Notice of Enforcement (Enfield) Equita

[Gooner045]

Good Morning
I will try to be as brief as possible, as I havnt been given much time to sort out this council tax enforcement issue. 2.5 days to be exact!
On 30/01/19 we received a notice of enforcement from Equita for £1,315.00, notice issued 25/01/19, 5 days to get to us! we are not disputing we owe the council the money, but we do have mitigating circumstances, this debt is for this tax year, wether it is actually a debt when the year hasnt finished yet is open to scrutiny imo.
I am a self employed decorator, my wife is a part time carer, for a person with a disabled badge, ( just in case they took her car)!
In June this year i had a heart attack which required a month stay in hospital and an emergency quadruple heart bypass on July 10th, which left me very poorly, we already had the council on our backs over rent arrears, we had informed them of my health, but they still instigated proceedings to evict us from our home of 30 years, thanks to this i had to return to work some 6 weeks after my emergency open heart surgery, and we paid the arrears before court but still attended, so i could show them my still raw foot long scar down my chest, i actually had to stop my heart rehab program, because i was forced back to work. We had set up a plan with the council for our council tax, but as i work and find work for myself it has dried up, just the odd hundred or two hundred jobs here and there. We arent entitled to benefits as my wife earns over the threshold and im self employed, we also bought a house in spain with an inheritance, which we cant sell, we are confident that the debt will be cleared by the end of the tax year, but are unable to set a repayment plan up, because I just dont know when my phone will ring with work, i honestly feel like folding my little one man band and going on benefits to regain my health.
Is there anyone available for advice for my first steps to getting this sorted please.
I have added a picture of the notice of enforcement
Many thanks
(very upsetting revisting those awful months of june/july)

[Gooner045]

Hope this is ok

[ploddertom]

I'm sorry to hear of your predicament and know exactly what you are going through over this - been there, done that and got more than the T-shirt. Have you contacted your local Councillor(s) - best initial contact is by phone - and ask they intervene with the Council on your behalf? Council Tax is a priority debt and must come before credit cards, store cards etc. It is problematic if you cannot offer some form of payment schedule if only £5 per week and more if & when you have it.

Looking at your Notice of Enforcement it does not appear to give a date by which you must make contact with them? How was this notice delivered and do you still have the envelope? If the date of issue was 25/1/19 - last Friday then I doubt it was not actually posted until the Monday 28/1 - let's say they sent it 1st Class then it would be deemed to be delivered on 30/1 and the first of the 7 Clear Days would begin on 31/1, the 7th day being 8/2 meaning the earliest any visit can take place will be 9/2 so you still have a good week or so yet. If the Notice is defective then they would have to start again and Equita have form for messing things up.

[Gooner045]

Thank you so much for replying.
On the back of the letter it says i must pay or agree a payment arrangement by 02/02/19 which has left us very little time. The only people I have contacted is money advice service and they just seem to be interested in consolidating other debts, which we dont really have, or we are managing as best as we can! It came by royal mail.
Thanks again for taking time out to reply, we are getting quite stressed here, which is no good for my newly mended ticker!
G

[ploddertom]

In that case their Notice is defective as they have only given you 8 calendar days from the date of issue without allowing for postage/delivery and certainly have not allowed the 7 clear days as demanded by the Legislation.

[ploddertom]

In the first instance you must complain to the Council - make sure you speak to someone in authority.

[ploddertom]

Whilst everyone is different I would also suggest you inform both Equita & Council you could be potentially vulnerable. If you are in the middle of Cardio Rehab then you are still in the middle of treatment and don't doubt you have further Consultant appointments to follow. It took me best part of 24 months to recover from mine because of complications - but that was 20 years ago and I got 16 years before it started to fail, been back 3 times for stents since.

[ploddertom]

As an aside have a look at https://healthunlocked.com/bhf/posts - lots of help/advice on a lot of heart related matters.

[Gooner045]

Thanks for everything my friend, ive contacted our local councillor by phone and she seemed very concerned, shes asked me to email her the details and will forward to the relavant area. I had to stop cardio rehab and go do some work, 6 weeks after the op, because this council took us to court to evict us because of rent arrears, after being informed about my condition! Only 2 weeks ago i returned to GP because of exhaustion and breathlessness, so i realise recovery is a long haul, and im sorry to hear about stents, i was stented about 2012 before this quad.
Im also a member of health unlocked by BHF fantastic to speak with people in the same boat. To be truthful i am bipolar as well, so am classed as vunerable, quite easy to go into crisis when the going gets tough
Thanks again for the advice, would you mind if I kept you updated with progress
G

[ploddertom]

Have you been back on to the rehab team to see if you can pick up where you left off?

I wonder if your Council have hived ll off their back office procedures to a company called Capita? They in turn own 2 bailiff companies one of whom happens to be Equita so always in their interests to go down this route. You are fortunate in the fact you want to pay as that can put the mockers on one route of enforcement.

[Gooner045]

The re-hab, very good idea, i did explain to them i was in court to save being evicted, then i got too embarrased to go back, but i just may give that a go, what a great idea, thks.
The councillor i spoke to today hadnt heard of Equita but had heard of capita, are they allowed vested interests like that, smells of insider trading to me, if that is the case. Mmmmm very interesting

[Gooner045]

https://enfield.capitasupport.co.uk/...no-back-button

Even more interesting

So if you are in court as a victim of a crime, would you expect the judge to be part of the family of the accused

Or am i reading too much into this?

[ploddertom]

You may be reading too much into it but Capita employees are known to be no-cooperative in some matters. The whole problem of course is that you believe you are dealing with the Council when in actual fact it is a member of a private company.

If you get stuck with rehab then give the BHF Helpline a call as they may be able to point you in the right direction.

[Gooner045]

Hi Plodder, had a call yesterday from local councillor, asking for my ct account number, and details of my wifes incomings, as he was trying to arrange a payment plan with the council, as yet ive heard nothing else, today is the last day to contact the bailliff to arrange a plan, funny how saturday is a "working day" when it suits them. I will call the councillor this morning and if he has had no joy, I will contact bailiffs, and inform them of the legislation concerning the time I have been given.
Cheers
G

[ploddertom]

If you want extra help try having a look at https://www.z2k.org/ who deal solely with folks in the London area. Unfortunately Bailiffs work 7 days per week including Sundays from 6am - 9pm - exceptions can be made for Xmas Day & Easter Sunday. I doubt very much whether they will call as they no doubt know their original notice is incorrect + the chances are they have read these posts.

It may be a good idea for you to see this http://www.civea.co.uk/guidance-notes/ - click on the link "Code of Conduct & Good Practice Guide" and on Page 4 of this guide you will note that Civea recommend a 14 day notice is given for initial contact. I would also let your Councillor know of this guide which may be separate to any Guide or Code of Conduct issued by the Council. Civea are a trade body for enforcement agencies and Equita have signed up to abide by their rules.