Equita Fees

[Monk_uk]

Hi all - my story is similar to most.

 

I was paying by installments on a council tax debt to Equita which I had arranged on receiving the initial letter from them telling me the council had transferred the collection to them.

 

I missed a payment by a week, so phoned up but was told "it's been passed to Mr ***** and we can't talk to you, you can only talk to him".

 

Speaking to the bailiff, I found out the outstanding balance was £200 more than I expected, however neither he nor the call-centre would give me a breakdown - it was the "pay-up in 24 hours or else".

 

Therefore I just paid the whole amount, thinking that I could claim back the fees later. Big mistake. After I paid up, they then sent me the following breakdown of charges on request:

 

Bailiff fee : £88.50

Enforcement Fee : £160

 

As you can see, both are rather peculiar, seeing that I thought the most fees they could charge was £42.50 - how did they get to £88.50? The bailiff never entered my property at all.

 

So I sent a letter saying that I contested the charges levied. I have now received a reply which basically says "the fees reflect the action taken."

 

So what to do now? - I have drafted one letter stating the relevant legislation and statutory instruments but I am guessing I will be fobbed off again. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance

[chris600uk]

Well that depends on you, of course they will try to fob you off that is what they are trained to do.

 

Your best way forward is to start from the beginning and establish exactly what the bailiffs did and didn't do.

 

Write to the bailiffs and ask them for a screenshot of your account, and also ask them for evidence of any visits made, and what vehicles were used.

 

Go back to your paperwork, get the bailiffs name and check with the Ministry of Justice that he actually does possess a certificate granted by the court, and find out when that certificate was granted.

 

You are entitled to this information, yes they may try to put you off, because they don't want you to have it.

That's because they know what you will do with it.

 

If you still owe money to the council then the best that you can hope for is to have any unlawful or excessive bailiff fees offset against your debt.

[Monk_uk]

Thanks for this. No I do not owe anything to the cancel anymore, it is more the fact that I have been charged over £200 more than I should have that I am trying to claim back.

[sequenci]

Has the bailiff ever been in to the property? Have you ever signed anything?

[Monk_uk]

No, they never gained entry into the property and I did not sign a thing. I do not have a shed etc, or a car so they could not of claimed that as a levy. As it is the letter he posted showed no total or breakdown of charges. When I asked him about the charges he said "he was not allowed to talk about that", but that of course is circumstantial and unproveable evidence.

 

All of the communications were done on the phone. As far as I am concerned he put one letter through the door on a Friday, I phoned him immediately when i got home and paid by card on the Monday.

 

Believe me, I know that Bailiffs are like Vampires - you never invite one into your house!