Equita bailiff and fees

[scatz1972]

THis is a link to National debtline factsheet on bailiffs and council tax

 

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 02 Bailiffs And Council Tax

 

The fees that a bailiff can charge BY LAW are set out at the bottom of the page

 

Call them, and they will confirm everything 0808 808 4000

 

National Debtline – Free, Confidential Debt Advice – Call 0808 808 4000

[chris600uk]

The most interesting thing is she insists they can keep calling and adding fees when no access or levy is in place, she quotes section 1A of the 1992 statutory instrument "for making a visit to premisis with a view to levying distress (WHETHER THE LEVY IS MADE OR NOT ),

can anybody with a legal background confirm if this is the case or not with reasoning, she also says if they visit with a van, again no levy, they can charge reasonable costs she reckons £150+ is reasonable.

 

You don't need a legal background to read schedule 5 to see what she is referring to, see this link The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992

[chris600uk]

Sounds good from her point of view doesn't it?

 

Only problem is 1A doesn't say that any more..................

 

 

THE COUNCIL TAX (ADMINISTRATION & ENFORCEMENT) REGULATIONS 1992

AS AMENDED BY THE COUNCIL TAX (ADMINISTRATION & ENFORCEMENT) (AMENDMENT) (NO.2) REGULATIONS 1993,

THE COUNCIL TAX (ADMINISTRATION & ENFORCEMENT) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 1998,

THE COUNCIL TAX (ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT) (AMENDMENT) (NO. 2) (ENGLAND) REGULATIONS 2003

AND THE COUNCIL TAX AND NON-DOMESTIC RATING (AMENDMENT) (ENGLAND) REGULATIONS 2006

SCHEDULE 5 CHARGES CONNECTED WITH DISTRESS

1. The sum in respect of charges connected with the distress which may be aggregated under Regulation 45(2)

shall be as set out in the following Table-

(1) Matter connected with distress (2) Charge

A For making a visit to premises with a view to

Levying distress (where no levy is made) -

 

(i) where the visit is the first or only

such visit): £24.50

 

(ii) where the visit is the second such

visit: £18.00

[chris600uk]

And if for any reason you feel that's not enough, then go to this link:D

The Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rating (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2006

[sweed73]

fantastic, as i haven't paid the fees yet if they withdraw them is there anything i can do other than complain, if equita have been charging for every visit regardless of levy is there anyway i can do anything to help the other people that had been ripped off ? the lady from the council was telling me thev'eused equita for 4 years for thousands of cases and they are a reputable company, imagine how much they must have made ripping off people.

As a point of interest where does the onus lie on proving a visit from the bailiff has taken place.

thanks again

[chris600uk]

if equita have been charging for every visit regardless of levy is there anyway i can do anything to help the other people that had been ripped off ?

 

None whatsoever - because the council don't want to do anything, neither do the government - let's face it, we're only tax dodgers aren't we

 

the lady from the council was telling me thev'eused equita for 4 years for thousands of cases and they are a reputable company

 

She has to say that or she could lose her job, and if she says it often enough she may even start to believe it, although I doubt that.

 

where does the onus lie on proving a visit from the bailiff has taken place.

thanks again

 

With the bailiff of course, because he charges for it, not only must he prove it took place but he must show that he complied with the law.

That's no problem for them while they are collecting the amount listed on the liability order - but if the council has the account returned to them, or the debtor clears the debt with the council - they have no way to enforce their fees as bailiffs, they're just like any other person who says you owe them money - they've got to prove it in court.

[sweed73]

Just noticed on the letters from equita , first one is the liability order, second says Recovery officers have called, third says they will send out a bailiff if not paid,

whats the difference between recovery officer and bailiff

[chris600uk]

none

[sweed73]

The council tax manager asked me to put everything i could remember about my dealing with equita in an email , i sent her,

Hello,

Thanks for the telephone call I will try to put together below the conversation with the bailiff and some other points which I feel are relevant, if you could reply by email as well as phoning it would help me understand what’s gone on as it is sometimes a lot to take in over the phone.

I spoke to the bailiff on Tuesday morning at about 8 am and asked him to clarify a few points,

His certification number to check he was a certified bailiff,

The original amount owed,

Any payments made by myself,

The remaining balance,

Any fees added,

He said I would have to ring back the next day at ten,

I rang back he said he didn’t have a number but was registered at Liverpool, I checked this and he is,

He said it was scheduled for a man with a van to visit and remove goods,

He said the debt was £1224.79 originally,

He said I owed £816 now before a visit,

I knew I had paid around £612 so I queried the difference, he stated these were fees added, I reckoned up quickly the fees to be around £200 and asked him how they could charge this as the fees are set in legislation, he grumbled and said if I paid straight away it would be £643 pounds, meaning the difference from £816 to £643 are I assume the fees he quoted i.e. £173.

I told him I couldn't pay at once but could possibly pay over two weeks if I didn't pay the mortgage, he replied that he'd get back to me.

He didn't and called the next day, and hand posted the letter I left at the council.

Neither I nor my partner has any recollection of a previous visit,

During June and July I was receiving letters from Equita asking to ring head office, if the debt had been passed to an individual bailiff Equita wouldn't discuss the debt with me and so I don't think I could have entered into an arrangement with them.

Do Equita have proof of the visits; many Debt collection Agencies now use GPS logs as proof of visits.

Hope this helps you get to the bottom of it.

My other questions are,

The national debt line insist that fees are only payable for the first two visits and if no entry is made non thereafter, a van charge cannot be made unless a levy is in place, no levy has ever been placed on my goods as entry has never been made.

A link to their website can be found here http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=02_bailiffs_and_council_tax fees are at the bottom,

Equita are members of the ESA enforcement services association, their code of conduct states,

. Members should on each and every occasion when a visit is made to a debtor’s property which incurs the debtor in a fee, leave a notice setting out in detail how the fee was made up and retain a record of the said issue of the notice for a minimum period of 12 months, after the date of issue.

This is not the case with Equita letters,

The last letter implies the bailiff can return at any time and force entry whether I am in or not, again this is against the law as no walking possession order or levy has been signed, in effect he is threatening to break in and steal goods.

I have found a receipt for the payment I mentioned to you that I paid last year,

It was for £427.27 and the equita reference was *******, paid on the 4th april 08 , as above I believe no visits were made only to collect the money, no levy etc. I called the recovery office on Saturday to try and find out how much you recieved, the lady has found a payment from equita on the 4th May for £277.77, if this is the same payment it means again i have been charged £149.50 to pick up the cheque ?.

As I said on the phone I am more than happy to get the debt paid off and appreciate the time and effort you are spending to get the issues resolved, however if it is that Equita have acted outside of the legislation set in place to govern Bailiffs I intend to complain to whoever I can to ensure this doesn't happen again.

Many thanks again

Stephen Whiteley

She rang on monday and sounded much more agreeable, she said the debt is on hold while an investigation is carried out and she would write back as soon as possible,

i know the letters not perfect but are there any major errors i should know about before she rings back.

Also if anyone knows about CCJ's and charging orders can i have some help on my other thread please.

[chris600uk]

God sweed that gives you a headache trying to read it, how about using italics for quoted stuff!

 

And you should be putting all of this in writing, it is often a mistake to get into conversation with any bailiff - because you have no proof whatever of what was or wasn't said, it's your word against theirs, and guess whose word carries the most weight?.

[sweed73]

sorry sorry,

i just cut and paste from email , it looks ok on the reply box then comes out like this, i know about talking to them but after the letter through my missus was going mad.