Dealing with Equita Bailiffs?

[vivadave]

Hi everyone.

 

I have been reading through a few dozen pages of this forum and have used the advise given with regards to dealing with equita and council tax arrears, the arrears were my partners from 2002, getting letter after letter from them, and demands, and finally a visit at the begining of June at 8am, i'm never in on a morning so my poor wife had to face him, and he took details of my partners car, (which is on HP) so that was a relief in some ways that it could not be removed even though he said it didnt matter if it was on HP, usual BS they try to scare you with, the debt was for £212.97, they added £147.50 bailiff costs, making the total £360.47, on the back of there own letter it states that one visit in £24.50, which they have only been once! So where £247.50 came from is beyond me, and i will be sending a letter asking for break down of there charges as advised on here. The same thread on here said to ring the local council and ask them about the arrears and for the correct amount, and just like the thread said, they said the debt was £212.97, and i said to the lovely lady on the phone, could we pay the debt back to the council and not the bailiffs, as the debt WAS owed to the council in the end, and not them, she said that would be fine, once the debt has been settled with the council, they will inform equita that the debt has been settled and they are happy, and all that leaves is equita to chase whatever charges they can get, by then the charges will have been clarified and corrected, £24.50 or around that anyway.

 

Total debt £212.97

 

Paid today to the council direct, over the phone £112.00, the remaining

 

£100.97 to be paid before the end of July.

 

So a big thank you to this forum, we will sleep better tonight.;-)

 

I will keep you posted and what happeneds when i send off the break down request for the charges.

 

I hope this is of help to someone else on here.

 

Please feel free to add any comments or advise.

 

 

Viva....

[citizenB]

That is good news for both you and your partner.

[vivadave]

Panic has set back in after a phone call off the bailiff today, soon as i walked in the door from work the phone rang, asking for my wife, which she is no good dealing with people on the phone so i talked to him, and so it goes....

 

Told him that i had sent a letter yesterday to the office (registered post) asking for a break down of his charges and costs £147.50, and that until i received a reply i would be paying the debt back to the council direct, and all he would be chasing would be his fee's.

 

As said in the above post the debt was for £212.97 (council tax), paid £112.00 over the phone (partners card) to the council via debt card, and told them the rest will be paid before the end of July, they were more than happy with that.

 

 

Right back to the phone call, after explaining the above, he said that we have until July 4th (Friday) to pay the debt in full, £360.47 or he is going to clamp my partners car until it is paid in full (again on HP, parked on a private driveway)

 

I'm sure i read somewhere that they are not allowed to even touch other persons property, let alone remove it (i know they cannot remove it, on HP).

 

He was adamant that he cold clamp it.

 

 

Hope someone can clarify the clamping question.

 

 

Thanks again

 

 

Viva....

[kermit2482]

Hang on a minute, you say QUOTE ( not allowed to touch other peoples property ) However you say the liability order is in your partners name and the vehicle belongs to your partner!!!!!!! Wheres the problem with this????

 

As i see it and i will tell you truthfully, YES the bailiff can clamp the car however to remove it would be foolish, as they could not sell it unless of course there were only 1 or 2 payments left to the finance company, which i doubt would be the case. And even then it would be most unlikely, all they would be doing is depriving your partner of use and this wont get them the result they want, they want the money!!!!!

[vivadave]

Thanks for the reply kermit, the main question was could they clamp the car, even though i have asked for a break down of the bailiff charges, which in theory should put things on hold until the office have sent me the break down, and justifying the costs added to the debt. But he is insisting that if the debt isnt paid in full on friday he will indeed clamp the car, i made him aware that i have rang the council and will continue to pay them until i have the break down.

 

Just need to know the best course of action from friday when he comes back.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Viva....

[kermit2482]

Thanks for the reply kermit, the main question was could they clamp the car, even though i have asked for a break down of the bailiff charges, which in theory should put things on hold until the office have sent me the break down, and justifying the costs added to the debt. But he is insisting that if the debt isnt paid in full on friday he will indeed clamp the car, i made him aware that i have rang the council and will continue to pay them until i have the break down.

 

Just need to know the best course of action from friday when he comes back.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Viva....

 

No problem but if your still worried then park it at a friends house for a wee while, trust me they will soon get bored of looking for it, but as i say the chances of removal are next to none as they CANT sell it.

[Saffronflowers]

If the Liability order is in your partner's name then yes they can clamp it - as kermit says they are unlikely to remove it but will try and create the most amount of inconveiniance possible. If the LO is not in her name then they would be commiting a big mistake by clamping it.

 

Sfx

[kel123]

check that the council has recalled the liability, the council may have forwarded what you have paid to the bailiff, who will take out his fees/chages (barring £24.50 redemption of goods fee which is paid at the end) and return what is left to the council to go towards the liability, so you may not have paid £112.

[vivadave]

Just a quick update on this situation.

 

Phoned the council again and paid the remaining £100.97.

 

So the total balance with the council tax debt is zero.

 

The payment we made today will not show on there systems till the morning between 9am and 10am, so have to ring them again in the morning to confirm they have received payment in full and the account is settled.

 

Once that has been done, they will send equita an email telling them that the debt has been settled.

 

Only left to ask really is that the bailiff is expected between 9am and 11am to collect FULL payment including his fee's total £360.47.

 

With the debt being paid it leaves a balance of £147.50 for there said costs, i sent a letter to equita on tuesday asking for breakdown, but still have'nt had anything back.

 

Whats the best way to deal with the bailiff in the morning when he turns up ?

 

 

Thanks again everyone for your input and information.

 

 

Viva....

[Saffronflowers]

Best thing you could have done - I know when money is tight it is a nightmare to get that little bit extra.

 

Remeber that the Liability Order only covers the Council Tax and not the Bailiffs fess and there is no legal hold over their fees. They would be acting illegally if they clamped the car on a settled liablity order and it would be a criminal act to prevent you from free use of your car, when the LO has been settled.

 

My first advice would be to move the car tomorrow, and then you will aliviate that problem and when .IF, the bailiff turns up tell them that the LO had been settled and you are awaiting a breakdown of their fees and when that has been produced you will discuss the matter. If they threaten naything they will be acting above their remit, record it and threaten them with a Form 4

 

Sfx

 

PS If I have got anything wrong I am sure that someone will be along soon to correct me - a bit rusty!!!

[vivadave]

I'm pleased to read a positive thread, and now feel we did the right thing paying the council.

 

We will feel even better once the morning is out of the way, just hope i can get in touch with the council before he gets here, but really makes no difference,as the payment will be there, on there systems, showing the debt as zero and settled.

 

My first advice would be to move the car tomorrow, and then you will aliviate that problem and when .IF, the bailiff turns up tell them that the LO had been settled and you are awaiting a breakdown of their fees and when that has been produced you will discuss the matter. If they threaten naything they will be acting above their remit, record it and threaten them with a Form 4

 

Can someone just confirm this part to be correct please.

 

Big thanks to you all again.

 

 

Viva....

[kermit2482]

I'm pleased to read a positive thread, and now feel we did the right thing paying the council.

 

We will feel even better once the morning is out of the way, just hope i can get in touch with the council before he gets here, but really makes no difference,as the payment will be there, on there systems, showing the debt as zero and settled.

 

 

 

Can someone just confirm this part to be correct please.

 

Big thanks to you all again.

 

 

Viva....

 

In a nutshell, YES this is correct !!

[kel123]

In a nut shell YES and NO

 

Did the council confirm what you paid to them went to pay off the liability and it wasn't sent to the bailiff for them to take out fees and return what is left to pay towards the liability.

 

Don't trust me check it out. Make sure because some on here don't know the full facts and I think some may hide them

[vivadave]

When i phoned the council yesterday the balance was £100.97, which was originally £212.97, so it showed the payment i made on Tuesday. the other payment was made yesterday and will show this morning, i'm phoning the council around 9am, just hoping i get in touch with them before the bailiff gets here, between 9am and 11am.

 

So yes i'd say the payments have come off my council account.

 

 

Thanks again for your input.

 

Viva....

[Saffronflowers]

Kel - it is highly unlikely that the council will forward it to the Bailiff in lieu fo their fees. That really is the essence to why they use bailiffs as they do not have to get involved in any financial dealings with paymeent to them.

 

Vivadave - good luck for today

 

SFx

 

PS- Kel you may not know me but I think many on here will know that I do have a good knowledge of Bailiffs and have advised succesfully to many.

Edited July 4, 2008 by Saffronflowers

[vivadave]

Thanks Saffron for confirming that, one less thing to worry about.

 

9am passed lol....gonna ring council at 9:15am.

 

Will keep you posted.

 

 

Thanks again.

 

Viva....

[kel123]

Saffronflowers

 

Ok, maybe not all councils use these tacktics - Walsall MBC do!

OK, maybe not all Bailiff companies use these tacktics - Bristow & Sutor do!

 

I have had it checked out and it is a lagitamate practise.

 

I have read some confussing posts from people that maybe this as happened to and whould explain their situations

[vivadave]

Rang council and payment was showing and balance now zero, about 30 mins later another lady rang back and told me again that the balance was now zero and they had rang equita and told them the balance with them had been settled, and equita said they will inform the bailiff. And he didnt show up, since receiving the information.

 

Thanks again for all the help.

 

 

Viva....

[Saffronflowers]

Fantabulous - i knd of thought the bailiff would not turn up!!! But I would say they may well turn up again - rremember tyhey come from a very small gene pool! But you can just tell the to do what ever you wish at the time!!

 

If you have good relations with the council they should be able to access the bailiffs computer and be able to see wht you have been charged for. One note of caution being that it is very hard to prove phantom visits, even when they levy on a car on a certain date and the car had been scrapped 3 days prior!!!!!

 

Just keep your wits about you and hope that they trip themselves up - it is very satisfying!

 

Sfx

[Don_puppyd7]

I paid the council direct like yourself, informed Equita it was paid and the LO is settled, everything was fine till i got a letter demanding their fees for a number of visits that never took place and was dated the same day I and the council had informed them it was cleared, thankfully my partner emailed my local councilor with the receipts that it been paid and a copy of their last letter. Thankfully contacted council on our behalf and that was last we heard of them, And this all happened within 14 days of getting their first letter.

 

I would expect to hear from them again.

 

Don

[vivadave]

Cheers again for the replies.

The bailiff told me on the phone earlier in the week that the fee's were, £111 bailiff costs and £30 for something else i didnt catch.

 

Come what may now as the worse part is over now, with the debt and LO being settled.

 

Thanks again.

 

Viva....