Council tax bailiff clamped and took a car on Monday

[Arnye]

Good morning All,

 

Birmingham city council bailiff came to my door on Monday morning after clamping a car outside. AS of the end of March this year I owe £35 council tax balance from last year and have not even received the bill the new financial year yet. I pay my council tax on monthly basis by internet transfer. I have had contact with Equitax for a few years now and have spoken to them on number of occasions and explained that I really don’t owe the council anything. They usually stop contacting me for months and then start again.

 

Basically, the bailiff said that the count was handed over to them ones in 2014 and 2015 and that I should have being paying them and not the council so now he want over £700 in their charges.

 

I have lived in this house since 2000 and have always paid my council tax be it with some straggle but I do pay it, so I don't understand how the council can hand my account over to equitax when I have being paying.

 

I went to the citizen advice service yesterday and they told me to write a complaint to the council. I have also read few forums posts to figure out what to do but I am at lost at the moment. I'll be calling the council this morning to try to find out how this happened.

 

Any advice will be much appreciated.

 

Thank you

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

I've moved your thread to the bailiffs forum here and left you a link to follow. The experts should be along later with advice for you.

 

My best, HB

[unclebulgaria67]

You need to ask the council for details of liability orders and what tax they think is still owed.

 

The council should only instruct Enforcement agents ( were called bailiffs), if they think there are outstanding lliability orders, you have not been paying.

[Bailiff Advice]

Good morning All,

 

Birmingham city council bailiff came to my door on Monday morning after clamping a car outside. AS of the end of March this year I owe £35 council tax balance from last year and have not even received the bill the new financial year yet. I pay my council tax on monthly basis by internet transfer. I have had contact with Equitax for a few years now and have spoken to them on number of occasions and explained that I really don’t owe the council anything. They usually stop contacting me for months and then start again.

 

Basically, the bailiff said that the count was handed over to them ones in 2014 and 2015 and that I should have being paying them and not the council so now he want over £700 in their charges.

 

From what you have written I suspect that accounts for arrears of council tax were passed to Equita to enforce, and instead of paying the enforcement company, you instead have been making payments direct to Birmingham City Council.

 

If this is the case then Birmingham council would have deducted the Compliance fee of £75 from each account and split the balance on a pro rata basis in line with legislation. The bottom line being that you have not cleared your debt to the council at all.

 

Can you please call the council and ask them to confirm the amount of each account that had been sent to Equita and the date that the accounts were forwarded.

 

You say that your car was clamped and has been removed.

 

How much was the car worth?

 

Is the car on finance?

 

What fees have bee charged by Equita?

[Arnye]

I have now spoken to the council and this is the situation. In May 2015 I received an arrears reminder from the council of £192.67. As of then I have not received my statement for that year so I have not paid for April and May. I immediately made this payment in May and another payment in June of £120.00, not knowing exactly what I owed, I calculated based on what I have paid in the previous year.

 

They said again in June they sent another arrears reminder of £264.00. I didn’t do anything about that and carried on paying the £120 every month. In September they handed the account over to equita. Equita wrote to me and I called them and explained that I have being paying my council tax so they need to check their records with the council.

 

It appears the exact same pattern was repeated from the year in 2014. This year 2016, I still have not received my bill for this year yet and my account is £25 in arrears and that is why the bailiff cam asking for £755 which will increase now that they have taken the car.

 

The bailiff said the car is worth £1400 but they might only get £400 for it in auction and it is not on finance.

 

Equita is charging £235 each for both cases plus the cost of the clumping the car and taking it away.

 

 

I think it’s completely unfair for the council to seek a liability order for an account that is in regular payment. What are my options now?

[Bailiff Advice]

I have to be honest here by saying that this case is very confusing indeed and I am at a loss to understand the reason for a debt of £25 and even more confused that such a small debt can now have reached £755. Please ask the council for an explanation.

 

What you needed to ask the council was the amount of each Liability Order and when these were passed to Equita.

 

For the avoidance of doubt, if the enforcement agent is enforcing more than one account at the same time he may only charge ONE enforcement fee of £235

 

It

[brassnecked]

Don't forget that BCC is infested by Capita so Arnye has probably never spoken to or dealt with an actual BCC employee.

[Leakie]

Looks like Equita are over charging, so nothing has changed

This is the second post today, where they have allegedly charged the £235 more than once

As Ba has said only allowed to charge £235 once.

[harrop87]

Looks like Equita are over charging, so nothing has changed

This is the second post today, where they have allegedly charged the £235 more than once

As Ba has said only allowed to charge £235 once.

 

 

I have been charged 3 times £235 for 2 bills so will look into that

[brassnecked]

I have been charged 3 times £235 for 2 bills so will look into that

BCC are infested by Capita, so you have never probably spoken to an actual BCC employee, Capita own Equita, see where this is going?

[ploddertom]

Appears to be a common trait by Equita. Notice of Enforcement delivered by hand giving only a couple of days notice, followed quickly by an Enforcement Visit and seemingly using multiple Enforcement hoping the debtor doesn't notice. Very similar to what they used to do previously over their "potential fees". Seems to me they think the TCGR do not apply to them. About time their licence to enforce was removed until such time they train their employees properly - better still remove all their Bailiffs certificates until such time each can prove they know what they are doing. A note should also be circularised via trade papers informing each "client" of their nefarious practices.

[brassnecked]

Agree PT, looks like they are trying to go back to the halcyon days of yore where they shamelessly indulged in "Upfront Fee Fraud"

 

Arnye should challenge the "Extra" £235s. In this case it should be the subject of a Formal Complaint to CEO, Elected Leader, and MP. Capita and Equita are corrosive to the public good, and need to be reigned in, even to the removal of certificates suggested by PT.

[Bailiff Advice]

I have now spoken to the council and this is the situation. In May 2015 I received an arrears reminder from the council of £192.67. As of then I have not received my statement for that year so I have not paid for April and May. I immediately made this payment in May and another payment in June of £120.00, not knowing exactly what I owed, I calculated based on what I have paid in the previous year.

 

They said again in June they sent another arrears reminder of £264.00. I didn't do anything about that and carried on paying the £120 every month. In September they handed the account over to equita. Equita wrote to me and I called them and explained that I have being paying my council tax so they need to check their records with the council.

 

It appears the exact same pattern was repeated from the year in 2014. This year 2016, I still have not received my bill for this year yet and my account is £25 in arrears and that is why the bailiff cam asking for £755 which will increase now that they have taken the car.

 

Equita is charging £235 each for both cases plus the cost of the clumping the car and taking it away.

 

I am sorry to say but I am none the wiser after reading your reply and you really must find out the following from the council:

 

What date were Liability Orders issued.

 

What period are they for.

 

What was the amount outstanding under each Liability Order when they were passed to Equita to enforce.

 

What date were they passed over to Equita and lastly

 

The exact amount of fees charged for EACH account and the date that the fees had been charged.

 

Unless the above is obtained it will be difficult to unravel this situation.

 

PS: There is a possibility that Equita may have charged 'multiple' fees of £235 but we cannot know for certain until we have the above information.

[Arnye]

I am working today and won't be home till later tonight so I'll update you now and try to answer some of you questions.

 

I am unsure of when the liability orders were issued. the council officer told me yesterday that it was passed onto equita in September 2014 and again in September 2015 the amount outstanding at the time was about £800 or £900 each.

 

The fees according to the bailiff are £235 for each order plus another £75 each and the cost of the clamping and car and taking it away, which I don't know yet.

 

After being on to phone to the council for about an hour yesterday, the officer told me she will contact equita and speak to them about the car. she has no authority to cancel the orders, I must make a formal complain to their back office (didn't know what that meant). She gave an email and a postal address to write to.

 

She also said I need to contact the bailiff to negotiate for the release of the car. Since yesterday we've call the bailiff's number several times. Cannot even leave a message because his inbox is full and he is not answering the phone. On Monday Equita will not speak to me because, they said I can only negotiate with the bailiff at this stage.

 

I don't know what to do to get the car back, have to take 3 buses to get my son to school and I need to leave work now to start the pick up journey.

 

Thank you All

 

I did the formal complain yesterday and sent it via email. I have an acknowledgement response saying they have already began investigations and will get back t me in how many days (i con't remember at the moment).

[Leakie]

Sorry BA

the OP has stated several times Equita have charged Multiple £235 charges

[brassnecked]

Multiple £75, and multiple £235 charged on same visit.

[Leakie]

Yes BN

 

Equita have not change and think themselves above the Law,

why because if we complain to the correct bodies it will be ignored and us out of pocket.

 

I thought the most of the new regs were better than before as you have a clear insight as to what can be charged.

 

At the end of the day this is trying to obtain Money by deception, or Fraud

 

If it can be proved this is what has happened, they should have the book thrown at them.

not just accept it was a mistake.

 

As we all know the latter will be the result.

[brassnecked]

Leakie, unfortunately Capita regard themselves as part of the Establishment, so are untouchable. There is an ongoing issue in BCC with their Crapita infestation, so Arnye should get their MP and Council Elected Leader involved as they should be aware of the fraudulent actions of their Contractor.

[Leakie]

Even more reason to throw the book at them.

but they are so entrenched as you say that if the were to loose the contracts government would not function

[Bailiff Advice]

Sorry BA

the OP has stated several times Equita have charged Multiple £235 charges

 

There is a lot of confusion about 'multiple' charging and accordingly, I started a new thread on the subject this morning. The OP needs to have a read to ascertain whether or not 'multiple fees' have been charged.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?463622-Can-enforcement-agents-charge-multiple-bailiff-fees-(7-Viewing)-nbsp

[1PeacefulWarrior]

Arnye, everything else aside, every day that passes the pound where they have taken the car to will add charges on top. When this has happened to me at the beginning of the month, I was told that I would have to pay £48 per each day that the car has been in the pound. The bailiff letter only said that I will be liable to pay extra charges for the car being held at a secure location, but they never said how much that would be. By the time my Out of Time declaration had been rejected, 15 days had passed. Time is of essence now, if you are considering taking the car back. In my case, it was no longer worth it, so I said 'good riddance'. You need to ask the bailiff company where the car was taken to, they will want you to pay what they say you owe them, then they will pass you onto their fellow in crime, the pound, so they can skin you alive yet again. I am afraid you will find you have to agree to get raped twice. So act fast. Or let them keep the car and move on.

[1PeacefulWarrior]

Posted twice. Deleted. Anyone can advice on how to cancel a post, I can't see the option ? Also, how does one follow a post, there isn't an option I can see?

Edited April 22, 2016 by 1PeacefulWarrior
Double posted

[Mr.P]

You have ten minutes to edit a post, and if you wish to delete it, there is an option via the Edit Post button. After the ten minute window has expired, you would need to report the post to the site team using the little triangle to the left of the Edit Post button.

 

If you want to subscribe to a thread, at the top of the page, you should see a Thread Tools button. Click on this to bring up a drop-down menu and then select "Subscribe to this thread...".

[Bailiff Advice]

You have ten minutes to edit a post, and if you wish to delete it, there is an option via the Edit Post button. After the ten minute window has expired, you would need to report the post to the site team using the little triangle to the left of the Edit Post button.

 

If you want to subscribe to a thread, at the top of the page, you should see a Thread Tools button. Click on this to bring up a drop-down menu and then select "Subscribe to this thread...".

 

Can I PLEASE ask a favour?

 

Can you look towards extending the 'edit' facility to perhaps one hour. That would really assist new and regular posters.