equita Equita -- pre-loaded charges in 2012 CTAX LO - can I reclaim???

[jaxads]

Looking through old papers ........

 

Back in 2013, council passed liability order of £642 to equita. I paid Equita £1039 within 3 months. I understand this was when they pre-loaded costs to the account.

 

The repayments were arranged and paid for over the phone. By they did say they MAY Send someone out to do what was then the walking possession order ...... But that never happened.

 

Ilooking back, I paid almost £400 in fees/charges I just wanted the debt cleared.

 

Would I be able to challenge those charges .... Or is it best just forgotten ...... As always any thoughts / comments most welcome

[ploddertom]

In my view you can still pursue this. You are going to have to ask them for a complete breakdown of the fees on the account. They may well try & argue there is a Data protection issue but there is not. Here's an example of a letter you could send them - adjust to your own needs.

 

"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

 

Ripped off customer"

 

You can probably delete the references to the Bailiffs' Certification.

[ploddertom]

Knowing Equita - they are very evasive - I wouldn't put it passed them to say they no longer have any records, but we'll cross that bridge when or if it happens. The Council are also responsible for the actions & charges their contractors take. You can also ask them similar questions. - like these:

 

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

8 - the dates & amounts of any payments

 

Do you happen to know if your Council use Capita for some of their back office functions. You can always send your communications initially by email to both Bailiffs & Council backed up with a hard copy sent by post.

[jaxads]

thanks Ploddertom.

 

 

I will write as suggested and see what they come back with.. It was only the one .. As detailed above, but when looking back at how much I paid .. It was extortionate

[ploddertom]

The charges should have been:

1st Visit - £24-50

2nd Visit - £18-00

The game changes however when they could have seized some goods - possibly a car. Chances are they will have been claiming this. But lets wait & see what they come back with.

[jaxads]

thanks Ploddertom, I now have reference number and date the council passed to equita so will write to them and update post when I receive a response.

[jaxads]

Ok, reply received this morning from Equita

 

Fees are.

1st visit. £24.50

2nd visit. £18.00

Levy fee. £45.00

Enforcement fee. £100.00

Giro book fee. £11.64

Card payment fee. £3.00

 

back in 2013, under the old fee regime, am I correct in thinking the levy could only be charged if they actually visited your home and entered and did a walking possession order?.

 

Also what would the enforcement fee have been for back in 2013.. Could they charge an enforcement fee if they hadn't done a levy??

 

That certainly never happened. I think the £45 and £100 were "pre-loaded" charges??

 

They go on to say for any further queries need to be directed back to their client, ie the council?

 

any thoughts?????

[ploddertom]

They are correct in that the Council are indeed responsible for the actions of their contractors but it sounds as if they are trying to wriggle out of their own responsibilities.

 

Have they given you dates on which the above fees were made? You will need these to go further. In the meantime you need to know from them what goods were levied for them to charge the Levy Fee - you should have been given a copy of the form which should list exactly the goods seized. You also need to know what exactly the Enforcement Fee was that they have charged. Lastly ask them which Regulation permits them to charge a Giro Book Fee & Card Payment Fee.

 

Please note Equita had form for pre-loading all charges prior to anyone calling at your door.

[jaxads]

Hi Ploddertom

 

Thank you for your reply.

 

I've certainly never seen any copy of any levy, nor have I ever signed anything and confirm that they never set foot in the house to perform a levy.

 

I will write again .. As no dates were given. I'll also ask the question regarding the other fees and post back again when I get another reply.

 

i got a breakdown from the council of the payments Equita made to them and they are a good time after I made the payments to Equita ... They obviously hold onto your money as long as possible

[Bailiff Advice]

 

They go on to say for any further queries need to be directed back to their client, ie the council?

 

Just a word of caution, quite a few local authorities outsource their entire council tax recovery department to a firm called Capita. It would be wise to find out if they administer your local authorities council tax department . The reason being that that Capita own Equita !!

[ploddertom]

Just proves again how broken Equita/Capita Abacus is. From your initial post you say you paid nearly £400 in charges to the Bailiff yet even their alleged table of fees only comes to approx £200 so another question must be where did the extra go to? Do you still have any or preferably all the receipts you were given?

[brassnecked]

Giro book fee. £11.64

Card payment fee. £3.00

 

Cheeky buggers, deffo unlawful.

 

Ask them to provide a copy of the Notice of Seizure regarding goods they claim to have levied, and follow the advice of PT and BA,

 

About time Capita PLC and their subsidiaries Equita & Ross 'n Robbers were investogated again, as no doubt they wmight try preloading the Compliance, Enforcement, and Sale Stage fees as they did with the fees pre April 2014 if they think they can get away with it,

[jaxads]

Giro book fee. £11.64

Card payment fee. £3.00

 

Cheeky buggers, deffo unlawful.

 

Ask them to provide a copy of the Notice of Seizure regarding goods they claim to have levied, and follow the advice of PT and BA,

 

About time Capita PLC and their subsidiaries Equita & Ross 'n Robbers were investogated again, as no doubt they wmight try preloading the Compliance, Enforcement, and Sale Stage fees as they did with the fees pre April 2014 if they think they can get away with it,

 

That's the words I was looking for NOTICE OF SEIZURE. I knew if they'd ever levied anything that I should've had some paperwork .... I've nothing, and as they've not done a levy, I'd be interested to see their paperwork

 

Looking forward to getting my teeth into this one ..... ... I'll update as soon as I get a response

 

II'd counted up payments wrong and was actually charged approx £200 in extra fees not £400 as I typed but even so, a lot of money to pull out for the sake of lining their pockets!!!

[jaxads]

40 days almost up, and still no reply from Equita ....... let's see what the post brings in the next few days........

[Bailiff Advice]

Just proves again how broken Equita/Capita Abacus is.

 

At a conference that I attended last week, there was an excellent series of presentations regarding setting up of "in house' bailiff teams and a small number of local authorities spoke of their own plans to bring bailiff enforcement in house with others being very cautious indeed.There are are lot of difficulties in this area.

 

The largest 'in house' bailiff operation is that of Capita and Equita which I have been very troubled about for a number of years and even more so recently. When the new regs came into effect all CIVEA members agreed that in order to resolve the interpretation of 'seven clear days' on the Notice of Enforcement that each company would agree to provide a period of 14 days.

 

Equita have now cut that time period to 8 days and I receive endless enquiries that the Notice of Enforcement arrives on the same day as the compliance period ends.

[ploddertom]

40 days almost up, and still no reply from Equita ....... let's see what the post brings in the next few days........

 

 

 

Have you reminded them of their obligation to provide what you want? Have they admitted receiving your request?

[ploddertom]

 

Equita have now cut that time period to 8 days and I receive endless enquiries that the Notice of Enforcement arrives on the same day as the compliance period ends.

 

 

I do hope that a complaint is made each time this happens. Capita/Equita/Ross & Roberts have long since had the attitude Regulations do not apply to them & it must be time they were brought to book or kicked out.

[Ruleoflaw]

At a conference that I attended last week, there was an excellent series of presentations regarding setting up of "in house' bailiff teams and a small number of local authorities spoke of their own plans to bring bailiff enforcement in house with others being very cautious indeed.There are are lot of difficulties in this area.

 

The largest 'in house' bailiff operation is that of Capita and Equita which I have been very troubled about for a number of years and even more so recently. When the new regs came into effect all CIVEA members agreed that in order to resolve the interpretation of 'seven clear days' on the Notice of Enforcement that each company would agree to provide a period of 14 days.

 

Equita have now cut that time period to 8 days and I receive endless enquiries that the Notice of Enforcement arrives on the same day as the compliance period ends.

 

 

Bailiff, under what legal authority does the council (or any other public authority) have to use bailiffs in house. Under the Human Rights Act, any power a public authority has must be compatible with any Convention Article. Notwithstanding this, there must a legitimate aim and a principle or proportionality at common law (or as it were constitutional common law). Where do to these people think they live, in England we have to subscribe to the legal principle of the 'rule of law.'

[jaxads]

Hi Ploddertom, I've not reminded them. I do have proof that letter was signed for by them on 20 October. Is it worth just reminding them that I expect a full reply by 29 November?

[ploddertom]

Hi Ploddertom, I've not reminded them. I do have proof that letter was signed for by them on 20 October. Is it worth just reminding them that I expect a full reply by 29 November?

 

I certainly would and point out they acknowledged receipt by signing for delivery on xxx date. Gives them less wriggle room.

[jaxads]

Sent off further letter reminding them that their 40 days are up on 29 November .......

[Bailiff Advice]

Please do keep us all updated.

[jaxads]

Update, no surprise .... 40 days up and no response to my (paid for) subject access request.

[jaxads]

What should I do if they haven't responded to the subject access request ?? Is it worth writing to them - again??

[ploddertom]

No great surprise not have received what you are rightfully due. Have you checked to make sure the payment you sent has been cashed? To be on the safe side you must also allow them a few more days in case it is snarled up in the post - end of next week perhaps.

 

If still no answer then there are still things you can do to try & force their hand.

 

1 - make a complaint to the ICO - slow process with no guarantee of success, may take a year or more.

2 - issue a claim for non-compliance via the Small Claims Court - unfortunately you have to pay the fees upfront unless you are exempt - again can be a slow process but they must this time do as they are told.

3 - make a formal complaint to the Council CEO - they were the people who instructed them so bear the responsibility for the actions & charges of their contractors.