This is Mendip Council (Somerset) I believe Actually paid by debit card

**Repost as placed in wrong section** I seriously need help dealing with Equita Bailiffs. I moved out of a house in January 2009 having never seen a council tax bill. On leaving the property, I contacted the local council to inform them that I was leaving the property and giving a forwarding address to send me the bill for the property. I then heard nothing and promptly forgot about it. That was until a month ago. I recieved a call from my Father (who I have a very strained relationship with anyway) who had recieved a letter address to me "care of" his own address. I have never lived there, nor ever intend to. Needless to say, he was not amused. I contacted Equita regarding this and told them that I have no intention of hiding from this debt and gave them my current address. I was told that was fine and I requested that they sent me a letter outlining the debt, how much it was for and how to pay. The account (or so I was told) was put on hold until this letter was sent to me. I thanked them and waited for the letter outlining what I needed to do and how much I needed to pay to arrive. Two weeks later, I got another VERY angry call from my Father telling me that a letter had now arrived informing us that Equita were to call at HIS address (not, I have to add, the address I had given them as my own) and remove goods for this debt. On contacting them, they denied all knowledge of the call I had made although they did have a record of a new address. They still used the "care of" address though. So, I called again and was told that it had now been transferred to a collector and gave me his number. I called him fourteen times before I got an answer. We had a discussion where I explained what had been going on and sent him away to get a figure for me...... The original debt was somewhere in the region of £357 according to my Father, imagine my shock when he came back with £595!!!! Now, had they actually followed what they had promised to do, then the extra £250 would NEVER have appeared. Is this a case of them taking advantage of a situation and obtaining money through deception? If so, that is sailing VERY close to fraud. It gets worse. I agreed to pay £400 there and then and the final £195 this week when I am paid. This was accepted and I thought nothing more of it until yesterday. Again, I got an irate phone call from my Father telling me that a bailiff had arrived at his door to serve a notice of goods removal within 24hrs. On top of that, on the same day, we had another set of bailiffs turn up at my OWN address. I called the collector I was dealing with and demanded to know what was going on. An agreement is an agreement after all. I am now waiting for a call to tell me that this has been cancelled. What I want to know is this. What can you knowledgable people advise me to do to claim back these charges? I feel I have been lied to and ripped off and I am very close to contacting the local authorities to file a case for harassment. Thanks

I seriously need help dealing with Equita Bailiffs. I moved out of a house in January 2009 having never seen a council tax bill. On leaving the property, I contacted the local council to inform them that I was leaving the property and giving a forwarding address to send me the bill for the property. I then heard nothing and promptly forgot about it. That was until a month ago. I recieved a call from my Father (who I have a very strained relationship with anyway) who had recieved a letter address to me "care of" his own address. I have never lived there, nor ever intend to. Needless to say, he was not amused. I contacted Equita regarding this and told them that I have no intention of hiding from this debt and gave them my current address. I was told that was fine and I requested that they sent me a letter outlining the debt, how much it was for and how to pay. The account (or so I was told) was put on hold until this letter was sent to me. I thanked them and waited for the letter outlining what I needed to do and how much I needed to pay to arrive. Two weeks later, I got another VERY angry call from my Father telling me that a letter had now arrived informing us that Equita were to call at HIS address (not, I have to add, the address I had given them as my own) and remove goods for this debt. On contacting them, they denied all knowledge of the call I had made although they did have a record of a new address. They still used the "care of" address though. So, I called again and was told that it had now been transferred to a collector and gave me his number. I called him fourteen times before I got an answer. We had a discussion where I explained what had been going on and sent him away to get a figure for me...... The original debt was somewhere in the region of £357 according to my Father, imagine my shock when he came back with £595!!!! Now, had they actually followed what they had promised to do, then the extra £250 would NEVER have appeared. Is this a case of them taking advantage of a situation and obtaining money through deception? If so, that is sailing VERY close to fraud. It gets worse. I agreed to pay £400 there and then and the final £195 this week when I am paid. This was accepted and I thought nothing more of it until yesterday. Again, I got an irate phone call from my Father telling me that a bailiff had arrived at his door to serve a notice of goods removal within 24hrs. On top of that, on the same day, we had another set of bailiffs turn up at my OWN address. I called the collector I was dealing with and demanded to know what was going on. An agreement is an agreement after all. I am now waiting for a call to tell me that this has been cancelled. What I want to know is this. What can you knowledgable people advise me to do to claim back these charges? I feel I have been lied to and ripped off and I am very close to contacting the local authorities to file a case for harassment. Thanks