Equita and council tax

[loops39]

Hi

I'm sorry to just jump straight in with a problem but here goes.
I came home from work on Tuesday with what I've now found out is the basic bailiffs letter they hand out.Saying they want full payment or they are going to come to my home and remove my possession's.After reading all over the internet my windows and doors are locked at all times.
I spoke to the council and asked them to take the debt back and all they could offer me was put my this years account on hold to December so i could pay the bailiff.
And i rang the national debt line,who told me to pay the council and not the bailiff,i didn't have the money so went and bit the bullet and got my parents to pay the £325.00 on the online council payment system. I rang the council who told me that the money would go on to this years bill and id still owe the bailiffs. So now i don't know what to do as now i owe my parents and the bailiffs.And as far as my parents are concerned its all sorted!

Thank you

x

[labman]

Re: Equita and council tax

You do not and should not deal with the bailiffs at all. You have no obligation to do so. Pay the council direct using their online payment system or telephone system. Make sure you use the correct reference so it is allocated to the right account.

Have you read the bailiff guide here:

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...67-Council-Tax

[bluebottle]

Re: Equita and council tax

Was the letter hand-delivered or did it come through the post?

[loops39]

Re: Equita and council tax

Ive read the post it made me understand the whole thing so thank you for that. I've paid the council today and have got a paper copy plus a email copy but the council are saying once its cleared it will go on to the 12/13 bill so im a bit stuck on what to .

x

[outlawlgo]

Re: Equita and council tax

I think this might be relevant to your problem. See what you think:

3.3.1 The collection and reporting of Council Tax income is straightforward when a tax payer pays their annual charge within that year. Complexities arise when a Council Tax Payer falls into arrears and owes the council money for past years as well as the current year. There is significant case law (for example, Peter v Anderson (1814)) however, put simply, if a person specifies which years debt the payment should be assigned it should be assigned to that years debt.

3.3.2 The council tax system has built in allocation rules to ensure that the law with respect to specified payments is met. For instance, if a customer has a payment plan for any year of debt and the payment they make matches the planned instalment then the money will be allocated to that year (this is known as “hard” allocation on the council tax system). If the system is unable to “hard allocate” then it will instead “soft” allocate and the debt will be used against the oldest debt unless manually adjusted.

Bear in mind this is Milton Keynes which may not use the same system as your council.

A link to the report is here if you're interested.

[loops39]

Re: Equita and council tax

The letter was hand delivered but put through the letter box while i was at work,luckily my daughter didn't answer the door which makes me wonder if they actually knocked!

[loops39]

Re: Equita and council tax

Thank you going to read it now.Im with Exeter city council so im wondering if they have the same gov page

x

[bluebottle]

Re: Equita and council tax

By the sound of it, Equita are up to their usual trick of sending someone who is not a certificated bailiff to push the letter through the letterbox. If they try claiming fees, ask for the full name of the bailiff who attended, the name of the court that issued their certificate and who they spoke to at the time.

[loops39]

Re: Equita and council tax

Oh they did that too,Equita say i owe in total 498.00 when the council tax is 325.00

[bluebottle]

Re: Equita and council tax

What fees are they trying to con you into paying? They need to explain where they get £173 from. Ask them, in writing, for a breakdown of fees.

[labman]

Re: Equita and council tax

Personally I wouldn't ask the bailiff anything at all. You don't have to deal with them, so I wouldn't. Most councils (in fact all I know of) use the system outlined by Outlawgo who knows CT inside out. The fact they state it will be allocated to the current year suggests they're being bloody minded. Tell the council exactly which year you want it allocated to and if they refuse to play ball post back up.

[loops39]

Re: Equita and council tax

I will wait untill Monday when the payment should reach them and i will call them and tell them which year it needs to go on to.And im sure i will be back!

Thank you all for your help

Claire x

[loops39]

Re: Equita and council tax

Hi All
Well I rang the council told them who i was and she said oh yes there's been talk of you in the office today,the payment was showing up but they still wouldn't move and so they are talking about paying me back the £325.00.And then I can pay the bailiff. I had to ring the bailiff and tell them what had happened and they said they will ring back next week.And i told them that the £325.00 had been paid to Exeter City Council so once that had been sorted id pay Equita and just owe the fee's and she said in total i owe 760 quid,I said are you joking because the last letter stated i owed 498(she wasnt impressed that i had a letter saying 498 you could tell by her voice) and now your saying 760,yeah you have court costs and our fee's added now,pfftt i dont think so i know that it should be 25.00 as no one even knocked on the door when the letter was put in the door.So i'd really like a break down of your fee's
So what can i do now?

Thanks

Claire x

[ploddertom]

Re: Equita and council tax

lesson No 1 - Bailiffs Lie

[ploddertom]

Re: Equita and council tax

Hi All
Well I rang the council told them who i was and she said oh yes there's been talk of you in the office today,the payment was showing up but they still wouldn't move and so they are talking about paying me back the £325.00.I'd honestly like to see them do this as they will walk themselves straight into trouble - did you by any chance record the call or get the name of the person you spoke to? And then I can pay the bailiff. I had to ring the bailiff and tell them what had happened and they said they will ring back next week. Lesson No 2 - don't ring the Bailiff unless you can record the call. And i told them that the £325.00 had been paid to Exeter City Council so once that had been sorted id pay Equita and just owe the fee's and she said in total i owe 760 quid,I said are you joking because the last letter stated i owed 498(she wasnt impressed that i had a letter saying 498 you could tell by her voice) and now your saying 760,yeah you have court costs and our fee's added now,pfftt i dont think so i know that it should be 25.00 as no one even knocked on the door when the letter was put in the door.So i'd really like a break down of your fee's
So what can i do now?

Thanks

Claire x

You should be aware that a lot of Councils have outsourced all their admin functions to private companies, one such company is called Capita who in turn happen to own 2 Bailiff companies - one of which happens to be Equita. If this is what happened when you rang the Council then the reply you had does not surprise me.

It may be that you do owe some lawful fees but certainly nothing like what they claim. You need to send off soonest for a breakdown of their alleged fees - see this link http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...Useful-Letters letter No 1. Send it to them initially by email followed by a copy in the post.