Equita CTAX debt - Warrant of Control Issued **RESOLVED**

[surrey_36]

Help!

I received a parking fine in 2016. 

The debt was not paid and amounted (without digging out paperwork) to a bill of over £200.   

I made a payment arrangement then in 2017 had some really horrible stuff happen to me

i ended up not working and going into care to be treated for severe depression.

 

I got a letter from Harrow council fairly recently, April I think saying about the outstanding debt and that it needed to be paid. 

I emailed them at once and apologised and outlined my circumstances in 2017 and said could i please set up another arrangement as I am unable to pay due to hardship.

 

I did not hear back from them

had a letter from equita saying that i had until 5/5/19 to contact them about the debt

 

on the 3/5/19 i came home to find a card that they had been to 'remove goods'. 

I contact the number on the card and explained that i had contacted Harrow and offered to pay installaments,

the man said OK he would not call again and to wait to hear from Harrow. 

I emailed Harrow said that Id received the card and that i had responded to their letter but had no reply.

 

I have 2 small children both in play therapy at present and having a visitor like that could be extremely distressing for them.

 

TODAY I have received another letter from Equita saying a 'warrant of control  has been issued against me authorized under the taking control of goods regulations 2013 to enforce this order,  saying they need immediate payment of £513.00. 

I am in hardship so that is just not even slightly possible. 

 

I contacted Equita and they gave me the number of a man, who was not interested in any of the above of my difficult circumstances and was very abrupt on the phone leaving me quite frankly feeling really stressed and upset,

 

I explained i am recovering from sever depression and I need to be careful with this sort of thing as I dont want to slip back,

he took no notice and only pursued how I would pay this debt. 

I told him that i was feeling very nervous on the phone and i said i would go away and come back to him and he put the phone down.

 

I completely understand that this is an old debt, and it should have been paid,

i offered harrow council a payment arrangement and they just sent a bailiff round,

also after i had explained my difficult circumstances.

 

I would be extremely grateful if anyone could advise me,

I dont have £513 to give them,

if i did i would just pay and get rid of this situation but i cant

[honeybee13]

Hi. I'm sorry to hear about your problems.

 

I've moved your thread to the bailiffs forum given that Equita are involved, people should be along to comment later.

 

HB

[surrey_36]

Thanks so much Honeybee. sorry that i put in the wrong area

[honeybee13]

That's fine, we'll try to get you some help.

 

What happened to your nice kitten avatar, did it get lost when the site changed?

 

HB

[surrey_36]

yes it did, i liked that one too - will have to try and find something similar!

 

[Will Goodfellow]

Keep your doors locked and do not let the baiilffs in, they have no right to force entry but can enter if a door is unlocked. If you own a vehicle, park away from your property so they cannot find it.

 

Eventually they will give up, the debt will be passed back to Harrow council and the enforcement fees will be removed from the debt. You can then set up a repayment plan with the council to pay it in instalments.

[honeybee13]

5 minutes ago, surrey_36 said:

yes it did, i liked that one too - will have to try and find something similar!

 

 

It's just as nice as the last one.

 

HB

[dx100uk]

look up and contact your local councillors and tell them the story

better by phone if you can.

see if you can get them onboard to sort things out.

it might well be that you wont get the £325 added by the bailiffs taken off but theres a chance.

I will assume you got the notice of enforcement giving 7 days with a £75 fee

then attendance that added the £210 ..

 

 

[surrey_36]

Thanks  DX, thanks for your help (again!), would that be local councillor or local MEP's?

I've found a link to send my local counsillor an email or there is an option to email all the local MEP's

 

Do you think i'm likely to have this chap round as ill be honest i'm really worried hes going to knock at the door and frighten the life of me and the kids

[surrey_36]

22 minutes ago, honeybee13 said:

 

It's just as nice as the last one.

 

HB

Its taken my mind off things a bit actually! Looking at cute pics of kittens is quite therapeutic !  

Edited May 24, 2019 by surrey_36

[honeybee13]

Yes it is, I hoped it might be a slight distraction.

 

HB

[dx100uk]

45 minutes ago, surrey_36 said:

Thanks  DX, thanks for your help (again!), would that be local councillor or local MEP's?

I've found a link to send my local counsillor an email or there is an option to email all the local MEP's

 

Do you think i'm likely to have this chap round as ill be honest i'm really worried hes going to knock at the door and frighten the life of me and the kids

get on to your local councillor 

see recent posts by london1971 here

gives very good advise regarding this route

if you have a car it is in danger of being clamped if not hidden

[honeybee13]

I believe London1971 recommends to ring your local councillor, surrey. I think it's more likely they will help you than an MP or MEP.

 

HB

 

 

[surrey_36]

Oh my goodness, so they are able to come round and enforce take things?

[dx100uk]

sadly yes.

and although it is rare, they could return to the court and get permission to force entry surrey.

get on to your councillor asap

[Will Goodfellow]

Bailiffs can't force entry with a warrant of control, dx100uk, it's not even rare, it can't happen where there is no controlled goods agreement that has been breached.

[dx100uk]

good glad to be wrong

[Will Goodfellow]

9 minutes ago, surrey_36 said:

Oh my goodness, so they are able to come round and enforce take things?

 

Not if you read post #6.

[surrey_36]

1 hour ago, Will Goodfellow said:

Keep your doors locked and do not let the baiilffs in, they have no right to force entry but can enter if a door is unlocked. If you own a vehicle, park away from your property so they cannot find it.

 

Eventually they will give up, the debt will be passed back to Harrow council and the enforcement fees will be removed from the debt. You can then set up a repayment plan with the council to pay it in instalments.

Thank you Will, Im often out in the garden with the kids playing so I really dont know how im going to do that, especially with it now being half term! What a nightmare 

[Will Goodfellow]

The bailiffs cannot visit unless you have received a notice of enforcement given you 7 clear days notice first. They can only charge a fee to visit you once so it's not in their interest to keep visiting. It might take time to get a response from your councillor/MP so be aware for now. If they visit lock your doors, it doesn't matter if you are locked outside with your kids, they won't hang around long if they can't see a car and you know they can't force entry. Take the kids to the park or somewhere for half an hour if they turn up (not in you car ).

Edited May 24, 2019 by Will Goodfellow

[Will Goodfellow]

44 minutes ago, dx100uk said:

good glad to be wrong

 

I should add that they cannot force entry with a warrant of control for an order for recovery, which this warrant is. Where bailiffs are enforcing a warrant of control for a magistrates court fine they can seek permission from the court to force entry but that is rare.

[dx100uk]

Now i know where i got it from then.....

[brassnecked]

For a Civil Debt they would have to have a Controlled Goods Order with the items properly listed and a copy sined by the debtor. before they could apply to force entry.

[surrey_36]

I have a notice of enforcement, dated 26/4/19!

This was the correspondence i received following my response to Harrow council detailing my difficult circumstances and requesting time to pay over installments.  Following receipt of this Notice of enforcement I had the visit just a few days after and before the said date on the letter.

 

I will do as suggested and contact my local Councillor.   Is it worth me sending a text message to the bailiff i spoke to?

 

 

[surrey_36]

I contacted my local Councillor and received a reply this morning, saying the he would kindly contact our local council on Tuesday morning to see if they could offer any advice.

 

He also suggested i contact CAB.

 

It was kind of him to respond so quickly, but unfortunately does not resolve the immediate concern of a potentially scary doorstep visit.   My poor mum has been baby sitting this morning and was terrified!