Equita Bailiffs - Coouncil Tax Debt

[cooper28.cliff]

Hi,

 

New to the forum,

 

I had a problem two years ago, i lost my job had no money coming in, and couldn't afford to pay my council tax, I informed Birmingham City Council of this problem, and told them as soon as my benefits were sorted I'd be paying what i could, it took a little over six weeks. In this time the account was passed to Equita, i phoned the council who refused to tralk to me about the issue, telling me i had to speak with the bailiff,

So i spoke with the bailiff, who demanded an unrealistic amount of money up front???

I refused and have since been dodging them and refusing to speak with them. Last month I decided to do the right thing and set up a payment plan with Equita, I agreed to £25 per fortnight, (I'm still out of work and on benefits:evil:) thinking this was the right thing to do, the bailiff left and said the arrangement had been agreed. Two days later a letter come through saying that £50 a fortnight had been accepted, i tried contacting the bailiff, and tried to call the office, who told me i had to speak with the bailiff,

Anyway, today at 12:15 there was a knock at the door, and a bailiff was there, i said i had no intentions of speaking with him and asked him to leave, as i was trying to sort the problem out with the council.

He refused to leave and kept knocking my door and on the window, after opening the door the third time, i told him to leave or i'd call the police, he said "as i have a liability order against you the police won't help you", I told him to leave or i was calling the police,

The fourth time, i spoke to him through the bedroom window, i told him my partner was calling the police, within a minute he was gone. Not before shoving a letter through my box, with the typical bailiff threats. and a Notice of Seizure and inventory of goods,

 

With costs detailed below

 

Amount owed to the Council -:- £350.37

Bailiff costs -:- £227.50

 

Total Amount outstanding £577.87?

 

I've tried to make another arrangement with the bailiff for £50 per month and been told its not acceptable,

Telling me i should ask family or friends for the money, or they will be back Monday, to take my goods and car.

 

I'm at a lose here, not sure what to do, or how to remove this threat/issue.

Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks in advance.

Edited September 28, 2012 by cooper28.cliff

[mellymoo74]

Right I have been dealing with this particular firm and BCC so lets start at the begining do you know how many liability orders the council has and what amount they are for?

[sequenci]

Hello there, welcome to CAG.

 

First things first. Can you clarify whether or not there is an outstanding walking possession order? (i.e. have they made a list of your possessions or vehicle?)

 

Thanks.

[cooper28.cliff]

Hi, i think there's two with them atm,

I know one is for around £350, not sure of the second one.

[cooper28.cliff]

I've never let them into the property,

But they have my vehicle details. on the inventory of goods.

[mellymoo74]

Right so they have a levy they can only have this on one of the Liability Orders, you need to call the council and get the dates and amounts of the liability orders. Then you need to request a breakdown of fees from Equita.Are you still on benefits? were the benefits backdated?

[cooper28.cliff]

They were not backdated. I'm not entitled to income support so only receive housing and council tax benefits. I will contact the council and Bailiff's.

Is their any set forms i can use?

[dx100uk]

if you can pay you should be paying the council

direct via your internet banking site

never ever pay a bailiff.

 

you need to do these two things:

 

start by sending this to the bailiff co. it can done by e-mail also send it to the council this will tell us when the fees were added

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

 

 

Also always advisable to ask the Council.

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

 

melly nice to see you helping...

 

go hammer them, you are the perfect teacher!!

 

 

dx

[mellymoo74]

Thanks D I had a lot of good teachers.Right you can send that form via the automated questions bit on Equitas website for now and send the same thing to the CEO (who was off sick) to the council mark it as formal complaint and ask for bailiff action to be called off whilst you seek further advice [email protected]

[cooper28.cliff]

Thank you I will get this information asap. re bailiff fee's if i pay the council direct what happens to the Bailiff fee's?

[mellymoo74]

two mins and I will find you an email address for Equita.

[mellymoo74]

[email protected] it for the attention of Karen Fowler, she will respond by letterYou can also tell the CEO of BCC that your investigation includes a breakdown of the charges charged by Equita as you dont believe that they are in line with current legislation

[cooper28.cliff]

Thank you for your help:-)

[mellymoo74]

We need to find out what the amount you owe the council is, then we can find out what the highwaymen are charging you and look at arguments for that. if you can pay the council on their automated line that will show your willing to pay BCC put any money against the oldest debt so we need to get when the debts are for then we can help you with a template email that you can send to BCC every time you make a payment requesting what is to be paid off what.

[cooper28.cliff]

The Bailiff said he was coming back tomorrow to take my car any suggestions other than moving the car please?

[brassnecked]

The Bailiff said he was coming back tomorrow to take my car any suggestions other than moving the car please?

 

If the car is still there he will take it, so I would move it

[bigshoes...bigsocks]

If the car is still there he will take it, so I would move it

 

definitely. and not just round the corner... the other side of town and a swift walk back is in order!

[mellymoo74]

We need to find out what the amount you owe the council is, then we can find out what the highwaymen are charging you and look at arguments for that. if you can pay the council on their automated line that will show your willing to pay BCC put any money against the oldest debt so we need to get when the debts are for then we can help you with a template email that you can send to BCC every time you make a payment requesting what is to be paid off what.

 

Did you find out this?Also did you email the ceo? Hide the car for now but the CEO's office should call you back and hold off bailiff action whilst they investigate

[cooper28.cliff]

Hi all

 

Right been onto the council today, found out i had three liability orders, one has been settled.

 

£376.29 - 2009

£137.71 - 2010 Settled

£350.37 - 2011

 

I've also found out that the representative i spoke to back in august to sort out this years CT, has not provided me with the necessary information.

I agreed to £35 per fortnight to help clear this years CT, after speaking with a representative today, I've found out that it was set up for £70pm,

which had to be paid as £70pm not £35 a fortnight, as the system doesn't read the payment for this years CT, but instead sends the payments to the debts with the Bailiffs??

From my point of view I've kept to the arrangement and have proof of each payment made, but they have said if i don't get my account upto date then it will be sent to the bailiffs.

Feel like banging my head against the wall, i know i messed up and i'm trying to sort my mistakes out, but if the council can't relay the correct information to me, how can i get thing right?

 

Is it worth me writing a letter of complaint, or should i just try and get upto date as best i can?

[cooper28.cliff]

Hi, the ceo was emailed and car is being hidden atm, bailiff has not been back today,

Edited October 1, 2012 by cooper28.cliff

[tomtubby]

The fees charged are NOT correct. If a levy was made upon your car, then the ONLY fee should have been a levy fee.

 

I suspect that the bailiff has attempted to charge "multiple fee" to your accounts. This is NOT permitted and this was made very clear indeed in the recent Local Government Ombudsman's Report against Blaby District Council. The bailiff company referred to in the LGO report was Rossendales Ltd.

 

How much roughly is the car worth that the levy was made upon?

[brassnecked]

The car would have to be worth £6,000 or more as distress sale items including cars, which go through auction as seized by bailiffs with no keys or V5 fetch approximately 10% of theitr value at auction, so if it is worth less the levy is open to challenge as it may be argued the levy is soley to garner fees for the bailiff. As per tomtubby, you can use the Blaby Council Ombudsman report as the basis of a Formal Complaint.

 

It may also be worth reporting Equita, to the OFT on Credit Fitness grounds.

 

Which council is this? Ah yes Birmingham! There is an ongoing problem with Birmingham Council, and their revenues department, as they use Capita for back office functions, and guess what? Capita own Equita, so they will have a cosy arrangement to fleece debtors in place.

 

Copy the Formal Complaint to CEO, Leader, Councillor and your MP CEO: Stephen Hughes [email protected] leader Sir Albert Bore: [email protected]

Edited October 2, 2012 by brassnecked

[tomtubby]

I cannot tell you how many enquiries i receive concerning Birmingham ( in particular) and the relationship with Capita and Equita. I am also aware of a large number of complaints that are being made to the Office of Fair Trading and Trading Standards.

[cooper28.cliff]

The fees charged are NOT correct. If a levy was made upon your car, then the ONLY fee should have been a levy fee.

 

I suspect that the bailiff has attempted to charge "multiple fee" to your accounts. This is NOT permitted and this was made very clear indeed in the recent Local Government Ombudsman's Report against Blaby District Council. The bailiff company referred to in the LGO report was Rossendales Ltd.

 

How much roughly is the car worth that the levy was made upon?

 

The car is worth maybe £400, its 14years old.

At the moment i'm waiting on a letter from equita regarding the fees, i'll update as soon as there received.

[tomtubby]

What is the amount of the Liability Order?