Equita Experience

[hallowitch]

Shortly after receiving this shot-out-of-the-blue Council Tax problem I was nice enough to notify the Council that my ex was claiming to be a student when he wasn't, though I wasn't sure of the dates. I think the reason I have two Liability Orders for 2006 is that the smaller one is the amount of Council Tax difference there is (my ex is jointly liable but because he doesn't work and they're not sure of where he lives they're chasing me).

 

I understand that the council may have added this to your council tax for 2006 they would not have had to take you court to get another liability order for the exra amount they would have made an adjustment to the original liability order

[Paine Fury]

 

I understand that the council may have added this to your council tax for 2006 they would not have had to take you court to get another liability order for the exra amount they would have made an adjustment to the original liability order

 

Ah, thank you! I was worried that's what they'd done but now I know different

[Paine Fury]

Allo everyone! Another update

 

Equita and SBC arae fighting over one amount, its the one debt outstanding but Equita think its with them and SBC think it's with them.

 

I've made 3 payments of £50 to SBC and all is well, and, when speaking to MrBailiffPerson he informed me its likely the debt is stuck in limbo and to call SBC to find out who I pay - them or Equita.

 

Luckily, a nice gent at SBC told me to keep paying them, and they will contact Equita to tell them they're not longer responsible for it.

 

So, big plus side is the debt is considerably less than first though! And the contact with Equita should stop as I have no outstanding amount with them.

[Paine Fury]

Another update.

 

Just received a hand-delivered removal notice from a different Bailiff, the previous one never got back to me about confirming with Equita I don't owe them anything and now I have an extremely rude lady threatening to come to my house.

 

I tried telling her that I don't owe Equita anything, even mentioned previous conversations about it but she didn't believe me, and when I asked her (politely) to speak to SBC her response was "Well I will be anyway".

 

She was extremely sarcastic and pretty much treated me like crap on the phone. I phoned SBC straight away and spoke to someone else and asked quite desperately what's going on. He confirmed again I don't owe Equita anything but when I asked to receive this in writing he said "We can't send anything out until the Recovery department have received the memo".

 

So, despite me calling them half a dozen times over the last month the Recovery department HAVEN'T called Equita and told them I don't owe any money to them.

 

This is the third bailiff that Equita have used, they don't seem to be talking to each other. And seeing as the previous bailiff (who confirmed I owe nothing) is no longer handling the case I can't even call him and ask him to speak to someone in their damn head office.

 

Whenever I call Equita I just get given that rude lady's mobile numberm which isn't helping me. The bloke at SBC couldn't tell me WHEN the recovery department is phoning Equita, and meanwhile I now have to keep my windows and door shut in case they start removing items for a debt I don't have have with them!

 

Fiance suggests calling Citizens Advice Bureau, is this a good idea? I can't keep calling Equita, then SBC, then Equita, then SBC, and hearing nothing back until I receive ANOTHER red letter.

 

Help please!

[Paine Fury]

Have also just sent this email via the link on the Equita website:

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

I have been in contact with three of your bailiffs regarding an outstanding account. My first contact, Mr *******, I made a payment with of £353.50 to clear an account. I have also been in regular contact with Swindon Borough Council in regards to an issue with an outstanding amount.

 

Both the Recovery Department of Swindon Borough Council AND the second bailiff assigned to me, Mr *********, have confirmed I no longer owe any money to yourselves, and was informed in my last conversation with Mr ******* than this would be sorted out. A conclusion was given that both Swindon Borough Council and Equita were collecting on one debt of £933. Swindon Borough Council have confirmed to me that the debt is with them, and I have so far made payments of £50 on 27th April, 27th May and 27th June with an arrangement to pay £50 a month until this amount has been cleared off, yet I am still receiving notices from Equita informing me my goods will now be removed to pay off an amount I apparently have outstanding.

 

The third bailiff, Miss *******, I spoke to today (5/7) after receiving a hand-posted Bailiff Removal Notice and informed her that this issue should've been resolved with Mr ******* help, yet she claims I still owe money.

 

Can someone from the Head Office please contact me ASAP via telephone or email as I have had it confirmed several times by both Equita and Swindon Borough Council over the phone that I do not owe Equita any money.

 

Kindest Regards,

 

******

Edited July 5, 2010 by Paine Fury

[Paine Fury]

Also gathering up all the paperwork and going to the Citizens Advice Bureau tomorrow morning, to see what can be done.

[Dhimmiwit]

Good luck Miss Fury, looks as if they're in a right muddle over you, I hope the CAB can sort this one for you, it appears to be a case of communication meltdown so don't get yourself too wound up

[ploddertom]

Formal Complaint to the CEO at the Council - don't forget to enclose your bill for all the hassle.

 

PT

[Paine Fury]

Ah I was hoping you'd reply PlodderTom, can I make a claim against someone?

 

Equita or SBC, I dunno. But this has been an incredibly elongated hassle over a non-existent debt...

[Paine Fury]

Allo peeps! This'll make you laugh....

 

"I was registered, surname given, DOB etc etc, and waited some more. 11:30am came and, armed with a nick thick folder of letters, receipts and such I was sat down in a tiny room with a lovely lady called L***** and I began my story. She sympathised from the word go, informing me this happens quite often, and that unfortunately I won't be the last person who'll have this problem either and looked at all my documentation.

 

Armed with the three most important ones: Letter from Swindon Borough Council confirming the £353.30 debt I had with Equita and the arrangement I had with the rest, the receipt from Equita saying I had paid £353.50, and the letter from Equita confirming they'd received payment and my balance outstanding was zero, she started dialling numbers to get through to someone at SBC to complain her head off.

 

It didn't look hopeful when four different numbers dialled didn't answer their phones.........

 

Eventually, after trying again and again she got through to a young lady who confirmed over the phone (even though I already knew this) I owe Equita nothing, and a note was on my record for an Urgent memo to be sent to the Recovery Department to tell Equita to back off. LadyOnThePhone was going to leave it at that until L***** kindly asked something else to be done, as this "urgent" request was put in on 29th June and this hadn't happened yet.

 

So LadyOnThePhone took my mobile number and promised both me and Linda she was going to march down to the Recovery Department herself right now, and get someone to call the bailiff and tell them to go away.

 

That was at roughly 12pm, and I still haven't received the call. I'm sorry to swear but THIS IS RIDICULOUS! All it would take to clean up this mess is one, simple phonecall between Equita and SBC, and it just isn't happening.

 

Apparently the Recovery Department are hard to get ahold of, and this is what is delaying things. I've spoken directly to the Recovery Department once before (he was the nice gent who sent me the letter and made the arrangement for me) but while they're faffing about, I'm getting bailiffs on my door."

 

That was earlier, I finally got the callback about 5 minutes ago. SBC confirmed that my case is being dealt with by the Recovery manager, but he's currently off sick! Should be in tomorrow, and an email has been sent to him to call me.

 

The confusion is, as the debt was split slightly, when the £125 was passed over to Equita, accidentally ALL of the debt went over, and Equita were under the assumption they were collecting it all. Either SBC still kept it and said nothing, or they reclaimed the biggest part of the debt back and something went wrong somewhere.

 

Anyways, it has been confirmed AGAIN this is a fuss over one debt I'm already paying off, and Equita should have nothing to do with this. I've got to sit tight for 2 days maximum for this callback from MrRecoveryManager and then keep my fingers crossed he has finally called them and they are leaving me alone.

 

I have also sent a formal complaint to the top dogs at Swindon Borough Council, via 1st Class Recorded Post, and I plan on doing the same to Equita.

 

Keep your everythings crossed for me guys! If I have bailiff knocking/another damn letter through my door I'm going to throw a temper tantrum.

 

P x

[Yoshiro]

The plot is thickening -

 

I have asked the bailiff Mr Roberts to find out what's going on and call me back, and he hasn't! However, I have now received a letter officially from Equita saying that I do not owe them any money. I shall put it out for you:

 

"Dear Miss ********,

 

Further to your recent communication please find detailed below the information requested for: Unpaid Council Tax due to: Swindon Borough Council.

 

DEBT: £125.00

COURT COSTS: £0.00

BAILIFF COSTS: £228.50

VAT: £0.00

PAID: £353.50

__________________________

TOTAL OUTSTANDING: £0.00

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

Bailiff Manager"

 

So, I have a piece of official paper stating I owe them nothing, and I haven't heard a damn peep from the bailiff about this imaginary £933 amount he states I owe. SBC (Swindon Borough Council) stated the debt was for £125 not including bailiff costs and funnily enough, the amount of debt was £125.

 

Admittedly £288 in Bailiff costs was a bit ridiculous, they've never visited my house and I've only received about 4 letters from them in total, but if that's normal then that's ok.

 

My ponderment is this: I have this document, can I now try and phone Mr RobertsBailiffPerson and say "I owe you nothing, and I have proof"? I still have the receipt, and I plan on framing this letter I've received today.

 

Is this not creative accounting??? It is after all a council tax debt which means

 

first visit £24.50

second visit £18.00

 

and surely thats all they can charge as it seems a WPO hasnt been done????

[hallowitch]

first visit £24.50

second visit £18.00

 

and surely thats all they can charge as it seems a WPO hasn't been done????

 

your are right thats all they can charge

[hallowitch]

Ditzy SBC employee mentioned a charge of £125, which has thrown me even further, people are just throwing numbers at me!

 

The confusion is, as the debt was split slightly, when the £125 was passed over to Equita,

 

I would start asking more questions and i would be sending the council a subject access request to find out what is going on with your council tax account

 

Has this bailiff been passed a debt or part of the liability order

 

even if it part of the liability order you should not half to pay bailiffs fees for a part debt i don't think they can split a debt for a liability year

 

and as PT said this is Capita

[Paine Fury]

I've had 3 Liability Orders against me, one of which is currently being looked into as I've received 2 for one year.

 

Also, can someone please forward me the template requesting a breakdown of charges? I'm not very good at creating letters.

 

It's odd how one account has been split into three, but according to SBC this is allowed, and unfortunatley I have no idea.

[ploddertom]

"From:

My Name

My Address

 

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

 

Ref: Account No: 123456

 

Dear Sir

 

With reference to the above account. Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges including Computer Screenshot.

 

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were Certificated at.

e - the date of the Certification.

 

This is not a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

 

I require this information within 14 days.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Ripped off customer"

 

Send by email & Signed For & adapt as you see fit.

 

PT

[Paine Fury]

Thank you PlodderTom!

[Paine Fury]

Well here I am, sat by the home phone waiting for this Recovery Manager person to call me and confirm he's spoken to Equita.

 

So far, nothing.

 

What's misleading is, YesterdaysLady said he'd call me today, but she also said "If he hasn't called you in two days call me back".

 

Luckily, I have her direct number..... muahahaha.

[Paine Fury]

No callback ¬_¬

 

Called SBC back again, spoke to a very confused guy called G**** who admitted to me this was getting ridiculous.

 

Couldn't get through to Recovery Department as they'd all gone home. Despite having an urgent memo sent to them asking to call Equita, and all G****** could do is send ANOTHER memo down to them.

 

This desk I'm banging my head against is starting to collapse now..... I can't believe how much of a merry go around I'm being led on.

 

Add to that, I dread to think how much my phonebill is going to cost

The heat is killing me, and I can't even open my windows to cool down! ARGH!!!

 

This made me laugh -

 

G****** - Oh dear this is ridiculous

Me - I know, this has been dragging on for 2 months now.

G****** - Well I know you don't want the bailiffs knocking on your door and taking your stuff away

Me - They're already trying ¬_¬ I have to keep myself locked in.

 

 

Ok, I have another question here - Is there any legal action I can take? Either against SBC or against Equita?

 

I've been promised so many things from both parties, sent several threatening letters and now have bullies knocking on my door, it's even making me lose sleep and I've lost my appetite.

[Yoshiro]

You can contact your local councillor. They are generally pretty good at getting through to these people and getting results.

 

Failing that there is always the local government ombudsman, they should be able to help, however, you should always exhaust the complaints system of the council before going down this route.

[ploddertom]

I'm assuming the Recovery people at the Council are actually Capita employees working on behalf of the Council. As Capita own Equita they will drag their heels over this hoping the bailiff will win. I agree - contact your local Councillor without delay - if they drag their heels go the Leader of the Council.

 

PT

[Paine Fury]

Any idea where I can find out who he or she is?

[ploddertom]

Any idea where I can find out who he or she is?

 

There should be a list of them on the Council website telling what parts of your town they represent. Failing that a phone call to the Council asking for the same should give you the details - there may be more than one and of different persuasions. In my view you can ring or contact them up to 9pm in the evening including weekends - they asked for public office so they should be prepared to be inconvenienced every so often.

 

PT

[Paine Fury]

Ok, complaint letters to both SBC and Equita have been sent.

 

Had a call from L***** at SBC today who had now been in contact with the Recovery Department (finally). They have confirmed they've called Equita and told them the debt is no longer their responsibility, so the bailiff visits should stop.

 

However, as I've already been promised this once before several weeks ago, I've asked them to send written confirmation they've called Equita and agreed the debt is now the responsibility of SBC. I've also said I'm calling them back straight away and seeking legal advice if I get another Equita letter.

 

Shall update when the confirmation letter arrives, or if I hear back from Equita/SBC's laughable customer service/claiming bailiff charges back.

 

Or if I receive another damn removal notice.....

[ploddertom]

No truth in the rumour you are going to use them as wallpaper then!!

 

:D:D

 

PT

ps - hope it all works out for you

[Paine Fury]

As of today, I've not received any further contact from Equita, including a reply to the Breakdown letter to have the excessive bailiff charges refunded.

 

I'm also waiting for a confirmation letter from SBC in regards to Equita no longer being responsible.