Equita Bailiff Not Certified Help!!!!

[Taggsy]

Hello there people,

I'll try and explain my situation as clearly as poss...

 

Last year my daft husband (whilst driving my car) got caught driving a few metres in a bus lane.

A penalty notice arrived addressed to me and he filled in a slip on the bottom of a letter with his debit card details to pay the fine (around £60).

 

The council claimed they never received the letter and the fine was passed on to Equita.

 

My husband made a payment arrangement and made two staggered £51 payments over the phone.

 

He then thought the matter was dealt with and he'd learnt his lesson not to drive 2 metres of a 6 metre bus lane.

 

Yesterday, I came home from an MRI scan (I have a spine/muscular disability which has me in and out of hospital)

to find a scary looking letter from a bailiff wanting to execute a warrant from Northampton court to remove goods/vehicle etc.

 

Attached to the letter is a copy of said warrant which states the amount due (including court fee and adjudication costs) to be £97.00.

 

That amount has been crossed out in pen to be replaced by £292.84.

 

I contacted the council who issued the fine who couldn't help me and Equita have said they can't find a record of how/where the two £51 payments have been allocated/gone

and say that my husband mustn't have paid the full amount.

 

I rang the bailiff (in tears) and explained that we're absolutely skint

(on debt management plan with the CCCS, have four children, I've lost my job due to disability and would try and pay some of the money off when I could.

I then found an emergency credit card with £102 on.

He said he'd try for the whole amount but then rang back to tell me that only £102 has gone through.

 

The bailiff said he would 'call off his boys until Monday' and said I had until then to get the £190 outstanding together.

He wasn't interested in an offer of weekly payments.

 

On Equita's own website their bailiff charges should come to £39.20

(a letter and fee for amount under £100) so don't know where the £195.82 charge comes from

 

I've just done a search on the bailiff's name [edit] and he doesn't appear on the register of certificated bailiffs.

He signed the letter in his name with the title 'Head Bailiff'.

 

I really don't know what to do, we're completely skint and can't possible get the rest of the money together by Monday.

 

Thank you very much in advance!

Edited July 15, 2012 by seanamarts
removed name of bailiff

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi Welcome to CAG,

Can your husband check on statements when and who the 2x£51

were paid they should appear on debtit/card transactions.

I will alert the site team to see if we can get you more advice.

[dx100uk]

something smells here.

 

first off i'd get onto that credit cards numer and do a chargeback.

 

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/visa-debit-chargeback/

 

you paid under duress.

 

then get a looking at your bank statements [online possibly]

 

track down those two payments.

 

dx

[Taggsy]

Thanks for the swift replies!

My husband rang his bank yesterday and they confirmed the two payments of £51 were made last Nov and this Feb.

Equita seem to believe that any payment made was not the full amount therefore bailiff action (even though they couldn't tell me how/where they were allocated) and Bury Council say that they received some monies earlier this year but were quite vague about it.

Think I'll do the chargeback thing (after getting kids in bed).

 

Thanks again.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Have any recollection or proof what the actual full amount was,

as DX said there is somthing very wrong here.

[dx100uk]

not much to be done till monday now

 

i'd get in touch with the council

 

you need to pull the vunerable string here too

 

dx

[Taggsy]

Husband thinks original amount demanded by Equita was around £160 ( I'll hunt around for details)

 

Thanks again everyone x

[old bill]

The bailiff involved in this incident has been involved in a number of incidents on both CAG and other sites. I am currently helping a poster on another site to deal with [edit]. I am also aware of similar incidents involving him on other internet forums. This incident didn't happen in the West Midlands area, by any chance?

Edited July 15, 2012 by seanamarts
edited inline with cag posting rules/ removed name of bailiff

[Taggsy]

Hello, we're in Bolton and the trafic incident happened in Bury.

That's verrrryyyy interesting that this [EDIT] character is well known for his actions, is it common knowledge that he doesn't appear to be certificated?

Edited July 15, 2012 by seanamarts
REMOVED BAILIFF NAME

[old bill]

Yes. [EDIT] certainly seems to get about. His name does not appear on the Certificated Bailiff Register maintained by the Ministry of Justice. Go to http://www.justice.gov.uk to view. A Directory of High Court Enforcement Officers (HCEOs) is attached to this post.He's not in there either. Naughty[EDIT]

enforcement-officers.pdf

Edited July 15, 2012 by seanamarts
REMOVED NAME OF BAILIFF

[lamma]

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/28/section/135

[old bill]

I've just added some reputation for you lamma. The offence you've highlighted - Falsely Pretending to Act Under Authority of A Court - is an indictable offence which means either a police officer or a private individual can arrest/detain the ****** this thread refers to and it can also be used again another ****** on another thread. Thank you very much, lamma. You are a star!

[ploddertom]

I'm not trying to defend anyone here, least of all a Bailiff, but the register is not 100% accurate. The MOJ should be contacted to see if indeed he is Certificated or not, also have Equita been contacted to see what Court they say he was approved at as that is where the enquiry should really go.

[old bill]

I had a case like this some months back, PT, and when I spoke to the MoJ's Bailiff Department their response was that if someone's name was not on the Register, they weren't authorised to act as a bailiff. I'm currently dealing with a case on another site which is, probably, the same character as on this thread. He repeatedly refuses to give details and becomes abusive and aggressive when challenged. Unless he is prepared to be more co-operative or Equita are, then it has to be taken that he is not authorised to act as a bailiff, unless he or Equita can prove otherwise.

[seanamarts]

Please can I remind people to NOT put the name of the bailiff when posting. Thank you.