HELP equita baliffs trying to levy car i dont own.

[tired mummy]

Hope someone can help,i received a letter sat the 17th march from equita.It gave a number to contact to avoid them coming to my doorstep to levy goods as they were in the area nxt wk.

Called the number put my ref in and got an automated msg telling me who my baliff was and a number to contact her.

Phoned the baliff (anwser machine) left my name and number and said i wanted to make arrangement to pay in installments,got no reply so kept phoning all wk only to be told msg box full so could,nt leave a msg.

low and behold friday morning got a thump thump thump on the door and a notice of seizure and inventory of goods on my OH car.she didn,t even stick around long enough for me to speak to her and inform them it didn,t belong to me. the council tax debt is mine solely,the liability order is in my name only.i phoned her as i was fuming:-xsaid she had,nt contacted me or given me any opporunity to offer a payment plan and that there was no way she was taking my oh car as it wasn,t his debt,she put the phone down.

I have asked the council to take the debt back as baliffs are not contactable and i suffer depression and this stress is making it worse.they refused and just said go to cab.

They were supposed to be back at 9.45 this morning and have,nt shown up.so i,m now stuck in my house with all doors and windows locked and blinds closed so they cant peep in windows.

I,m at my wits end cant live like this,i have a 3 yr old to take care of,i fear they may turn up at any time and force thier way in even tho i have never given them peaceful entry.

I have wrote a letter from one i saw on here,telling baliff i was not allowing entry to levy goods/revoke entilment to charge a walking possessions fee/and will file a form 4 if fees contradict council tax admin an enforcement regulations and a breakdown of fees ect.

Haven,t had a chance to give it to her personally so sent it to her number via text msg.

what can i do now can someone please advise me what i should do

[tired mummy]

How do i move this to the debt forum?

[EbenezerTwist]

How do i move this to the debt forum?

 

Quickest method is to press the triangle REPORT POST....

 

The Site Team will pick it and move it for you.

[Sidewinder]

Thread moved to the Bailiff forum

[seanamarts]

Does your OH live with you and did he live with you when the debt for CT accrued. If so Then regardless of whether his name is on the liability order or not he is still responsible for CT on the property. If he does not live with you or this debt was from a previous address where he did not live with you then the bailiff cannot levy on your OH property.

 

Ok that out of the way, are you on any benefits, apart from your mental health status, are you in good health? Is there any other vulnerable people in the household.

 

how much is the liability order?

have you a break down of fee's and costs.?

[seanamarts]

just to add, they cannot force their way in. do not call them any more unless you can record them,

 

You do not have to deal with them, I suggest you contact the manager of the revenues and benefits department on monday morning.

 

can you start making any payments at all to the council, if so i suggest you start paying them on line via their web site.

[numbers666]

Hiya Tired Mummy,

 

Try not to worry.... do you feel you fall into any of the below ?

 

Vulnerable situations

.

Enforcement agents/agencies and creditors must recognise that they each have a role in ensuring that

the vulnerable and socially excluded are protected and that the recovery process includes procedures

agreed between the agent/agency and creditor about how such situations should be dealt with.

The appropriate use of discretion is essential in every case and no amount of guidance could cover every situation,

therefore the agent has a duty to contact the creditor and report the circumstances in situations where there is evidence of a potential cause for concern.

If necessary, the enforcement agent will advise the creditor if further action is appropriate.

The exercise of appropriate discretion is needed,

not only to protect the debtor, but also the enforcement agent who should avoid taking action which could lead to accusations of inappropriate behaviour.

.

Enforcement agents must withdraw from domestic premises if the only person present is, or appears to be, under the age of 18; they can ask when the debtor will be home - if appropriate. .

Enforcement agents must withdraw without making enquiries if the only persons present are children who appear to be under the age of 12.

.

Wherever possible, enforcement agents should have arrangements in place for rapidly accessing translation services when these are needed,

and provide on request information in large print or in Braille for debtors with impaired sight.

 

.

Those who might be potentially vulnerable include:

the elderly; .

people with a disability; .

the seriously ill; .

the recently bereaved; .

single parent families; .

pregnant women; .

unemployed people; and, .

those who have obvious difficulty in understanding, speaking or reading English.

this applies to the whole HOUSEHOLD 'a' vunerable person resides there.

 

 

N

[tired mummy]

Does your OH live with you and did he live with you when the debt for CT accrued. If so Then regardless of whether his name is on the liability order or not he is still responsible for CT on the property. If he does not live with you or this debt was from a previous address where he did not live with you then the bailiff cannot levy on your OH property.

 

Ok that out of the way, are you on any benefits, apart from your mental health status, are you in good health? Is there any other vulnerable people in the household.

 

how much is the liability order?

have you a break down of fee's and costs.?

there are 2 amounts one is for £270 and this was when my husband did not live with me,the other is for £800 and he did live with me,i,m not sure if they are going for both amounts together or separately,the baliffs have,nt given me a breakdown of fees.

the notice of seizure just lists his car on the inventory of goods and underneath it says total amount if paid today £475.35.and this was there 1st visit,so i dont know if this is thier charges or whats left of the debt after taking the car.

My husband is a self employed tiler and this car is used for him to make a living.if they take it he cant work.

really upset because they never contacted me after i left a msg offering to come to a payplan agreement and apparently from speaking to someone else who has the same baliff handling thier case ,this baliff is never reachable and never rings you back.

[tired mummy]

Hiya Tired Mummy,

 

Try not to worry.... do you feel you fall into any of the below ?

 

Vulnerable situations

.

Enforcement agents/agencies and creditors must recognise that they each have a role in ensuring that

the vulnerable and socially excluded are protected and that the recovery process includes procedures

agreed between the agent/agency and creditor about how such situations should be dealt with.

The appropriate use of discretion is essential in every case and no amount of guidance could cover every situation,

therefore the agent has a duty to contact the creditor and report the circumstances in situations where there is evidence of a potential cause for concern.

If necessary, the enforcement agent will advise the creditor if further action is appropriate.

The exercise of appropriate discretion is needed,

not only to protect the debtor, but also the enforcement agent who should avoid taking action which could lead to accusations of inappropriate behaviour.

.

Enforcement agents must withdraw from domestic premises if the only person present is, or appears to be, under the age of 18; they can ask when the debtor will be home - if appropriate. .

Enforcement agents must withdraw without making enquiries if the only persons present are children who appear to be under the age of 12.

.

Wherever possible, enforcement agents should have arrangements in place for rapidly accessing translation services when these are needed,

and provide on request information in large print or in Braille for debtors with impaired sight.

 

.

Those who might be potentially vulnerable include:

the elderly; .

people with a disability; .

the seriously ill; .

the recently bereaved; .

single parent families; .

pregnant women; .

unemployed people; and, .

those who have obvious difficulty in understanding, speaking or reading English.

this applies to the whole HOUSEHOLD 'a' vunerable person resides there.

 

 

N

My husbands daughter has physical and learning difficultys she,s 20 and stays with us 3 days a week,without the car would make it very difficult.its also my husbands work vehicle as he,s a self employed tiler.

[seanamarts]

there are 2 amounts one is for £270 and this was when my husband did not live with me,the other is for £800 and he did live with me,i,m not sure if they are going for both amounts together or separately,the baliffs have,nt given me a breakdown of fees.

the notice of seizure just lists his car on the inventory of goods and underneath it says total amount if paid today £475.35.and this was there 1st visit,so i dont know if this is thier charges or whats left of the debt after taking the car.

My husband is a self employed tiler and this car is used for him to make a living.if they take it he cant work.

really upset because they never contacted me after i left a msg offering to come to a payplan agreement and apparently from speaking to someone else who has the same baliff handling thier case ,this baliff is never reachable and never rings you back.

 

it looks like the one you owe for £800.00 hasnt been dealt with yet, so you are correct, they cannot levy on your OH car as this is not a joint debt. However the 2nd one will be.

 

You need to request from bailiff a written breakdown, of fee's and charges and the dates they were carried out.

You also need to contact the council and state that the bailiff has made an irregular levy. Is it the same council for both the debts.

[tired mummy]

it looks like the one you owe for £800.00 hasnt been dealt with yet, so you are correct, they cannot levy on your OH car as this is not a joint debt. However the 2nd one will be.

 

You need to request from bailiff a written breakdown, of fee's and charges and the dates they were carried out.

You also need to contact the council and state that the bailiff has made an irregular levy. Is it the same council for both the debts.

yes its the same council,why is it for £475 the debt is £270,and its the 1st visit and only visit made.it does not even state what debt this is for,no cost breakdowns.this baliffis uncontactable i,m at my wits end ,just feel so helpless.

[seanamarts]

the difference between £270 and £475, will be the bailiff fees and charges, that why i need to see a break down of fee's and costs. he has charged you £205 for one visit. , i can imagine that this is for a levy fee and a van attendance fee. the correct fee would be £24.40 for a first visit fee, if he says he came more than once then the fees would be £42.50.

 

Get a complaint off to the CEO of the council and also the manager of the benefits and revenue department. I would also fire a complaint off to equita, demand to have a break down of costs, a copy of the bailiff certificate.

they will of course not like this and will defend their actions and accuse you of being vexatious, just to scare you off complaining, but dont be put off. I would also have a word with you MP.

[tired mummy]

the difference between £270 and £475, will be the bailiff fees and charges, that why i need to see a break down of fee's and costs. he has charged you £205 for one visit. , i can imagine that this is for a levy fee and a van attendance fee. the correct fee would be £24.40 for a first visit fee, if he says he came more than once then the fees would be £42.50.

 

Get a complaint off to the CEO of the council and also the manager of the benefits and revenue department. I would also fire a complaint off to equita, demand to have a break down of costs, a copy of the bailiff certificate.

they will of course not like this and will defend their actions and accuse you of being vexatious, just to scare you off complaining, but dont be put off. I would also have a word with you MP.

theres nothing on the notice to explain any fees,nothing is in the baliffs fees section or baliffs costs per day section.just a sum of £475.35 in the total cost if paid today. it was a first visit,only had a letter saying they were coming 6 days before.the baliff was not anwsering her phone.no visit to arrange a payment plan took place.she just assummed the car was mine and put a levy on it.i know now this is a irregular levy.

[brassnecked]

They will have applied levy, van, and whatever fee they can think of which is why the breakdown from the bailiffs is important to enable a challenge, so send them the tried and trusted letter below

 

"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.

 

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"

[tired mummy]

Ripped off customer" Thankyou i have been in such a state since this all happened,i,m too frightened to even let my 3 yr old play out on the garden in case they turn up.i dont know what i,d do if they upset my little boy its so distressing.i,m not very good at writing letters so this will be a big help.the only letter i have wrote i copied off of here and dont really know what it all meant.

I was going to hand it to the baliff when they arrived but they just put a levy on the car and left before i even had a chance to speak to them.

I have spoke to other ppl on my local forum who have had the same baliff and it seems this is how she operates.sends a letter telling you to contact equita to avoid them coming to your home but when you contact her it goes to anwser phone where you leave a msg asking her to contact you,she doesn,t so you keep trying and because theres so many others probably leaving her msg too the inbox becomes full.and then they turn up because you haven,t been able to come to an agreement to pay the debt.

its sickening that they can do this to ppl who are willing to come to an arrangement.and the bits of info i have picked up on baliff laws is like going back in time to the dark ages,these laws need bringing into the 21st century.the wording is like reading shakesphere.thankyou again and if anyone can help me to write a complaint to the council and company i,d be eternally grateful.

[brassnecked]

Ripped off customer"

Thankyou i have been in such a state since this all happened,i,m too frightened to even let my 3 yr old play out on the garden in case they turn up.i dont know what i,d do if they upset my little boy its so distressing.i,m not very good at writing letters so this will be a big help.the only letter i have wrote i copied off of here and dont really know what it all meant.

I was going to hand it to the baliff when they arrived but they just put a levy on the car and left before i even had a chance to speak to them.

I have spoke to other ppl on my local forum who have had the same baliff and it seems this is how she operates.sends a letter telling you to contact equita to avoid them coming to your home but when you contact her it goes to anwser phone where you leave a msg asking her to contact you,she doesn,t so you keep trying and because theres so many others probably leaving her msg too the inbox becomes full.and then they turn up because you haven,t been able to come to an agreement to pay the debt.

its sickening that they can do this to ppl who are willing to come to an arrangement.and the bits of info i have picked up on baliff laws is like going back in time to the dark ages,these laws need bringing into the 21st century.the wording is like reading shakesphere.thankyou again and if anyone can help me to write a complaint to the council and company i,d be eternally grateful.

 

Will have a think and work on something, but there are other Caggers on here who may well beat me to it, but you need to frame things round the unlawful nature of the levy, the bailiff and their attitude, the fact that they, the council are 100% liable for any wrongful act, or misdeed of their agent the bailiff, if they persist in supporting a levy which it is found to be unlawful, they may find themselves in the magistrates court as defendants in a Regulation 46 Complaint due to you being aggrieved by the levy by their agent the bailiff.

 

If you search there may even be something on CAg that will heklp.

[ploddertom]

 

I have spoke to other ppl on my local forum who have had the same baliff and it seems this is how she operates.sends a letter telling you to contact equita to avoid them coming to your home but when you contact her it goes to anwser phone where you leave a msg asking her to contact you,she doesn,t so you keep trying and because theres so many others probably leaving her msg too the inbox becomes full.and then they turn up because you haven,t been able to come to an agreement to pay the debt.

My thoughts on this is that she is being quite ingenuous - not unlawful, but probably immoral. Once someone contacts her she knows they are there and aware of the debt. Therefore by turning up she can probably gain extra fees.

 

You need to speak to someone at the Council and ask the following questions:

1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you

2 - the dates they were obtained

3 - the addresses they were for

4 - the period of time each covers

5 - how much each one was for

6 - how much is still outstanding

7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement

I am thinking if there is another Liability Order I wonder if the Council have passed them on at the same time & if so she is splitting them and waiting until one is paid before doing the next therefore doubling her fees instead of treating them all as one. Just a thought that she is being creative.

 

As far as the car is concrned have you claimed it is owned by a 3rd party & if so have you provided the proof of this yet.

 

PT

[Annette1973]

Please listen to the people here. Equita cannot force their way into your house, I have been dealing with their sister company lately and they threatened me for 6 hours with breaking into my home, I forbid them entry and even after nearly 6 hours of threats, they left with nothing. They will say and do anything to get into your property, they will call the police, they will pretend to call a locksmith and a van, it's all a fabrication (well, it certainly was in my case). Just remember they will say and do ANYTHING, the more desperate they get, the more exaggerated are their claims regarding their powers. Hang in there, I know it's hard but take strength from the advice you get in this forum.

[andrew1]

I just phoned them about a traffic fine I got. waited for last option on the phone for general enquiries, spoke to a rather dull woman, but I was pleasant enough to her and she set up a payment plan over 3 months, I paid the 1st installment there and then, thanked me very much and off she went.

 

My experience was nothing like what you guys have suffered and those who know me on here know I do not suffer fools gladly and give not an inch especially with DCA's.

 

I spoke to the council who had issued the fine first and knew they could no longer take the payment so I had to deal with these bailiffs, like it or not, but the last people I need calling just now are these dross. I didn't like paying, but by making an arrangement they seemed happy. Not vast sums of money, 200 in total, but enough when funds are scarce and I object to these road humps wrecking my car and me having no recourse on that too, yet nip over a white line and I'm 200 quid lighter.

 

Sorry you have suffered on here, but that's my experience and I can only go by that. Good luck..

[wonkeydonkey]

All is well that ends well.......but I am sure you will forgive those that find this to good to be true, unless of course the water has been treated overnight with additives to give a personality to equita....perhaps the pipes to the Council would benefit from being flushed through with the same?

 

WD

[seanamarts]

I just phoned them about a traffic fine I got. waited for last option on the phone for general enquiries, spoke to a rather dull woman, but I was pleasant enough to her and she set up a payment plan over 3 months, I paid the 1st installment there and then, thanked me very much and off she went.

 

My experience was nothing like what you guys have suffered and those who know me on here know I do not suffer fools gladly and give not an inch especially with DCA's.

 

I spoke to the council who had issued the fine first and knew they could no longer take the payment so I had to deal with these bailiffs, like it or not, but the last people I need calling just now are these dross. I didn't like paying, but by making an arrangement they seemed happy. Not vast sums of money, 200 in total, but enough when funds are scarce and I object to these road humps wrecking my car and me having no recourse on that too, yet nip over a white line and I'm 200 quid lighter.

 

Sorry you have suffered on here, but that's my experience and I can only go by that. Good luck..

 

you belong to a rare club. Glad you got yours sorted, its a pity we dont hear more stories like yours.

[andrew1]

you belong to a rare club. Glad you got yours sorted, its a pity we dont hear more stories like yours.

 

It's called the Cabot Fan Club and ya don't feck with the Cabot Fan Club

[michphil]

Hi i had this problem and i got in touch with[edit] is very helpful and she gave me a letter to sent to my council about the bailiff using a neighbours car to levy on . I got my money back for the charges made on my account so all ended good in the end it is well worth the visit good luck

Edited April 2, 2012 by seanamarts
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