Enforcement agent not employed by Equita

[Guest]

An ‘enforcement agent’ visited my property today; his letter shows my name plus my ex husband who has never lived here.

The agent threatened to clamp my car but I drove it off; I told him it was on finance & showed him a letter to prove it.

He hung around for while & left a ‘Controlled Goods Agreement’ letter in my absence. The car car is worth £3000 & the debt is apparently £317.28 plus £235 ‘Enforcement Stage Fee’.

The ‘debt’ relates to Council Tax back in 2011 - which my husband disputed at the time with the council; it was to
do with when he got a job after a period of employment & an issue over dates.

Equita is trying to pursue the ‘debt’ but I don’t know what they’re basing the amount on. I’ve moved three times since & not seen any paperwork. Didn’t receive anything notifying me the debt had been passed on - it’s my ex husband’s debt anyway. He worked in the US for a while too so he didn’t see any paperwork either.

i looked up the enforcement agent on the register as he seemed to have a loose grasp of the rules. He’s listed but his certificate is based on employment with LRAM Ltd & not Equita. So is he allowed to work on their behalf? Even if his certicate doesn’t mention Equita?

I’m a single mother, in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance & Housing Benefit & Child Tax Credits. Can they pursue me when I have no funds to pay a debt (that’s not even mine)?

can they pursue me when I’m in a divorce situation? Surely debts form part of divorce proceedings? Especially when they relate to my ex husband.

Can they clamp my car when I use it to take my children to school & to get to my Jobcentre appointments?

Can thus agent really leave a ‘Controlled Goods Agreement’ for a car on finance & is it valid if I didn’t see or sign it?

[ploddertom]

You are both named on the notice as they can seek payment from either you or your ex as it is classed as joint & several liability, You need to find out from the Council how much the original Liability Order was for and importantly when it was obtained. I assume this is the first notice you have about this. By Law they must send you a Notice of Enforcement giving you 7 clear days in which to pay in full or make contact to arrange a payment schedule. What sort of finance is the car on - Lease, Bank Loan, HP etc?

To make a Controlled Goods Agreement you do need to sign it unless they can prove you were being obstructive but if that were the case they should remove the goods concerned. Getting around is not their concern and it will be assumed you can use public transport. If you are on Benefits then the easiest solution for them is to make an Attachment to Benefits where money would be taken at source. This debt cannot form part of any proceedings.