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

[surrey_36]

15 hours ago, brassnecked said:

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.

Thank you - what i have received is a letter saying they have 'A Warrant on Control issued by the court' but there is not a copy of this document its just stated that they have it

18 hours ago, dx100uk said:

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

Thnks DX - I contacted the local councillor and hes going to contact the local authority council on Monday, meantime he has advised me to contact CAB

[honeybee13]

1 hour ago, surrey_36 said:

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!

 

 

 

I think that's a step in the right direction, surrey.

 

HB

[Bailiff Advice]

23 hours ago, surrey_36 said:

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'. 

 

Let me get the bad news out of the way first:

Legislation does not provide for a local authority to accept a payment arrangement before a debt has been passed over to a bailiff and in fact, this has been outlined in a Local Government Ombudsman's decision.  If the council had accepted a payment arrangement from you in 2017,  this was an exceptional and unusual step. 

 

You mention that you received a letter from Harrow Council fairly recently (in April). Unless the letter had been a statutory notice (such as an Order for Recovery) then this would have also been very unusual. Can you please let us know what exactly the letter said. This is important because; only a few weeks later you received a letter from Equita. 

 

[Bailiff Advice]

On 24/05/2019 at 17:02, surrey_36 said:

 

I 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'. TODAY I have received another letter from Equita saying they need immediate payment of £513.00. 

 

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

 

It is important to know about the contents of the letter from Equita. This is because; if the letter stated that you have until 5th May to contact them (supposedly to either pay or to SET UP A PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT) and visited TWO DAYS EARLIER on 3rd May, then the enforcement fee of £235 cannot and must not be charged as should be removed. 

 

What is the title of this notice?

Is it called a Notice of Enforcement?

If so, what date was it issued?

There should be a precise TIME and DATE when contact has to be made. What date and time is given?

 

[surrey_36]

Thanks Bailiff advice

The Title Is 'Notice of Enforcement'

Issued on 26.4.19

Says time and date needs to be paid is 4/5/19 17:30

 

I emailed enforcement@harrow on the 6/3/19 when i received their 'Order for recovery' outlining circumstances and requesting arrangement, but had no response whatsoever from them. The next contact I had was the attached 'Notice of Enforecement' and then - before I had a chance to deal with it I had a visit (whilst out thank goodness) before stated date of 4/5/19) - they actually turned up 1/5/19.

Edited May 26, 2019 by surrey_36

[surrey_36]

Im wondering if I should call the bailiff and tell him that I have contacted my local counsillor, I'm  so worried about a knock at the door and the kids being scared.  They have been through so much im so worried how this will effect them and be a massive set back

 

Does anyone think it could be a good idea for me to call him again (even if he was mean) or is it likely to be a waste of time?

Edited May 28, 2019 by surrey_36

[Bailiff Advice]

On 26/05/2019 at 22:11, surrey_36 said:

Thanks Bailiff advice

The Title Is 'Notice of Enforcement'

Issued on 26.4.19

Says time and date needs to be paid is 4/5/19 17:30

They actually turned up 1/5/19.

 

If it is the case that they made an 'enforcement' visit  3 days BEFORE the 'Compliance' period had ended. then that visit was unlawful and the £235 'enforcement fee' must be removed. Furthermore, the incident should be reported to the local authority.

[Bailiff Advice]

1 hour ago, surrey_36 said:

Im wondering if I should call the bailiff and tell him that I have contacted my local counsillor, I'm  so worried about a knock at the door and the kids being scared.  They have been through so much im so worried how this will effect them and be a massive set back

 

Does anyone think it could be a good idea for me to call him again (even if he was mean) or is it likely to be a waste of time?

You mention that in 2017 you had been suffering from depression and in an earlier post, you state that you are now 'recovering' from depression (which I pleased to hear). 

 

Have you managed to return to work?

Are you still under the care of your GP or the hospital etc for depression?

Are you prescribed medication?

 

[London1971]

On 24/05/2019 at 18:11, honeybee13 said:

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

 

 

Hi there

 

Sorry to hear of your situation,

 

It's a great sign that you got a reply from your councillor so rapidly, and there is an good chance they will resolve this for you.

 

They have more power than any one in the collections or revenues department, and are in a position where they can tell collections to call the bailiffs off.  

 

A lot of people in politics right now, across the spectrum, don't like the fact that councils use bailiffs, mainly because the ridiculous fees are simply making the poor, poorer.

 

That said, If the councillor fails to come up with the goods, escalate to your elected head of the whole council.

 

 

[surrey_36]

12 hours ago, Bailiff Advice said:

You mention that in 2017 you had been suffering from depression and in an earlier post, you state that you are now 'recovering' from depression (which I pleased to hear). 

 

Have you managed to return to work?

Are you still under the care of your GP or the hospital etc for depression?

Are you prescribed medication?

 

Yes Im back to part time work, for the moment. 

Im off medication now

Not under care of GP but still receiving support, hence why i am limited on days i can work

[surrey_36]

8 hours ago, London1971 said:

Hi there

 

Sorry to hear of your situation,

 

It's a great sign that you got a reply from your councillor so rapidly, and there is an good chance they will resolve this for you.

 

They have more power than any one in the collections or revenues department, and are in a position where they can tell collections to call the bailiffs off.  

 

A lot of people in politics right now, across the spectrum, don't like the fact that councils use bailiffs, mainly because the ridiculous fees are simply making the poor, poorer.

 

That said, If the councillor fails to come up with the goods, escalate to your elected head of the whole council.

 

 

Hi London,

Thanks, yes was quite suprised at the speedy response.   No reply today however but im guessing everyone bust after bank holiday weekend, hopefully hear something tomorrow.  For time being doors and locked !

 

I contacted Harrow today in the form of a complaint and also copied in the chief exec of harrow council, becuase i have emailed them about 5 times now in over 4 weeks and not had a single response.

[surrey_36]

12 hours ago, Bailiff Advice said:

 

If it is the case that they made an 'enforcement' visit  3 days BEFORE the 'Compliance' period had ended. then that visit was unlawful and the £235 'enforcement fee' must be removed. Furthermore, the incident should be reported to the local authority.

Thanks Bailiff Advice, I contacted my local council who said they could do nothing , they then told me to call surrey county council who also said they could do nothing - surrey CC then told me to call CAB.   Which I did but they didnt tell me anything i already had not learned on here tbh.

 

I sent another email to Harrow council complaining that they have not responded to any of my emails over the last few weeks and copied in the chief exec. Also included that I had informed my local councillor of the situation. Not sure if that was the right thing to do or not but had to do something 

[surrey_36]

I'm pleased to report that today I received a letter in the post from Harrow council, saying they had received my correspondence and although it is now too late to challenge or continue challenging the PCN that due to my situation with financial hardship and exceptional circumstances they are willing to consider my request to pay the fine and additional charges by installment. 

 

My case has been placed on hold for 14 days for me to submit copy bank statements and also income/expenditure drawn up by StepChange or CAB.  Upon receipt they will assess my eligibility to be entered into a monthly payment arrangement.

 

I am feeling very relieved following a week of worry,  it looks like contacting the Chief Exec of Harrow Council possibly worked.

 

I also had a response from my local Councillor today who provided me with a contact email address at Harrow to contact, but since have received this letter there is no need to do so.

 

I will now get the paperwork off to them they need sorted urgently!

 

Thank you to everyone that commented and helped out on this.. extremely thankful to you

 

Phew.....

[London1971]

Excellent news !

 

Sounds like the common sense outcome

[brassnecked]

Excellent,  but keep your Councillors contact details handy, in case of any issues.

[surrey_36]

Another update on this situation. The Council came back and said they would accept £60.00 as a full and final settlement.   Relieved.  Lesson learnt.

[brassnecked]

Great stuff, thanks for coming back to let us know.