Equita baliffs

[tracyjn44]

Hi.

Could someone help me..we have been charged all these fees for our council tax debt..

Debt £1,217.24

statutory visit fees £42.50

levy fee £54.00

attendance charges £167.00

card payment fee £4.00

 

first of all the levy fee dont know what he levied on because we were out at work.

Attendance fee he never came in a van, only a car. Because my daughter was in but she never answered the door. He has been twice.

[maroondevo52]

Hello and Welcome, tracy.

 

I've moved this thread to the appropriate Forum, hopefully you'll get some help shortly.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[tracyjn44]

Ok thankyou..

[brassnecked]

You need to ask the council

How many liability Orders they have for you

Wnat year(s) they apply to

When were they obtained

When were they passed to the bailiffs for enforcement,

 

Then send this to Equita: edited to suit

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

 

It is quite likely they have levied on a random car, so that could be challenged and some fees removed if they have done that. They could be hoping you are ignorant of how relatively powerless a bailiff is and have frontloaded fees, a no no under the Regulations.

 

What council is this, as some councils have outsourced their revenue back office to a company called Capita who own two bailiff companies, one of which is Equita, see where this is going?

[tracyjn44]

thankyou..well let me start from the beginning..did not pay this years council tax to sefton council then we got letter off equita saying that they have taken the debt over..so we made a paymen plan to pay each month..paid first instalment then the next month we where late by 2 weeks so we got a letter through the door demanding the whole lot..my husband rang him and the baliffe said we had to pay £600 in the next week..so we did cos we was getting paid then.then two weeks after that he rang my husband up and said he wanted the rest of the money asap..my husband said listen mate we have already paid you £6oo we are living on beans on toast now because of it!! the baliff replied on no mr .....h.the reason i i gave you a week to pay the £600 was a bit of leaway so that you could get the rest of the £667.00 right away to me..my husband replied well ive got no more money to give you until the end of the month...but the baliff was not having it so he put the phone down on him.. then 3 days later i came home to see a car outside my house with a man in it on his phone and i knew it was a baliff.so i pretended that it was a friends house and knocked then rode my bicycle around the corner..then i came back half an hour later to find a letter on the floor saying REMOVAL NOTICE ETC....So i rang my husband and he rang the baliff and he wanted the money asap so we had to borrow the money off my mum and i had tp put it in my bank and pay it to the baliff..then i sent EQUITA a email asking a breakdown of charges and thats what they sent me.from the first tthread..oh and i also sent an email to sefton counciil but they did not want to know..so thats the whole story..oh and ive just emailed EQUITA again asking what they had levied on.

[ploddertom]

Have they given you the dates that each charge was applied on?

[tracyjn44]

Hi,

only a liability date 07/06/2012

and the removal letter thats dated 11/09/2012..the statement they have sent me with the list of things they have put on.. No

[josephbloggs]

Equita automatically add a levy fee and enforcement fee to letters before visits take place and expect the bailiff to find something to add to the levy to justify the fee, even if its next doors car. They rely on your ignorance not to know what the law is regarding fees to make money.

This is why they make record profits every year BUT also the reason why so many councils are cottoning on to this and equita are beginning to loose contracts.

I would suggest finding out whats been levied on, you should have a levy (SHOULD doesnt mean they have done one!) if you have the envolopes the letters came in and they are not hand delivered and have a stamp on then the fees cant stand for the first and second either. If so get onto the council and complain

[ploddertom]

Hi,

only a liability date 07/06/2012

and the removal letter thats dated 11/09/2012..the statement they have sent me with the list of things they have put on.. No

 

In that case I would class them as being obstructive when asked to define their charges. You should therefore ask the Council to provide the said information - you may well have to remind them of their responsibility in the matter though.

[tracyjn44]

thankyou everyone.. much appreciative of your help...but can i ask...the attendance fee what does that mean does it mean that they came with a van because if so they never my daughter was in but she never answered the door...and been on that website to see if he is a certified bailiff and i cannot find his name.

Edited October 21, 2012 by tracyjn44

[hallowitch]

If a bailiff has a levy on goods it gives them the right to return at a later date to allegedly remove the levied goods they can then charge an attendance to remove fee

 

I say allegedly because the bailiff should attend with the intention of removing the goods so if he levied a load of furniture he should be in a vehicle fit for the purpose of removing the good

 

 

this fee cant be charged the same day as a levy fee

[tracyjn44]

thankyou very much..

[hallowitch]

does the bailiff have a levy on your goods ?

 

 

just read your first post again and you say you don't know what he levied

 

when a bailiff levies goods he must at the time of the levy leave you a notice of distress/seizure of goods and inventory listing the goods levied

[tracyjn44]

no never left anything like that..only two letters saying he may take our goods..dont know what because he never came into our house..only spoke to my husband on phone.

[tracyjn44]

and i have been on that website to see if he is a certified bailiff but i cannot find his name.

[brassnecked]

Deffo Formal Complaint then, and beware that the bailiff may cruise by and levy a random motor, then post the seizure through the letterbox. This will be challengeable however, and as pointed out by hallow, the other fees don't stack up anyway.

[tracyjn44]

Thankyou everyone...

[seanamarts]

Hi Tracey, can you PM me the name of the bailiff please.

 

When a bailiff has levied he is meant to leave you a list, signed. Its possible he has levied on a car out side your property.

[seanamarts]

OK you need to request a copy of this bailiffs certificate. He is defiantly not certificated. Im informed that the register is now updated on a weekly basis, so he should be on there.

[brassnecked]

If the bailiff is NOT certificated, he CANNOT lawfully levy distress andseize goods.

[ploddertom]

Im informed that the register is now updated on a weekly basis, so he should be on there.

 

The register may well indeed be updated but it is only a central repositry. Unless the rules have changed the Courts are only obliged to update twice per year although I think some do more regularly. In my view the most current information should always come from the Court where the Certificate is allegedly provided.

[tracyjn44]

he is not on the list i just checked..

[hallowitch]

phone

Ministry of Justice Public Register of bailiffs on 020 3334 6355 to confirm

[seanamarts]

phone

Ministry of Justice Public Register of bailiffs on 020 3334 6355 to confirm

I usually call them HW and they stated to me that they get the same info as what is on the register and they update that weekly. I was told that only a few months back.

 

However its worth a call to them for peace of mind.

[tracyjn44]

ok guys i finally got a copy of the form 7 seizure form through the post today after sending them numerous emails. They have levied on some random car which does not belong to us..i think its next doors..so could i ask why have they charged me an attendance fee..