Equita Bailiffs Help!!

[annoyed.com]

Hi, wondering if anyone can assist me in dealing with Equita Bailiffs chasing me for a payment that i've already made to them. To summarize the story so far:

Received the bailiff removal action letter July 2013 for a Coventry Council Tax bill from 2005
Called Equita and was given bailiff's mobile number
Rang the bailiff and agreed to a payment plan
Was advised total amount payable was £504.55
Made initial payment of £104.55 as suggested by bailiff leaving £400 to be paid per month
£100 consecutive payments were made through my bank between August and November.
To my surprise today i receive a final demand notice from Equita
Rang them to advise that i had already paid the total amount owed
Was passed onto the new bailiff dealing with file
He advised me that there was £100 outstanding
According to him the intial payable balance should have been £520 so i was given the wrong amount
Thus there was approx £15 discrepancy
So apparently this £15 difference has now accumulated to £100 plus £130 bailiff charges!!!
Spent the whole day being passed back and forth between customer services and the bailiff and they all insist there's an outstanding amount
Have looked through all of my bank statements and can confirm that all five payments left my account successfully
Coventry Council don't want to know as the debt was passed onto Equita in June 2013
Am at my wits end, last call to the offices asked for a call escalation and was told i will get a call back from a manager within 24hrs

[bluebottle]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

Hi and welcome to LB.

This is typical of Equita.

Ring Coventry Council main switchboard tomorrow morning and ask to speak to the Head of Revenues. If the switchboard ask why, do not give a reason other than you need to speak to the Head of Revenues and to be put through. The reason I say this is that Equita is owned by a company called Capita that has infested a number of local authorities and runs the department responsible for Council Tax and, often, the switchboard. Penny to pound, if you say it's about Council Tax, you'll be put through to Capita employees who will give you the runaround and be somewhat disingenuous. So resist any attempt by the switchboard to put you through to the Council Tax department.

Ask for the following information -

1. How many Liability Orders CCC has against you;
2. How much is each Liability Order for;
3. The dates each Liability Order was granted and at which magistrates court.

Also, ask Equita for a breakdown of fees. They must provide you with this by law. If they don't they leave themselves open to allegations of Fraud and other offences.

[annoyed.com]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

Thank you so much for the response, so the above mentioned information to be obtained from Coventry City council will be able to come from the head of revenues is that correct?

[bluebottle]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

Thank you so much for the response, so the above mentioned information to be obtained from Coventry City council will be able to come from the head of revenues is that correct?

It is best to go straight to the Head of Revenues, rather than risk being hoodwinked by more Capita crackpots, about the information I have listed.

As regards bailiff fees, you need to approach Equita directly for the breakdown.

[annoyed.com]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

So I've received the attached letter from Equita! They have added two visit fees yet I never once got a visit from them! All correspondence came via Royal Mail! And I've been told I'm not able to speak with the lady that wrote this letter as she's out of office. I also dealt with the bailiff in July and according to this letter she was only certified in November! Is there a case there?

[bluebottle]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

So I've received the attached letter from Equita! They have added two visit fees yet I never once got a visit from them! All correspondence came via Royal Mail! And I've been told I'm not able to speak with the lady that wrote this letter as she's out of office. I also dealt with the bailiff in July and according to this letter she was only certified in November! Is there a case there?

You need to scan the letter and post up on this thread so that other Beagles can see what Equita have said and advise accordingly.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

Coventry Council don't want to know as the debt was passed onto Equita in June 2013

Right - let's see if we can change that.

The CEO of Coventry City Council is Martin Reeves, PhD; telephone 024 7683 1100, email martin.reeves@coventry.gov.uk, Twitter https://twitter.com/martinrreeves

[ploddertom]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

Isn't it ironic that the LGO offices appear to be in Coventry yet the Loacal Authority to date appears to get away unscathed.

[annoyed.com]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

You need to scan the letter and post up on this thread so that other Beagles can see what Equita have said and advise accordingly.

I had uploaded it earlier on not sure what happened. Have re-uploaded hopefully successful this time

[bluebottle]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

By my calculations, you owe them £14.50.

The following fees are subject to confirmation -

1st Visit Fee @ £24.50
2nd Visit Fee @ £18.00

The following are subject to Equita producing proof of valid levy -

Levy Fee
Attendance Fee
Walking Possession Fee

The following are not in accordance with legislation and, therefore, not allowable -

Card Fee
Giro Book Fee
Paypoint Fee
Dishonoured Payment Fee

Do you know if the breakdown Equita has provided is being entered for the Booker Prize for Fiction 2014?

[CleverClogs]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

I had uploaded it earlier on not sure what happened. Have re-uploaded hopefully successful this time

My first reaction is that she's a fibber - there is no legal duty to speak to a bailiff, or even to piddle on one if the bailiff should catch fire.

Then there are the missing dates for the alleged first visit, second visit and levy of goods. The levy fee, incidentally, is wrong - on the whole debt, it should be £42.

Of course, one should also question why a Liability Order supposedly obtained on 6^th July 2005 should only be enforced now.

[ploddertom]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

So I've received the attached letter from Equita! They have added two visit fees yet I never once got a visit from them! All correspondence came via Royal Mail! And I've been told I'm not able to speak with the lady that wrote this letter as she's out of office. I also dealt with the bailiff in July and according to this letter she was only certified in November! Is there a case there?

If the only letters you have had are via Royal Mail - make sure you still have the envelopes - then they can claim diddly squat unless they can actually prove they have been. Was the Bailiff's Certification an initial one or a renewal - you can find this out by asking the Court.

[annoyed.com]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

Thank you so much guys, i'm now in the process of compiling another letter back to equita. Should i therefore also be asking for proof of valid levy?

[ploddertom]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

Do you have a Notice of Seizure?

[annoyed.com]

Re: Equita Bailiffs Help!!

Do you know if the breakdown Equita has provided is being entered for the Booker Prize for Fiction 2014?

LOL it all looks made up to me, the fact that she didn't even give the dates of these alleged "visits"