). You may also want to copy correspondence to your Council with their rejections of your offers and a covering note explaining what you have said above. Lilclare, if you are on a low income is the council not paying your Council Tax (I assume Council Tax as Equita is mostly involved with CT and the threat of prison - only CT/Tax/TV Licenese carries this threat). I refer you to my last comment - this was with Equita, so if not (and not CT) then I guess you have to give more info. Thing to remember is that they have NO right of access UNLESS you leave a way open to them (i.e. you leave the door open or a ground floor window - grey area this one!) OR you have invited them in before - the CAB told me that if they have been invited in previously they can actually break and enter to regain access (some quirk/twist of the law they said) - not sure how true it is, but do not let them in! If they knock and will not go away, either ignore them, call them from the upstairs window (telling them you will not give them access regardless of their threats) or tell them to phone you - but DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR TO TALK TO THEM PERIOD. Don't ignore it though - assuming you are a home owner - as they can apply for attachment orders and sell your home from under you! Good luck

As no one as actually responded to the opener (quoted above) - I will. I had exactly the same as the opener (the council 'lost' my application for CT Benefit - which I got later - still working on backdating!). All I did was phoned Equita, got through to the guy dealing with my case, and made an arrangement to pay (£40/month on a - at the time - £2,300 debt [band F] - now reduced due to CT Benefits). I pay each month online at their web site and no further problems at all. I know people are all for saying don't contact or speak to the baliffs etc, and I agree with the "don't let them in - ever - or leave doors/windows open" stuff, but not communicating does little but make things worse (and the debt bigger - with each letter/visit). If your council is anything like mine, they do not want to know once its handed to the baliffs, so not talking is burying your head in the sand - nothing is going to resolve itself! the £40 a month was my initial offer (actually I said a tenner a week and the guy said call it £40 a month its easier than variable amounts based on month length) - I have been payng this method for 4 months now (and even been a few days late a couple of times) and not had one letter or call from them since. I'm sure my opinion will be flamed down, but its worked for me and hopefully you - just make sure to offer no more than you can achieve. PS: Equita seem to ignore letters, so phone call seems to work best. Good luck.