Please Help!

[joscelyn]

I don't know what to do and am hoping someone can offer me advice about what to do. I had an arrangement on a £300 debt to pay £55 a month, first payment made no problem have now missed 2nd payment.

 

Received 2 letters from Equita on Monday, one saying contact the office to discuss how you intend to pay and the other saying that bailiffs will be coming round within the next 2 days, both dated the same date, both same reference number.

 

Phoned Equita Tuesday and was told it know in the hands of bailiffs and put me through to bailiff. I phoned back and explained that i had received 2 letters and that I would like to discuss payment, phone put down on me. Phoned back and said about the two letters and was put straight through to bailiff mobile with no explanation. I realised they had diverted me to a mobile so hung up the phone.

 

Bailiff then rings back so I discuss with him, he says the letter saying contact the office was sent in error and he is now dealing with the case. The debt is £256, I explained to him that I would have the money on the coming Tuesday, he says he is down to visit my property on Friday and if i have not paid by then he will put charges on my account of over £100. I begged him to wait until tuesday to give me a chance to pay without incurring charges but he will not listen.

 

Yesterday, i sent a letter to Equita explaining I had received two letters and had phoned office to sort it out and was hung up on. I know this bailiff is not going to wait until Tuesday, what can I do. If he comes and I don't let him in and then go to the council(council tax debt)to try and pay the money on Tuesday and they let me will I still be liable for bailiffs charges. I did phone the council yesterday and they said they can not help me cos it wiht the bailiffs.

 

I am really worried about this, please help with advice.

[PGH7447]

Hi and welcome, first things first what is the debt for?

and have you been to court over this, reason for asking is bailiff are not normally used unless a court order as been granted

 

I don't know what to do and am hoping someone can offer me advice about what to do. I had an arrangement on a £300 debt to pay £55 a month, first payment made no problem have now missed 2nd payment.

 

Received 2 letters from Equita on Monday, one saying contact the office to discuss how you intend to pay and the other saying that bailiffs will be coming round within the next 2 days, both dated the same date, both same reference number.

 

Phoned Equita Tuesday and was told it know in the hands of bailiffs and put me through to bailiff. I phoned back and explained that i had received 2 letters and that I would like to discuss payment, phone put down on me. Phoned back and said about the two letters and was put straight through to bailiff mobile with no explanation. I realised they had diverted me to a mobile so hung up the phone.

 

Bailiff then rings back so I discuss with him, he says the letter saying contact the office was sent in error and he is now dealing with the case. The debt is £256, I explained to him that I would have the money on the coming Tuesday, he says he is down to visit my property on Friday and if i have not paid by then he will put charges on my account of over £100. I believ that £100 is way above the amount they can charge I begged him to wait until tuesday to give me a chance to pay without incurring charges but he will not listen.

 

Yesterday, i sent a letter to Equita explaining I had received two letters and had phoned office to sort it out and was hung up on. I know this bailiff is not going to wait until Tuesday, what can I do. If he comes and I don't let him in and then go to the council(council tax debt)to try and pay the money on Tuesday and they let me will I still be liable for bailiffs charges. I did phone the council yesterday and they said they can not help me cos it wiht the bailiffs.

 

I am really worried about this, please help with advice.

 

just noticed it is council tax, so phone them again and state that the bailiff is threatening to charge over £100 for a visit and is this normal.

 

hopefully someone with more bailiff experience will be along shortly

[clemma]

Have asked the mods to move to the Bailiff forum where you will get better advice. I am pretty sure that the maximum charge a bailiff can levy is £42.50........

[joscelyn]

Thnak you to you both.

[MARTIN3030]

Thread moved here.Can you say who the baliffs are ?

[MARTIN3030]

Whats the position with liability orders ?

Have you had any paperwork previously ?

[MARTIN3030]

Just a thought-do you have online banking ?

[joscelyn]

I do not have online banking

 

I did have previous correspondence and set up a payment plan but missed my second payment and received bailiff letter within 8 days of missing 2nd £55 payment.

 

Liability order - sorry I don't know

 

Bailiffs are Equita

[tonycee]

Have the bailiffs visited you before to gain a Walking possession Order.

 

 

http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/debt_basics/bailiff-guide.php

[chris600uk]

I don't know what to do and am hoping someone can offer me advice about what to do. I had an arrangement on a £300 debt to pay £55 a month, first payment made no problem have now missed 2nd payment.

 

Received 2 letters from Equita on Monday, one saying contact the office to discuss how you intend to pay and the other saying that bailiffs will be coming round within the next 2 days, both dated the same date, both same reference number.

 

That's quite normal.

 

Phoned Equita Tuesday and was told it know in the hands of bailiffs and put me through to bailiff. I phoned back and explained that i had received 2 letters and that I would like to discuss payment, phone put down on me.

 

That is quite normal too.

 

Phoned back and said about the two letters and was put straight through to bailiff mobile with no explanation. I realised they had diverted me to a mobile so hung up the phone.

 

You did the right thing.

 

Bailiff then rings back so I discuss with him

 

You did the wrong thing -- NEVER EVER TALK TO BAILIFFS ON THE PHONE -- unless you are recording the conversation and gathering information for a complaint.

 

The debt is £256, I explained to him that I would have the money on the coming Tuesday, he says he is down to visit my property on Friday and if i have not paid by then he will put charges on my account of over £100. I begged him to wait until tuesday to give me a chance to pay without incurring charges but he will not listen.

 

Threatening to add £100 if you don't pay by a certain date is blackmail, no more no less.

That is why you never ever talk to bailiffs on the phone unless you are recording the conversation and gathering information for a complaint.

He must have felt all-powerful, and probably had a warm tingly feeling somewhere below his ribs listening to you beg.

 

Yesterday, i sent a letter to Equita explaining I had received two letters and had phoned office to sort it out and was hung up on.

 

We have lots of template letters which you can use to send to the bailiffs, unfortunately the one that you have sent will be ignored.

 

I know this bailiff is not going to wait until Tuesday, what can I do. If he comes and I don't let him in and then go to the council(council tax debt)to try and pay the money on Tuesday and they let me

 

I'm afraid that the council won't let you do that. They are contractually obliged to leave the account in the hands of the bailiff unless you fall into one of the "vulnerable" categories.

But I'm really glad to say, that indicating that you will not let the bailiff in is an encouraging sign that you are becoming aware of your rights.

However, as far as paying the council is concerned, and I believe that that is the right thing to do -- you should pay them direct online, they cannot refuse you and they will not give you the money back, and they won't charge fees either so every penny you pay them, will reduce your debt to them.

 

will I still be liable for bailiffs charges

 

That depends on you... if you deny the bailiffs any opportunity to enter your property, to look into your property, or to levy goods outside of your property, refuse to speak to them, and only communicate with them in writing/e-mail... then ultimately, they will hand the account back to the council and no, you will not be for liable bailiffs charges.

Or, if you pay the debt in full before any levy/seizure is made, no, you will not be liable for bailiffs charges.

 

I did phone the council yesterday and they said they can not help me cos it wiht the bailiffs.

 

Although I mentioned earlier in this post, that the council are contractually obliged to leave the account with the bailiffs, that doesn't mean they cannot help you if you insist on paying the bailiffs. They can if they wish instruct the bailiffs to accept a payment arrangement, they can do this because the bailiff is the council's agent.

 

However, if I was in your position I would use a template letter and modify it to complain about the bailiffs behaviour on the telephone, telling them that you are considering making a complaint, and that you want enforcement action to stop while the account is in dispute, unless of course you are seriously considering paying that ****** £100.

And meanwhile, telling no one, start paying online.

 

Keep all doors and windows locked, park any vehicle well away from the house, do not open the door to any person unless you are sure it is not a bailiff.

Edited March 19, 2009 by chris600uk
spelling

[joscelyn]

Thanks for all the advice, I have this morning payed the ****** bailiff the amount that I owed the council with no fees put on, just the outstanding amount. I have an autistic son and knowing that the bailiff would be on my door Friday morning, which would have upset and distressed him without doubt was enough to make me pay, also had no intention of paying his stupid charges so thought it best to just pay the money owed.

 

Its nice to know the advice you offered just incase I ever find myself in this unfortunate position again. Wish I hadn't spoken to him on phone though but he called me back at my workplace after office had put me through to his phone and I hung up. I was on my workplace phone when I phoned the Equita office so therefore they obviously had that number. I couldn't let it interfere with work or take the risk of him speaking to any of my colleagues.

 

I am still considering making a complaint about the bailiff and the fees he quoted that would be added to my account(it was actually £190)He said as soon as he had been to my address these fees would be applied to my account, nearly the amountI owed on top again. Is there some sort of governing body? that I could complain to, it seems to me it would be a waste of time complaining to Equita.

 

Thanks again for all your time and advice, I will certainly be doing my best to keep out of this situation in the future.

[jed52]

'Originally Posted by joscelyn

I know this bailiff is not going to wait until Tuesday, what can I do. If he comes and I don't let him in and then go to the council(council tax debt)to try and pay the money on Tuesday and they let me

I'm afraid that the council won't let you do that. They are contractually obliged to leave the account in the hands of the bailiff unless you fall into one of the "vulnerable" categories'

 

Not necesarily true chris. True, they have contracts with the bailiff, but they cannot refuse to take a payment from you on an account. I was in the same situation a few months ago and just carried on paying the council direct. The bailiff didnt have a say in the matter. And it was a council official that told me they couldnt refuse to take a payment. This was also after I had written to the council asking them to take the debt back, which they refused to do. I am still paying in this way today. jed

[chris600uk]

I have this morning payed the ****** bailiff the amount that I owed the council with no fees put on, just the outstanding amount. ce, I will certainly be doing my best to keep out of this situation in the future.

 

Jocelyn, I have read your posts again and it sounds to me as if you have paid the bailiff just the amount owing to the council.

 

If that's true, then what is most likely to happen is that the bailiff will deduct whatever fees he thinks he can from what you paid, and will then pass what is left to the council.

 

Unless there's something you haven't told us -- then you are still going to be hounded by the bailiffs.

 

The reason is this, the liability order granted by the magistrates court gives the Council the right to pursue you for the debt listed on the liability order. The bailiffs, acting as agents of the council don't have any right to enforce collection of their fees until they have levied upon or seized goods.

That's why they deduct any fees first, to try and stop you satisfying the liability order until they have made some decent money out of you.

 

What you should do now, is contact the council and ask them how much is still owing against the liability order. You may get an unpleasant surprise.

That is why, in my previous posts I said that it is best to pay the council online, you can do this from any computer, from anywhere, so long as you have a credit or debit card.

[chris600uk]

Based on what you told us, the bailiffs have not been inside your house, and have not levied on anything or seized anything; so the most that they can charge in fees would be £42.50, provided they have actually been to the house and attempted to speak to the debtor, usually by knocking on the door.