Equita baliff fees & CTAX

[mellymoo74]

tomorrow I will be going through an ongoing problem I have with Birmingham City Council and Equita

 

about Equita front loading fees

 

I have included the email chain from Stephen Hughes CEO at the council.

Any advice on what to do next?

 

Sorry the email chain is so large but wanted to make sure you had all the info

 

Dear Stephen.

aa advised I know and can show the visits did not take place please escalate my complaint to the final stage.

 

I have brought this matter to the attention of the LGO and will as you have paid fraudulent charges

now be bringing the matter to the attention of Mike Sharpe and the police

 

Our Ref: M

Dear Miss /// Council Tax and Equita bailiffs

 

I write in response to your emails of 31 July 2012 and 1 August 2012.

Your enquiry has been investigated and I can advise you as follows.

 

As you may appreciate, due to the nature of the work conducted by bailiffs

some degree of dissatisfaction or distress is likely to occur.

 

However,

I can confirm that bailiffs employed by the City Council are subject to a code of conduct.

This ensures that the bailiffs comply with the law as interpreted by the City Council at all times

and levy distress in a proper and fair manner.

 

I can advise you that bailiff costs are, in the main, set out by law (Schedule 5, Administration & Enforcement Regulations 1992).

They are a set amount and are not linked to the value of the debt.

The fees for attending with the intention of removing goods are not set in law other than to state “they must be reasonable”.

 

We have agreed with Equita that the fee for attending with a van is £141.00.

 

This is a one-off charge irrespective of the amount of time spent at the property.

 

You have incurred bailiffs’ fees totalling £215.00 as detailed in your email of 31 July 2012.

 

I can confirm that £26.00 from the payment of £1201.50 made on 17 May 2012

has been allocated towards the fees to reduce the balance to £189.00.

 

Apart from the initial letter,

the following two letters are hand delivered when visits are made and contact is attempted.

 

In your particular case, records show visits were made on 17 May 2012 and 9 July 2012.

 

During the second visit a levy was made on a vehicle.

There would be no reason why Equita would say they have visited if they have not done so.

 

A copy of your email, of 1 August 2012, to ......... has been passed to ......(Complaints Officer at Equita)

to arrange an investigation into this matter and she will reply directly to you.

 

You were previously advised that your account would remain with Equita

and a payment arrangement of £45.00 every 30 days was set up for you.

 

You were required to make payments directly to them.

I did advise that the Customer Service Team, at Revenues and Benefits, were willing to renegotiate the arrangement,

if the payments of £45.00 every 30 days were difficult for you to maintain and that you should contact the team directly.

 

I trust this clarifies the situation.

 

However, if you require any further assistance with this matter please contact Revenues and Benefits’ Customer Service Team

on 0121 464 8299 or in writing at Birmingham City Council,

PO Box 8267, Birmingham, B4 7XF. Yours sincerely Stephen Hughes Chief Executive Birmingham City Council

 

03/08/2012 13:07

 

cc Subject Re: Council Tax - Equita Bailiffs Action

Dear Stephen,

Please find attached the latest correspondence from Equita received today.

 

I have not communicated the wish to pay £45 every 30 days as this letter states,

I have also still not received a breakdown of the dates, times and name of the Bailiff who allegedly attended my property

thus incurring the additional charges despite repeated requests for this information.

 

Also if you read this letter the inference is that they have not actually yet levied

as such an explanations as to where the addition £189 has come from becomes even more urgent.

 

I would be grateful if you would recall this debt to the council with immediate effect,

confirm your council’s acceptance of my repayment offer by return.

Kind Regards ......

 

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Wed, 1 Aug 2012 16:45

Subject: Re: Council Tax - Equita Bailiffs Action (CX ref

Dear Ms ///

Thank you for your further email dated 31 July 2012.

With regard to your earlier email dated 26 July, I have been advised that we are unable to open the attachment to that email.

If you are able to send this again either as a .doc or .pdf file we will progress this as soon as possible.

 

In the meantime,

I have forwarded your latest email to officers in Revenues and Benefits with a request that they look at this matter again

and a response will be sent to you as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely Stephen Hughes Chief Executive Birmingham City Council

 

cc Subject Re: Council Tax - Equita Bailiffs Action(CX ref

Hi Stephen,

I did send you a further email following this one where I have in fact raised a formal complaint against Equita (copy enclosed).

 

I have paid £35 yesterday via the BCC payment line and this has been put against the correct year on the account

 

Due to the nature of my complaint and the failure of your enforcement agents to follow the law

and not only advise me of a full breakdown of costs including dates the visits occurred

and the details of the items levied against as requested on 4 separate occasions now,

I request again that BCC recall the debt.

 

Below I have provided a breakdown of the fees actually charged,

along with a breakdown of the fees I believe, having sought advice, should legally have been charged.

As you can see there is a difference of £189

 

Debt £1402.81

Statury Visit Fees £42.50

Levy Fee £30

Enforcement Fee £141

Card Fee £1.50

 

It is hard to understand how such a mistake could be made,

particularly bearing in mind I went to the trouble of requesting a breakdown of legitimate fees

applied to my account by your enforcement agents, and also double checked these with your Head of Revenues.

 

It would appear not only that one of your senior members of staff has little knowledge of the relevant legislation involved in his job

(an issue I am sure you will want to address), but also that he is condoning quite clearly,

the unlawful application of fees to your customer’s accounts.

 

The vicarious liability between yourself and your appointed enforcement agents makes this a very serious issue indeed for you.

 

There are a number of criminal avenues that could be pursued should legal proceedings be instigated.

 

I would be grateful if you would recall this debt to the council with immediate effect,

confirm your council’s acceptance of my repayment offer which has at no point changed

and the fact that Equita despite my repeated requests to accept a payment plan

payable on the 30th of each month of £35 felt that an amount considerably more than this on a different date was appropriate,

and confirm that you have instructed your appointed enforcement agents to cease pursuing this account,

again with immediate effect.

 

I would also be grateful if you would please confirm that no fees are owing to your appointed agents.

 

Please rest assured I have not intention of reneging on my responsibility to pay this debt

this is shown by the payment I made yesterday,

but it is only fair, given the circumstances,

that I should be able to do so free of any unlawful activities by your appointed enforcement agents.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Yours faithfully,

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Stephen Hughes

Sent: Tue, 31 Jul 2012 17:14

Subject: Re: Council Tax - Equita Bailiffs Action (CX ref 6--) Our Ref: =

Dear Ms

Thank you for your email of 24 July2012 regarding Council Tax and Equita Bailiffs,

I asked Chris Gibbs,Assistant Director,Revenues and Benefits,

to investigate your enquiry again and he has advised me as follows.

 

In my correspondence to you dated 23July 2012,

I advised that the Customer Service Team were willing to renegotiate the arrangement,

if the payments of £45.00 every 30 days were difficult for you to maintain.

 

I have been advised that you have not been in contact to take up this offer.

I would therefore request again; if you are having difficulty with payment,

or the amount of £45.00,to contact the Customer Service Team on 0121 464 8299

who will be happy to help renegotiate a new arrangement.

 

In previous correspondence you have been advised that due to your account being with Equita Bailiffs,

you are required to make payment direct to them.

 

Failure to do this can incur further recovery action by the bailiffs and costs.

 

I trust this clarifies the situation.

 

However, if you require any further assistance with this matter please contact

Revenues and Benefits’ Customer Service Team on 0121 464 8299or

in writing at Birmingham City Council, PO Box 8267, Birmingham, B4 7XF.

Yours sincerely

Stephen Hughes Chief Executive

 

24/07/2012 17:43

 

To cc Subject Re: Council Tax - Equita Bailiffs Action(CX ref ]

Hi Stephen,

Thank you for your response, unfortunately the information that has been passed to yourself via Equita is infact incorrect.

 

The Bailiff advised me when I spoke to him that he had not in fact visited the property

and gave me until the Friday to make payment and your office halted Bailiff action on the Thursday.

 

I have also received no documentation regarding the levy and there has been no visit to my property

I can if necessary prove this as there is a CCTV camera that points at my front door.

 

The fees are also made up of an 'enforcement fee' which as no Bailiff has attended at all

let alone twice

would not be able to occur as I believe that is the fee payable when the Bailiff arrives to remove goods.

 

The amount I have been trying to get agreed is £35 this is more than I can afford and is not the £30 nor the £45 quoted below.

 

My communication with the Bailiff was via text and voicemail.

No arrangement was made to pay the balance I certainly did not agree to clear it.

 

I will of course pay the amount owed directly to the council at a rate of £35 per month

and I will be requesting yet again from Equitaa breakdown of their fees,

the name of the Bailiff who attended

,the dates attended and the council that they are registered with

 

this will be the 3rd occasion I have requested this and once it has been received I will be making a formal complaint.

Kind Regards

 

-----Original Message-----

 

From: Stephen Hughes

Sent: Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:37

Subject: Council Tax - Equita Bailiffs Action (CX ref 6]) Our Ref:

Dear Ms

I write in response to your email dated 10 July 2012 regarding Equita Bailiffs actions in relation to your Council Tax arrears.

 

I asked Chris Gibbs, Assistant Director, Revenues and Benefits,to investigate your enquiry and he has advised me as follows.

 

Your account was passed to Equita Bailiffs on 8 May 2012 for recovery of outstanding Council Tax of £1402.81.

 

Equita Bailiffs sent the first letter on 9 May 2012, giving you the opportunity to contact them and arrange payment of the balance.

 

On 16 May 2012 your account was issued to the levy bailiff to visit.

 

An arrangement was made with you, payment of £1201.50 was received by the bailiff

and you agreed to make payments of £227.31 each 30 days thereafter,to clear the remaining balance.

 

On 4 July 2012, when no payment or contact was received,

the arrangement was cancelled and your account was passed to a bailiff,to visit.

 

You called the bailiffs office on 7 July 2012 and were referred to the bailiff who was now in charge of your account

to arrange payment of the outstanding balance.

 

The bailiff visited your property on9 July 2012, and levied on a vehicle at the address.

 

Due to a levy being made, further costs were incurred as have been advised by Equita bailiffs.

 

On 9 July 2012, you called the Council Tax section advising that the bailiffs would not accept your offer of £30.00 per month.

 

You were advised that an email would be sent to head office requesting this or for the account to be called back from the bailiffs.

 

You called the bailiff office twice on 9 July 2012.

 

In the first call you were again referred to the bailiff in charge of your account

and in the second call you advised that you had spoken to the Council Tax Department

and that they were going to insist that an arrangement of £30.00 be agreed.

 

On 10 July 2012, the bailiffs sent a letter to you advising of the outstanding balance on the account.

 

On 11 July 2012 the bailiffs received a letter from you offering an arrangement of £35.00.

 

As your account is with the bailiff, no further action was taken as you had been advised to contact the bailiff direct.

 

Records also show that on 10 July 2012 you called the Council Tax section three times,

advising that you could not get in touch with the bailiffs.

 

You were then given the address for Equita Bailiffs.

 

Your second call was to enquire whether we had received an email,

but unfortunately the notes do not state whether this was from you or internal.

 

The advisor confirmed we had not received the information and to allow more time for this.

 

Your third call was to query your initial balance for the year 2011,of which you were advised.

 

I have been advised that an arrangement has been made for you to clear your account with Equita Bailiffs at £45.00 every 30 days

starting 30 July 2012.

 

If you feel that you may have any difficulty paying this amount please contact the Customer Service Team on the number given,

who will be happy to look at this again with you and contact Equita Bailiffs on your behalf.

 

For any other enquiries in relation to your account with Equita you can contact them

on telephone number 0844561 8807.

 

I trust this clarifies the situation.

 

However, if you require any further assistance with this matter

please contact Revenues and Benefits’ Customer Service Team on 0121 464 8299

or in writing at Birmingham City Council,PO Box 8267, Birmingham, B4 7XF.

Yours sincerely

Stephen Hughes Chief Executive Birmingham City

Edited August 10, 2012 by mellymoo74

[ploddertom]

Is it possible you can edit and put into paragraphs. Too much text in one block for my elderly mind to process does not go very well.

[brassnecked]

Looks like the council only talk bailiff in spite of all the complaints about the Capquita stitch up in Birmingham. It would be easier as PT says if you split the post down into paragraphs. Perhaps olsbill's suggestion to report them to the OFT under the head of credit fitness may also be an option.

[mellymoo74]

is that any better?

[mellymoo74]

I have reported the OFT and raised a complaint with the LGO oh and emailed the Minister for Justice just wondered if I am in the right lol

I know they havent been the dates their claiming to have visited first of all was when I made my payment through the call centre on the phone not to a bailiff.

[ploddertom]

is that any better?

 

Thank you, yes.

[brassnecked]

is that any better?

Yes thanks, looks like CEO is backing Crapquita 110%

[mellymoo74]

I know, what gets me is I have repeatedly told him I can prove they havent attended. plus if he looked at the blumin dates he would see they cant have attended but still backing the thieves all the way.

 

I also dont like the inference that I am only upset because I am dealing with bailiffs erm no I am upset because they are lying in order to extort money from me idiot man

[ploddertom]

It sounds as if some more administrative errors are about to be produced.

[mellymoo74]

ive got a call set up with the local councillor tomorrow, my response email to the one received today (at the top of my post) was not polite. I am livid because if they are doing this to someone less erm forceful than me its easy money and a vulnerable person in distress.

have I done all I can?

[brassnecked]

It sounds as if some more administrative errors are about to be produced.

 

Hopefully they have given themselves enough rope, no one can have an issue with legitimate charges, but Equita have shown themselves wholly incapable of operating inside the rules.

[mellymoo74]

Hopefully they have given themselves enough rope, no one can have an issue with legitimate charges, but Equita have shown themselves wholly incapable of operating inside the rules.

 

I still havent had a response from Equita about dates and times visited or details of the vehicle levied against. outside my property is a public car park I have told the CEO this but....

[ploddertom]

If possible point your Councillor to this site so they can see at first hand what goes on.

 

The great problem with BCC is that all their back office functions are farmed out to Capita. I believe in the not too distant past there was an investigation about this as Capita's employees appear not to be helpful and to me it is a con they use their own inhouse Bailiff - Equita. To be more transparent they should in my view be using an independent Bailiff firm instead of their own. I don't doubt when the CEO points you to Revenues & Benefits Customer Team it is indeed Capita and not the Council.

 

There are some inconsistencies in his emails above:

"Equita Bailiffs sent the first letter on 9 May 2012, giving you the opportunity to contact them and arrange payment of the balance.

 

On 16 May 2012 your account was issued to the levy bailiff to visit. "

Is he saying they posted the first letter by Royal Mail or by their usual practice of creeping up on the door. You should ask him what a Levy Bailiff is, my understanding of this is there are Certificated Bailiffs and Non-Certificated Bailiffs or has he fallen for the Bailiff speak from Equita which shows he does not understand the process.

 

"However,

I can confirm that bailiffs employed by the City Council are subject to a code of conduct.

This ensures that the bailiffs comply with the law as interpreted by the City Council at all times

and levy distress in a proper and fair manner."

And of course he included the Code of Conduct?

[ploddertom]

I still havent had a response from Equita about dates and times visited or details of the vehicle levied against. outside my property is a public car park I have told the CEO this but....

 

In that case in my view the Bailiffs are being deliberately obstructive over a legitimate request. As the Council are 100% responsible for the actions & charges of their contractors you insist that they then provide the said details.

[mellymoo74]

If possible point your Councillor to this site so they can see at first hand what goes on.

 

The great problem with BCC is that all their back office functions are farmed out to Capita. I believe in the not too distant past there was an investigation about this as Capita's employees appear not to be helpful and to me it is a con they use their own inhouse Bailiff - Equita. To be more transparent they should in my view be using an independent Bailiff firm instead of their own. I don't doubt when the CEO points you to Revenues & Benefits Customer Team it is indeed Capita and not the Council.

 

There are some inconsistencies in his emails above:

"Equita Bailiffs sent the first letter on 9 May 2012, giving you the opportunity to contact them and arrange payment of the balance.

 

On 16 May 2012 your account was issued to the levy bailiff to visit. "

Is he saying they posted the first letter by Royal Mail or by their usual practice of creeping up on the door. You should ask him what a Levy Bailiff is, my understanding of this is there are Certificated Bailiffs and Non-Certificated Bailiffs or has he fallen for the Bailiff speak from Equita which shows he does not understand the process.

 

"However, I can confirm that employed by the City Council are subject to a code of conduct.

This ensures that the bailiffs comply with the law as interpreted by the City Council at all times

and levy distress in a proper and fair manner."

And of course he included the Code of Conduct?

 

I had already sent it to him in an early email bless him, as I am showing they havent in fact followed the code of conduct at all.

hes not reading what he sends or listening to the fact I HAVE RECEIVED NOTHING THROUGH THE DOOR THE BAILIFF HAS NOT VISITED I CAN SHOW THIS etc etc

[mellymoo74]

In that case in my view the Bailiffs are being deliberately obstructive over a legitimate request. As the Council are 100% responsible for the actions & charges of their contractors you insist that they then provide the said details.

 

thank you, I will word something and send that off. I have requested it from equita 5 times and sent at least 3 of these to the CEO....

[brassnecked]

PT, the nub here is the law as "interpreted by the city council" otherwise known as ignoring the Regulations and making it up as they go along, A bailiff is a bailiff as you point out PT and they are either certificated or they are not, and if uncertificated should not be used to enforce Liability orders.

 

Code of conduct: http://birminghamnewsroom.com/2011/12/policy-on-use-of-bailiffs/

 

What Equita say: http://www.equita.co.uk/WhatOurClientsSay/tabid/203/language/en-US/Default.aspx

 

This page has many links also:

 

http://birminghamnewsroom.com/2011/12/policy-on-use-of-bailiffs/

[mellymoo74]

PT, the nub here is the law as "interpreted by the city council" otherwise known as ignoring the Regulations and making it up as they go along, A bailiff is a bailiff as you point out PT and they are either certificated or they are not, and if uncertificated should not be used to enforce Liability orders.

 

Code of conduct:

 

What Equita say:

 

This page has many links also:

 

 

 

Thats interesting

oh and no he didnt include the code of conduct

[brassnecked]

PT, the nub here is the law as "interpreted by the city council" otherwise known as ignoring the Regulations and making it up as they go along, A bailiff is a bailiff as you point out PT and they are either certificated or they are not, and if uncertificated should not be used to enforce Liability orders.

 

Code of conduct:

 

What Equita say:

 

This page has many links also:

 

 

 

Thats interesting

oh and no he didnt include the code of conduct

 

Oops I wonder why? But seriously they are doing themselves no favours. Conflicting information, and the "aren't we great page" from Equita. they are seriously out of control, and Birmingham are on the runaway train, defending the indefensible. Does the CEO not realise they are 100% liable for any wrongful or criminal act ny Capquita. (an abbrieviation where capita run a council back office and hand bailiff functions to their subsidiary Equita)

[mellymoo74]

am just sending my Local Councillor the link to the site I explained to him that im more worried about more vulnerable people than me because im bolshy but how many other people have they done this too?

[outlawla]

am just sending my Local Councillor the link to the site I explained to him that im more worried about more vulnerable people than me because im bolshy but how many other people have they done this too?

 

Just had a quick read through this and glad to see you're not letting them off the hook.

 

Equita, and every other private firm of bailiffs working on behalf of councils, will have without doubt done this to numerous thousands of members of the public. The very fact that the CEO of your council (and every other council up and down the country) allows it to go on means hopefully there will be the need for future building contracts to be awarded for the construction of many secure units to house them all for an appropriate term of imprisonment.

 

It's obvious from the correspondence sent by the CEO that he has picked one of the many generic letters available to local authorities and filled in the blanks. This is made obvious by his email "Sent: Tue, 31 Jul 2012 17:14", which completely ignored the criminal allegations about the council condoning the unlawful application of fees to customer’s accounts.

 

The CEO has completely ignored what you are saying by reiterating you deal with Equita. How long can the chief expect to get way with pretending there is no crime going on within the organisation he heads and remain at liberty?

[mellymoo74]

Received a letter today from Equita

two bailiffs attended supposedly but there are no dates and times available lol

fees dropped to

visit fee £24.50

levy fee £30

card processing fee £1.50

going to continue fighting as THEY HAVE NOT BEEN TO MY PROPERTY!

[hallowitch]

Received a letter today from Equita

two bailiffs attended supposedly but there are no dates and times available lol

fees dropped to

visit fee £24.50

levy fee £30

card processing fee £1.50

going to continue fighting as THEY HAVE NOT BEEN TO MY PROPERTY!

 

Hi mellymoo74 nice to see you made your over here what does the council intend to do about the bailiff who allegedly attended your property on 9th and charged you fees way in excess of the actual fee he would have been entitled to charge if he had attended your property and levied

[1Loretta]

I am more interested in how you managed to get a reply from your Local Councillor! is there really one out there that actually gets in touch after the automated acknowledgement?!

[mellymoo74]

Hi mellymoo74 nice to see you made your over here what does the council intend to do about the bailiff who allegedly attended your property on 9th and charged you fees way in excess of the actual fee he would have been entitled to charge if he had attended your property and levied

 

Hi Hallowitch,

 

Not getting any where with the CEO hes just siding with the Bailiff and not reading what hes writing so not realising hes actually contradicting himself so going to see what the councilor suggests.

I emailed and attended the local surgery thats a good way to get hold of them ours are really good at getting back to you.