Capita run CTAX dept/Equita Bailiffs and fees regarding CTAX debt

[ebonyrose]

Afternoon, wonder if you knowledgeable people could help me,

 

I received a hand delivered letter today through my door from Equita bailiffs. I owe a large amount of council tax

 

I had an arrangement for a default on a previous year with them last year

and was making payments until my son was admitted to hospital for 3/4 of last year.

It is now just starting to affect me,,, antidepressants and sleeping tablets.

I tell you this in case anyone wants to know why I didn't keep to the payment arrangement.

 

I also defaulted on last years CT bill so now owe a substantial amount - over £1000

 

I have a car that is on HP with Moneybarn, I've had it for 10 months.

I have read bits and pieces on here and on the web that bailiffs can't take a car on HP

but am well aware of their underhanded tactics at times.

 

I know I need to get a copy of my HP agreement to Equita

and copy Birmingham city council in on it too

 

but I need some guidance on what my letter should say.

 

Also can the bailiffs take my car and do a deal with Moneybarn regardless.

 

I am pretty sure Equita will demand the full amount which I have absolutely no way of paying,

does anyone know how I can go about getting them to accept another arrangement

or even getting the council to take the debt back and let me pay them direct.

 

I have even thought about asking the council to make an attachment of earnings order.

 

Sorry for the long windedness - one very stressed out mum and I know many others are feeling the same as me too

 

 

Thanking you in advance.

[i hate bailiffs]

Do not make arrangements to pay the bailiffs

 

Pay the council direct

You may fall in to vulnerable category

There is no right of entry no locksmith for the bailiffs

 

Keep property secure do not sighn any paperwork do not let them in regardless of there excuse

[ebonyrose]

Thanks for your reply.

I certainly won't be letting them in

so I'm not too concerned about possessions inside my house

I am very concerned they will take my car even after I provide them with a copy of the HP agreement.

 

Further still I am worried they will try and deal with Moneybarn themselves. Is this possible do you think?

 

I tried phoning the council earlier but I may as well of been talking to a mirror.

They say they can't take payments,

I have to deal direct with the bailiff.

 

I realise I may be in the vulnerable category (just possibly) but my main worry is that they'll take the car,,,

[i hate bailiffs]

The council are wrong you can pay them do it online or automated telephone service

You do not have to deal with the bailiffs

 

The bailiffs will be looking to levy the car and will argue later do you have a garage

As it is on finance they should not be able to take it

But leaving it on the drive at the moment may be asking fir trouble

 

If you contact your local councillors and local mp let them know your situation and claim vulnerable they should kick the council into touch

 

If the bailiffs knock you do not need to open the door to them

[ebonyrose]

No I don't have a garage,, but ,,,

 

 

Yes I will get onto my MP and very much sort this out asap as best as possible. I will keep my post updated. If anyone has any additional help/comments to make it would be appreciated too.

 

 

Don't get me wrong I know bailiffs have a job to do but they just don't seem to want to give anybody any leeway and make payments they can afford or take extenuating circumstances into consideration.

[ebonyrose]

Oh and thanks for your comment about asking for trouble if leaving it on the drive. I'm so stupid, I thought it would be sufficient to wave my HP agreement in his face when he turns up and catches me in even though I will be writing to his office about it.

[brassnecked]

Oh and thanks for your comment about asking for trouble if leaving it on the drive. I'm so stupid, I thought it would be sufficient to wave my HP agreement in his face when he turns up and catches me in even though I will be writing to his office about it.

Equita are facey and bent enough to insist they can take,

and sell the car and pay the finance company with the proceeds,

 

If Crapquita are stupid enough to do that,

the motor would fetch peanuts,

and if the finance company was to collude with them

would be liable for breach of contract to the hirer,

meaning all monies paid to them would have to be refunded,

 

so Equita would be in trouble if they tried that,

as the Finance company would be after them for stealing their motor.

[ebonyrose]

brassnecked - thank you for that! I'm starting to feel a little bit more "armed and dangerous" (with information that is)

 

 

I'll also be writing to equita for a breakdown of fees (from what I've noticed on other threads) as I'm pretty sure that they've hiked a few hundred pounds in fees.

[dx100uk]

moneybarn car will be by bill of sale

 

def not your till paid in full!!

 

I take it the council CTAX dept where you are are run by capita?

if so, they own equita, so def wouldn't want to cut off an earning stream by spoof fees.

 

i'd be a bit wary of going down any kind of chargeback route on the card sadly.

going by recent news here if applicable.

 

dx

[ebonyrose]

moneybarn car will be by bill of sale

 

i'd be a bit wary of going down any kind of chargeback route on the card sadly.

going by recent news here if applicable.

 

dx

 

 

 

 

Hi dx100uk, would you mind explaining what you meant about the chargeback route etc, sorry I'm a bit slow.

 

Yes to Capita, this is where I get confused.

 

When I phone the council tax office thinking I'm speaking to a council office worker

am I actually speaking to Capita i.e. Equita and Co. ??

 

And you're right about the Bill of Sale,

so am I right in assuming that if Moneybarn did do "a deal" with Equita

that this would be unlawful and I would have the right to "sue" so to speak.

 

Thanks.

[ebonyrose]

And you're right about the Bill of Sale, so am I right in assuming that if Moneybarn did do "a deal" with Equita that this would be unlawful and I would have the right to "sue" so to speak.

 

Just to clarify I certainly have no wish to sue anyone, don't think I worded that very well,,

 

What I mean is am I totally within the law when I state that cos I have a Bill of Sale on the car

there is absolutely no way they can take my car if I provide satisfactory proof of this.

[dx100uk]

urm..

you've sold a car that you had no legal right to

its not your to sell...

opps , I hope you are still paying MB?

 

else you could be up in court rather quickly on this.

 

as for deals with moneybarn by the bailiffs etc etc

 

wont and doesn't happen.

[tomtubby]

ebonyrose,

 

I will give a detailed reply in the morning. The bailiff company in this case will NOT be seeking to do any deal with Money Barn. Try not to worry. You are clearly 'vulnerable' and this will be sorted out in the morning.

[ebonyrose]

I am still paying MB, always on time, no problems there at all.

[dx100uk]

I am still paying MB, always on time, no problems there at all.

 

lets hope they don't sniff you've illegally sold the car.

 

do you know where it is?

hope you / dealer didn't fill out the VC5

else this could be on the way to bite you badly.

however this Is another [side] issue to this thread

 

dx

[ebonyrose]

Oh dear, we've a miscommunication here Dx,,,,not sure how though:???:

 

I haven't sold the car and have no intention of doing so, I have kept up my payments with MB and I fully intend to keep doing so.

 

My main worry was that even though tomorrow I will be sending a copy of my credit agreement (Bill of Sale) to Equita and the council, I am worried actually maybe paranoid that Equita will still take the car, sell it at auction, pay themselves and the finance company (MB) off, leaving me with no car. Whilst I know it is unlawful for them to do so? I am fretting that they will do so regardless.

 

I guess though from what you said, this couldn't and doesn't happen.

 

Tomtubby, thanks for offering to add some advice too in the morning - I think I need to let it go tonight and try and sleep, will be up at the crack though watching at the window that he doesn't try and come and take my car early in the morning, I have no garage but I have somewhere I can put the car until hopefully this gets resolved.

[dx100uk]

yes def my bad, sorry got threads mixed up.

 

if eq take the car i'd hate to be the bailiff on the other end of the phone

when MB find out the bailiff has taken it without doing even the basic of checks

which they should do before levying on a car.

 

sadly usual dodgy tactics being employed to 'harass' a debtor

to get money they are not even entitled too

 

dx

 

dx

 

 

sorry again my bad,

[ebonyrose]

It's ok no worries.

 

 

I'm just looking at my agreement with MB now and sorting out correspondence to the council and Equifax (yep can't sleep).

 

 

I have a Conditional Sale Agreement with MB. I assume this is the same as a Bill of Sale.

[brassnecked]

If t BCC and their agents Crapquita, yes when you phone the council you get Capita who own Equita, carry on with threatening to take the car, and ignore a vulnerable situation, it will be another nail in Capitas coffin as BCC councillordss are being told by their ward members about their agents aggressive enforcement tactics. Might be worth you sending a Formal Complanit into CEO, and elected leader copied to MP if they persist in insisting they can take the car.

[tomtubby]

ebonyrose.

 

Fist things first. You need to call the local authority ( which in your case will really be Capita) and ask them to confirm the precise amount of the Liability Order. Whist on the phone also ask for the amount of the previous one as well. Unless you now the precise amount is will be difficult to know whether or nt the fees charged are correct.

 

Unfortunately, Equita have been known for years to be able to somehow ignore the National Standards for Enforcement Agents and the statutory regulations regarding the requirement to provide a breakdown of their fees and it is common place for them to merely state on the notice a figure that they require. Many times they fail to even do this and instead, the debtor is required to call the bailiff to get the fright off their lives.

 

I am assuming that the bailiff did not 'levy' upon your goods. If he of done so there is a legal requirement for him to leave a Notice of Seizure of Goods & Inventory at the property.

 

The question about the car is in fact an interesting one.

 

The public need to be aware that if a car is on finance it does NOT always mean that a car cannot be taken by a bailiff and each case is different. Years ago I too believed that a vehicle on finance was 'exempt from seizure' but over the past 6 or 7 years I have learnt a great deal on this 'thorny' subject. I will try to explain as simply as possible:

 

Around 3 years ago I was assisting a debtor whose Mercedes 4x4 had been seized by a bailiff regarding four Transport for London congestion charges. The car had been seized and the bailiff had demanded around £1200. He had purchased his car 4 years earlier for around £40,000 and had argued that the car was subject to finance. He refused point blank to pay and was adamant that he wanted to prove his 'theory' that the case was exempt by 'testing' the matter in court. His vehicle was taken to the car pound and additional removal fees were applied together with daily storage fees. By the time that he had contacted me he had already instructed a solicitor and a court date was set for his injunction.

 

During my discussions with him it did indeed transpire that the car was 'on finance' BUT ( and this is VITALLY important) was the fact that the finance agreement had been for approx £30,000 ( as he had paid a large deposit) but crucially, there were only 6 more monthly payments to make before the finance agreement ended and the car was legally his. In other words there would a huge amount of 'equity' in the car of approx £20,000). How his solicitor had not picked up on this was crazy and in fact he lost his injunction. His attempt to 'test' the case in court ended up costing him a lot of money in legal fees and the bill to the bailiff company ran into quite a few thousand pound by the time he had collected the car.

 

Coming back to your particular case, given that you have only had finance for 10 months it would be highly unlikely for there to be any "equity" value in the car and you really should have nothing to worry about. However, it is important to ensure that the position of the car is brought to the attention of Equita and this comes back to the importance of writing to the company (or better still emailing).

 

You have not said whether you are married or a single parent.

 

I would urge you to call Capita ASAP to get full details of the Liability Order and once you have received this could you post back.

[ebonyrose]

Hi Tomtubby,

 

 

Just phoned "the council" and they say that I have outstanding balances for 2012, then 2013-2014 and the a balance from 2008, all totalling,,, wait for it £1786.60!! He wasn't especially helpful and seemed guarded with what he wanted to say although I don't know why.

 

 

I asked him if there was 1 liability order or 2 or even 3. He said there's 1, they've rolled the outstanding amounts through (into 1). He said that Ross and Roberts have been sent £92.69 and the remainder of the balance to Equita.

 

 

I am a single mother and feel as though I'm going to hyperventilate now, potentially having to deal with two bailiffs at once.....

[ebonyrose]

He also gave me the numbers for Equita and Ross and Roberts and said I need to speak to them direct.

 

 

I want to pay this debt off, but the best I can do is £200 per month. Tomtubby I think you and I both know the bailiffs will not accept this and will be demanding full payment very very soon. I'm at my witsend.

 

 

Last week the doctor signed me off work with depression and gave me tablets, the nurses comes in twice a day for my son and I need my car to take him and my other children to school and appointments and work when I am able to get back to work.

 

 

Is there anyway I can get the council to take the debt back and even make an attachment of earnings order or am I going to have to pay the council direct and then play hide and seek with my car until I get the balance cleared, bearing in mind the new council tax year is due soon and that will be another bill.

 

 

I want to pay but I just can't afford to pay such a huge amount in a lump sum and before any jumps in yes I know I've brought it all on myself, no one to blame but me.

[ebonyrose]

I just phoned MB, they were polite about the situation, they say that a bailiff can't take the car as it doesn't belong to me or the bailiff - it belongs to them.

 

 

However, he did say that the bailiffs are however entitled to put a clamp on the vehicle and leave it clamped until I pay them their monies.

 

 

Lol, the thing is the clamp would be on the car a very long time as I can't pay anymore than £200 per month,,, increase in fees etc etc,

 

 

It's a case of laugh or cry.

[tomtubby]

I just phoned MB, they were polite about the situation, they say that a bailiff can't take the car as it doesn't belong to me or the bailiff - it belongs to them.

 

 

However, he did say that the bailiffs are however entitled to put a clamp on the vehicle and leave it clamped until I pay them their monies.

 

 

Lol, the thing is the clamp would be on the car a very long time as I can't pay anymore than £200 per month,,, increase in fees etc etc,

 

 

It's a case of laugh or cry.

 

Please keep off the phone to the bailiffs and I will respond in a few hours.

[tomtubby]

For anyone following this thread, I sensed that the poster was vulnerable and had noticed that she had mentioned that her daughter had been in hospital for many months last year. I therefore send a private message to the poster.

 

I am delighted that the account has been returned to the council but I will leave her to explain more as it will assist many more people in similar situations.