please please help

[donnalou]

equita are sending out a baliff to collect money i dont owe

thye sent me a letter asking for £108.16 i got the letter on saturday rang on monday and paid by switch they said on that call that £50 had been added which i refused to pay id paid what they had asked for

they sent me another letter saying they were coming for the car i rang them twice and got told i owed £48 on one call and £35.20 on the second

 

i told them a letter had been poste to dispute the amount and theyve responded with a letter saying a bailiff is coming this week for £35.25

how can they give 4 different amounts?

 

anyway been in touch with cab efea northampton county court sefton council and trading standards and no one seems to either be able to or want to help me

northampton court ae sending me a form to appeal that might be able to stop the action but thats it

 

im really fed up stressed and at the point of snapping

 

im also gonna get in touch with the police and see if i can have a charge of harrassment brought gaianst them

 

 

any help would be appreciated:cry:

[Recycler]

The £108.16 is it right to assume this is a parking ticket debt of £90 + £5 Ct Fee + £13.16 bailiff letter fee ? Sounds likely to me

 

If you received all the prior paperwork (there should have been at least 3 letters from the council which issued the pcn) & accept liability for the parking ticket :-

 

if you have paid the £108.16 you have settled the debt & the warrant is no longer active (the warrant should be returned to the local authority who issued the pcn with payment) - a bailiff cannot visit you for fees alone

 

 

have you kept the letter from Equita & also the envelope....usefull evidence - what was the date of the letter & the date of the postmark on the envelope...

 

You should also check when the warrant was issued at Northampton Traffic Enforcement Centre 08457 045 007 - the pcn reference should be on the bailiffs letter.

 

Each council that contracts bailiffs to enforce warrants will have an enforcement timetable - so after the warrant is issued at Northampton it is passed to Equita who are contractually obliged to write you a pre enforcement letter (which is what yours sounds like) - this attracts a fee allowed by law of £13.16 - what they don't tell you is the bailiff must then allow a period for payment before any visits can be made.

 

So - find out when warrant issued - check date letter sent - contact the authority which issued the pcn & ask for the bailiff liason officer in the parking dept - find out how long the bailiff should allow for payment of pre enforcement letter - then point out your experience & ask to make a formal complaint.

[donnalou]

yes your right about the charge breakdown i have kept the letter no envelope tho i have told them i have

no date to be paid by on the letter i phoned equita today and for the first time got to ask my question and get an answer without the phone being put down on me i have the pcn they say the warrant was issued the 27th april and that confirmation of this was sent to me on the 30th which i did not get

ive been in touch with sefton mbc and theyve rang me back telling me they have contacted equita and asked for the amount owing to which they say its £148.15 (95 for smbc) with £8.01 vat so ive told her what the letter said and about the other different amounts quoted in the telephone calls and as you can see smbc has also been quoted yet another amount (back to £48 outstanding)

the lady i spoke to has asked to see the letters i have and is telling equita to put actions on hold till she has seen them

 

oh and theyve not quoted the pcn on any of the letters i have

 

so im right in assuming that equita will not have sent payment to smbc and is keeping hold of the warrant to use as leverage to get more money from me ??

 

i have psorisis and it has really flared up because of this stress and worry if it is proved that they have not acted correctly (which they obviously havent) can i bring a case against them for harrassment?

[kfdh1962]

Hi Doonalou.

their are certain things that they are allowe dto charge for, and equita will try and bump this up by any means they can.

If you take a look at the national debtline webiste it will tel what they can charge for and how much they can charge. I believe they can charge for 2 visits, approx £24 for the first and £18 for the second. i believ they can make charges for correspondence but not sure how much.

[donnalou]

Hi Doonalou.

their are certain things that they are allowe dto charge for, and equita will try and bump this up by any means they can.

If you take a look at the national debtline webiste it will tel what they can charge for and how much they can charge. I believe they can charge for 2 visits, approx £24 for the first and £18 for the second. i believ they can make charges for correspondence but not sure how much.

 

 

 

i understand they can make charges but surley not when the amount theyve asked for has been paid

i would have thought that once the requested payment has been made that should be an end to it

[Recycler]

bailiff fees for collecting rd traffic debts are governed by stautory instruments - letter fee £13.16

visit fee 28% of first £200 debt (up to 3 visit fees allowed)

 

what was the date of the letter asking for £108.16? you should usually have 2 weeks to settle at this rate - what date friday did it arrive?

 

If Equita claim the pre enfocement letter was sent on 30th April, yet the letter you received (which "appears" to be the pre-enf letter arrived dated later) - this would indicate a seriously prejudicial system delay.

 

An additional £48 would indicate a visit fee had been charged - this should be 28% of £95 + vat - or less than £48

[tomtubby]

Kfdh 1962

 

Can you post the link to Nationaldebtline for the fees, can't find them.

 

I understood that bailiffs can charge for up to 3 visits...but council tax is 2 visits. Are you sure these are thr right fees as they sound like council tax to me?

[donnalou]

bailiff fees for collecting rd traffic debts are governed by stautory instruments - letter fee £13.16

visit fee 28% of first £200 debt (up to 3 visit fees allowed)

 

what was the date of the letter asking for £108.16? you should usually have 2 weeks to settle at this rate - what date friday did it arrive?

 

If Equita claim the pre enfocement letter was sent on 30th April, yet the letter you received (which "appears" to be the pre-enf letter arrived dated later) - this would indicate a seriously prejudicial system delay.

 

An additional £48 would indicate a visit fee had been charged - this should be 28% of £95 + vat - or less than £48

 

date of the letter was the 1st of may i recieved it on the 19th when i told them this they simply said hey are not responsible for post so i replied nor am i phone put down on me

i never recieved the letter they say they sent 30th of april and i cant see why they would visit at that point they are just trying their hand i suspect