excessive fees - Equita Bailiff OH's 2 PCN's from 2006

[king100]

Please note this is a bit of a read.

 

Have an issue with Equita Bailiffs.

 

I have an account with Equita actually a couple of accounts but this involves just one.

 

Account that i have here are the details.

 

Equita sent me a letter dated the 16/10/2006.

 

My proposed arrangement of £28.07 every 30 days is acceptable until £224.56 is settled.

 

I paid the the accepted amount on the 30/10/2006 over the phone.

 

On the 30/11/2006 i called Equita and asked if i could make a payment by credit card over the phone. They advised me that there is a card charge. No way was i going to pay them any more money in charges.

 

So i said that i would sent a cheque to them. This was ok. They cashed the cheque on the 7th December. This cheque cleared the balance of the account.

 

Suddenly after accepting that all was well with the account and that it was closed i get this letter.

 

16/01/2007

 

"

REMOVAL NOTICE

 

A warrant issued by the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton County Court still remains outstanding despite applications for payment.

 

I have therefore arranged for my recovery team to visit your home to remove your vehicle ******.(reg plate number) Your vehicle will then be removed and impounded for sale at auction. You will incur further considerable expense, the costs of which will be added to your debt.

 

Should you no longer be in possesion of the vehicle, we will remove household items from your home for sale at Public Auction to settle the outstanding Distress Warrant.

 

To avoid this distressing course of action you must pay the £310.18 outstanding by return or contact my office to make suitable arrangements to pay before my bailiff team calls. In the absence of any contact from you we will visit your home without further notice."

 

Exact copy of letter including the bold bits.

 

 

I called Equita on numerous occasions after receiving this, was hung up on numerous times, spoken to rudely by staff and constantely asked if i can pay the outstanding amount.

 

I asked them where the charges came from and they said that a bailiff have come round to my house on the 30/11/2006. That is my final day to pay the accepted arrangement that i had in place.

 

So i have an arrangement yet they come round and try and charge extra.

 

They then said that a bailiff had also come round afterwards to collect payment and left a calling card.

 

This i find very hard that no one was in. There is a business that runs from my address and i know that there is always someone present at the property. Actually there is probably at least 3 people on the property at any one time. Surely one of them would have seen this ghost of a bailiff appear.

 

Finally i get hold of one helpful person who advised me to contact Karen Fowler.

 

I sent a letter to Karen Fowler advising her of this situation and asking her for details of the outstanding amount and how they have come up with the figure of £310.18.

 

Numerous points made like cheque cashed 7th December, that the bailiffs didnt attend.

 

Sent this letter recorded post on the 26/01/2007.

 

Called up Equita today at 13.26 spoke to an advisor called Craig who advised me account was closed.

 

No apology nothing.

 

 

After all that i want to send Equita a strong message of complaint. I am not too sure what i can say, who i can write to apart from Equita.

 

Please advise.

[KHMcBey]

Banking ombudsman? Do they deal with these companies? Okay that was more a question than an answer, sorry!

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along soon

[Seminole]

Sorry I'm not at clear. Did they tell you that they had written off the outstanding balance on the account?

[king100]

They had not written it off they said that the account was closed as payment had been received.

[king100]

A couple of debts have gone to baliffs and if I remember correctly they seemed to be a bit high. eg Didnt actually call at house but charged etc

 

Is there a certain time limit like charges from banks that I can recover the charges?

 

If so how long must they keep info on the debt on file. Where would my first step be in finding out what was actually levied on my account?

 

Thnaks

Edited July 31, 2009 by king100
Can type english and its my native tongue

[dx100uk]

i think we need more info first

 

what were the cases ctax, parking fines, speeding?

 

dx

[king100]

A post from moneysavingexpert

 

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Quote:

You can do that but council tax is not specific to a person it is liable for the household so selling to other half is not going to make a difference. End Quote

 

 

Thats incorrect . The council tax charge is calculated based on the entire household but only the liable parties are responsible for the council tax due. This will include a resident partner only if the council have summonsed them to court and a liability was granted in their name otherwise they are not responsible for the council tax charge.

I work in Council Tax Recovery however my views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.

 

LOL

 

Can only assume Gateshead he works for Newcastle council.

 

Quote from his own website

 

Who is liable for Council Tax

 

Only people aged 18 or over can be liable for Council Tax. Some people are exempt.

Couples, and people who share property as joint owners or tenants are jointly liable for Council Tax. Usually the bill is the name of one person who is responsible for ensuring it is paid. The bill should show the names of all the people in the property who are liable. The council can pursue any or all of these people if the Council Tax is not paid.

Sometimes the owner of a house will be responsible for the bill even if they do not live there. This applies to homes which are classed as those in ‘multiple occupation’, e.g. bedsits. If you are not sure who is responsible for the bill, contact the Council Tax section.

 

 

No wonder they have no idea when it comes to bailiffs

 

So your not liable if your name is not on the bill, but your name can be put on the bill if the council take you to court.

[Voxter]

???? what u on about

[king100]

Someone who works for Council Tax Recovery Department, doesnt believe that everyone in the household who is over 18 are liable for council tax, wish you would read the post!!!

[king100]

I have decided to go after Equita Bailiffs as my partner had 2 parking tickets that they collected.

 

Both being back in 2006, I feel that their fees are too much.

 

Looking for a SAR letter, which I cannot seem to find to send them to so I can get a breakdown of their fees before I go in guns blazing.

 

I know for a fact that they didnt visit the property as we used to live in Croydon and the car was registered in Suffolk. No levy no visit fees just letters.

 

They had sent my partner a few letters, one I know how much she paid in total, but the other I cannot work out as there are too many scribbles on it.

 

Can anyone point me in right direction to find this letter?

[rebel11]

Hi King

 

I don't think you need to send them a SAR Request. SAR are generally sent to companies etc, for info / data they hold on you. I think a letter requesting their fee structure will suffice and you save the £10 SAR Fee.

 

Info on DATA protection.

 

http://www.ico.gov.uk/tools_and_resources/document_library.aspx

[king100]

I know what one total cost was but have no idea how much she paid for the other parking ticket. Thus I do not know if they overcharged for the 2nd.

 

I believe that they did overcharge for 1st one so logic says that they overcharged for the 2nd.

[fork-it]

Can anyone point me in right direction to find this letter?

 

Something like this will do:

 

Dear Sir

 

[DATE]

 

Re: Case Ref:

 

Please send me a breakdown of your fees you have applied within 14 days of the date of this letter.

 

Please note: Nothing in this letter is asking you to disclose any personal data about me as described in the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

[king100]

What address should I send it to, I have Erith address and a northampton one.

[rebel11]

Send it to the Registered Office.

 

What address should I send it to, I have Erith address and a northampton one.

[king100]

Road Traffic (parking penalties)

Fees

For preparing and sending a letter advising the client that a warrant is with bailiff and requesting the sum due £10

For levying distress where the sum due is not more than £100 £25

For levying distress where the sum due is more than £100 25% on the first £200 and 5% on any sum over £200.

For attending to levy distress but where no levy is made Reasonable costs, but not more than the fees that could be charged if a levy were made.

The fee for sending a letter to the debtor can be charged only if the letter is sent before a first visit is made.

Bailiffs are allowed to charge the fees for a maximum of three visits only.

Charges

Walking possession 50p each day for the first 14 days and 5p a day after that.

Valuation Reasonable fees, charges and expenses of the broker.

Removing goods or attending to remove goods where no goods are removed Reasonable costs and charges.

Sale of goods 15% of the proceeds of sale if the sale is held on auctioneer's premises to cover the auctioneers commission and out-of-pocket expenses, plus the reasonable cost of advertising, removal and storage.

 

 

Are these fees still valid back in 2006?