10 year old Liability order / Now having to Pay Equita :(

[monsterzMum]

Good morning,

 

Not sure where to start with this one, but

 

i have 2 outstanding Liability order for council tax from 10 years ago (when i was 18 years old).

 

I was only aware these orders even existed until earlier this year when

 

i received a letter from Said Council saying they had traced me to the address where i was living at the time

and had been for 8years.....

 

I contacted the council asking for a the amounts, legal costs & period in which they had been charged for,

They sent me this in writing in May of this year.

 

As i was a single parent at the time on benefits

i would have been in receipt of full HB & CTB at the time so the fact that i owe them any CT is beyond me...

 

Money's were being deducted out of my Income support THIS year to pay towards this oustanding debt,

but as i am now Working and NOT on benefits that money is no longer being deducted

and they received the last payment from me on the 14/10/13 of just over £14,

 

I have just within the last few days had 2 Letters from Equita bailiffs,

stating i will someone to come out to levy good to recoup the debt,

 

contacted them first thing Monday morning

AND STUPIDLY i have now made arrangements with them to pay monthly only after 3 phone calls to them.

 

I have now made some investigations with the Council as to when the CTB wasnt paid,

the reasons why, the dates the liability orders were made,

When & Where they were Sent to,

they Date it was past on to DCA etc as was adviced by the CAB,

 

I have asked the Council to take the debt back but they refused,

And considering that the last payment they recived from me was the 14/10/13

they had already past the debt onto equita on the 10/10/13.

 

I am at a loss with Equita as they threatened to have a baliff come to my house

even tho i was calling them to set up payment arrangements within 2 days of recieveig their letters,

 

Thes first call telling me i had to make an initial payment of £50 before they would set up monthly payment,

the second call telling me if i didnt pay £90 over the phone NOW by card then i would have baliff at my door, and

the 3rd call letting me pay £40 (which i had to borrow) before setting up monthly payments,

 

the council have told me that they sent me notice to pass on to DCA back in May,

but they had been getting payment from until a month ago...

 

I am now scared out of my witts that i will still get baliffs at my door

even tho i have made initial payments as i was told by Equita that they would just add a Levy fee

to my account anyway without the baliff coming

 

And to clarify these Liability orders Add up to £309

and where made just days before i moved out of the property,

and 6 months after sending them to address i never even lived....

 

HELP please

[hallowitch]

this may be better in the Bailiffs forum I will ask site team to move it for you

 

please don't worry you WILL be ok

[ims21]

Thread moved to the Bailiff forum.

 

Thanks hallowitch

[monsterzMum]

Thank you Any advice would be much appreciated

[dx100uk]

somethings not right here

 

firstly DO NOT PAY THE BAILIFF

 

pay the council DIRECT by YOUR internet banking portal.

 

can we just run over a few things

as you explanation is rather disjointed to me.

 

WNEN did you leave the property you owed the CTAX on

and WHEN did the council get the LO's.?

 

have you actually ASKED for a list from the council?

 

just remember many CTAX deptd for councils are run by Capita

they OWN the equita bailiff company

so...i'll let you guess for yourself whats going on here.

 

I have further notes below for you to read I have collected:

 

leeched from someone's thread a while back..

.........................................................................

As this debt is for outstanding council tax from [old], it is no longer a priority debt as such and is now classified as "priority arrrears". So any bailiff can go swivel current LO or otherwise!!!!

.

I was in a similar situation but owing £1,200 for council tax from 6 yrs ago. (I was refused council tax benefit whilst I was unable to work through illness and on Income Support for 8 months but the council refused to apply CTB retrospectively - unknown to me because I had moved - my application for CTB had been incomplete.)

.

i refused to co-operate further with the bailiffs (Rossies) after their threat level had escalated to ridiculous heights and instead told the council how much I could afford to pay them after taking into consideration my priority household expenses and debts, then my priority debts and then my credit debt. (I worked out what I could afford with the National Debtline I&E form - I believe CAG has a good one as well) I would only correspond by e-mail to the Head of Revenues and I told him I would pay £12.50/month. I considered that to be a realistic and sustainable amount. It was accepted even though it will take 8 years to repay.

.

As suggested above, advise the council of your "vulnerable" status and dig your heels in! The council will eventually take back your debt and you can then repay them what is realistic and sustainable for you. Stress to them that it is in their benefit to help you by allowing you to repay at an amount you can afford - without defaulting - whilst still paying your current council liablility if you have one.

.

At the time I negotiated my repayment to the council, I was employed on a full-time basis and had no dependent children and was not considered vulnerable, so if I could do it, you can too!! If you're in receipt of the "appropriate" benefits, they will only deduct a small amount each week/month and then you will be fine.

.

Best of Luck and don't lose heart!

 

Impecunious!

....end of leeched msg.....

[monsterzMum]

Hi dx100uk

 

I left the property on 16/10/2003,

 

The first liability order was granted on the 10/10/2003

but the council, only posted notice of this on the 15/10/2003, the day before my tenancy ended.

 

And was posted to the address the liability was obtained for,

even tho i was a council tenant and had to give them notice to move out,

they still never managed to inform me before hand.

 

The second liability order was obtained on 15/03/2004

and was posted to an address of which i never officially lived,

my was a family members home where i stayed for a few months from october 03 to december 03.

 

And until the beginning of this year have had no contact with the council regarding this.

 

I have already paid the baliff, Equita, £40 by card yesterday as the threatened to have a baliff at my house,

and also wouldn't let me set up a payment plan without this payment, and i said in my original post,

 

The council have point blank refused to take it back,

and told me even if they could i would have to pay them £85 a month as would have to be paid before the new financial year

[dx100uk]

as far as I know they cant force you to pay this off as a priority debt.

 

old council tax debts, even with a Liability order

are treated the same as any other civil debt like credit cards.

 

YOU decide what to pay not them.

 

dx

[National Debtline]

Hello there.

 

Once a local authority has obtained the liability order

they can in theory try and and use enforcement methods, such as bailiffs, forever.

 

Although that seems to be the case there have been successful complaints upheld against local authorities

where it can be shown that there has been an 'unreasonable delay'.

 

One such complaint [Thameside MBC, COmplaint Against [1999] R.V.R 283] was successful

in upholding that 4 years was an unreasonable delay and found that the local authority was guilty of maladministration.

 

You can find out more about the Local Government Ombudsman who upheld the complaint here: http://www.lgo.org.uk/

 

Regardless of age, council tax should always be regarded as a priority debt

- the key reason being that authorities have a very wide range of tools that can be used to try

and collect the money that is owing; bailiffs being one of the more common options.

 

A bailiff needs to gain 'peaceable' entry to the property

- they cannot use force (unless they have been in peacefully before and have made a valid 'levy' on your goods

- this is where they take an inentory of your belongings.

 

If this has never happened:

 

•Don't open the door to them as they may try to push past you.

If they get inside, they may have the right to enter again and may break in to take your goods.

 

•Don't leave windows open or doors unlocked – bailiffs can legally get through these.

 

•A bailiff cannot break in to take goods they have only seen through a window

so if you do not let them in they will not be able to take anything from inside your home.

 

•Bailiffs may try to break into sheds, garages, greenhouses and so on even though this is illegal.

Keep valuables safe. They may be able to take cars, motorbikes and other vehicles parked near your home.

 

•Politely but firmly refuse to let the bailiffs in.

Offer what you can afford to pay.

If the bailiffs accept your offer, ask them to return to their car and go out and pay them.

Make sure you get a receipt

 

You can read more about dealing with bailiffs and council tax via our fact sheet: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=02_bailiffs_and_council_tax

 

In addition, you'll find a great deal of help and support via this forum, there are some great bailiff experts here.

 

Finally, if you do not let them in (and hide any outside assets such as vehicles)

the only options for the bailiff are to either

1) accept an offer of payment that you make to them; or

2) pass the debt back to the local council

 

Best wishes,

 

David @ NDL.