Council tax arrears and equita Bailiffs

[NaythonJ]

Hi,

 

i have outstanding council tax of £865. i recieved a letter from equita threatening doorstep collections so i phoned them dtraight away and had a extremeley rude person telling me that my account was at the bailiffs and she would not talk to me but gave me a mobile number to call.

 

i called this bailiff named Ronnie!! who told me that my total debt was in the region of £1100 and that if i did not pay i would have him come round in the next few days to arrange to collect my goods etc. i have never dealt with this before so was quite shocked and worried about the situation so i offered to make a payment plan of £40 per month to me that is a lot of money he scoffed at this and said no chance if i set up a plan it will be for the max of 3 months which was impossible for me. he then said he would call me back to which he never and i bwegan worrying that he would turn up at the door and take my goods so i recalled him and offered to pay £80 per month he again said no and we ended up with a sum of £70 PER WEEK!! now i realistically cannot afford this.

 

i have seen on the website that if you call the council you can maybe pay them is trhat correct?

 

please can anyone give me som good advice as i really am worrying about this and need to sort it out my first payment was meant to go on friday but i cannot get in contact with him and after reading all this am very worried as i have no written information

[bailiffbasher69]

Hello and wellcome first of all you have found the right place second dont panick now for starters Im pretty damn sure that the Equita bailiff will have hiked up the amount that you have to pay with what he will call an "enforcement fee" if he has this is not allowed spend some time today reading the forums here and you will begin to feel better educate yourself thier are things bailiffs can and cant do and one of them is just to turn up and remove your goods its not as simple as that but he's hopeing you dont know this on monday ring him again and ask him exactly how the amount is made up be polite dont let on that you are getting help from here and try to record the conversation see if he will admit to this "enforcement fee" he probabbly will. Now for some basic rules NEVER and I mean NEVER let a bailiff in to your home not even if his head is falling off and he wants to call an ambulance there is no law that says you must let him in he can only gain entry by peacefull means so if the door is unlocked he can walk in if a window is open he can climb in once he is in he can and will levy against your goods and then any payment plan you break he will have the power to return and remove goods with a lock smith if nesacarey now like i said start educating yourself on here and one of the big guns will be along to help more shortly however the week end is normally quite quiet on here good luck keep us posted oh by the way where are you from

[lets fight bailiffs]

it would apear that there fees on this are already too high.

 

send them a strong letter requesting a breakdown of fees and also copy to the council and also ask them for a copy of the order from the court.

 

if you have not been to court you can apply to the court to be means tested and a judge will set the rate to your means test and that will be based on you income and outgoings this is a fair way to isue a payment plan.

 

can i ask what is you employment status?

 

LFB

[bailiffbasher69]

Oh by the way if you have a car dont park it near your home they can levy on this also

[NaythonJ]

Thanks for the help so far

 

In response to the questions

 

I am from Birmingham

 

I am a student but also work part time as a bar tender

 

I did goto court origannally and saw a summons officer and we agreed on a payment plan but she said that I was to start pAying once I had recieved a payment card and confirmation of the agreement but the only correspondence I had off them since then was a liability order and now this equita stuff

 

is it still possible to get a deal with my council (Birmingham city)

 

Tbe people at equita say they donot have my case as it's with the bailiff so who should I send the letter into?

[BlurredFX]

Speak to the Council first thing tomorrow, and get some clarity off them, as well and the name of the person you speak to, post it up here, and people will chip in.

 

You're situation is not unfamiliar; I have been there. And I am still dealing with it, but yours should hopefully be easier.

 

If you are a student, do you have a Council Tax exemption form from your University? Can you get one? Ask the SU possibly?

 

In any event, Baillifs for Council Tax can only charge two visit fees, the first being £24 and the second being £18.50 if I remember correctly, as long as they do not obtain a Levy!

 

Any comments?