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Help with Equita Bailiffs!!
Hi, I hope someone can advise me on what to do as I am really worried.
Back in february, I received a letter from Equita Bailiffs saying that I had failed to pay £459 outstanding to Birmingham City Council. This was due to the fact that I hadn't received a payment book when I moved into my new property toward the end of 2007 and despite a few phone calls to them, I received no payment booklet and therefore some months were still owing when I received a payment booklet for 2008.
The letter informed me that unless the outstanding council tax was cleared by return, the bailiff would be calling and removing my goods to be sold at public auction and that this action would involve me in considerable further expense which will be deducted from the proceeds of the sale.
I phoned the number on the letter and a recorded message told me that my case was being dealt with by a named bailiff and gave me the mobile number. I contacted him straight away and told him I could not afford to pay all of this because of me losing hours at work after last christmas. He told me that I needed to borrow it from someone, like a mother or my father or another family member as it is better to borrow off them than to owe it to Equita. I said I could not because of personal reasons and the fact my father had passed away several years ago. He gave me two days to pay it otherwise a warrant would be issued and I faced imprisonment. I said that If it went to court, I would offer to pay in installments then but he said that It wouldn't do me any good as he said that on the last friday, over 40 people went to the court over non-payment on council tax and nearly 30 of them went to prison. I told him I would do my best and I told him I would contact him two days later and hopefully pay the £459 and he agreed on this. I managed to get an emergency loan from my bank and rang up the bailiff as promised 2 days later, but when I phoned him, he told me the cost had gone up and I had to pay £502.99 with an extra charge for using my solo debit card (natwest). I wasn't happy about this but paid it. He then said there was another outstanding case of over £600 from council tax owing in 2006 which I knew nothing about and I asked him about this but he would not or could not give me anymore information or the address what it related to. The weird thing was, I was working in Butlins for 2 years from 2005. I heard no more about this though until I received another letter from Equita on 14/4/09 saying:
"REMOVAL NOTICE - Despite previous applications for payment (didnt get any) you have failed to pay the outstanding council tax due to birmingham city council. Therefore, I have been issued your case so that I can call at your home this coming weekend with a removal contractor when I will remove your goods for auction.
Should you prefer to pay the balance outstanding (though this amount was not on the letter) I will require the full payment to be at this office in good time before I call"
I received this letter on the friday. I had been told not to contact the bailiff whatsoever as I disagree with their unfair charges and so I contacted Equita with a letter asking how much I owed and to give me a list of payments received and any bailiff charges and any visits they made to my address and that there charges were under investigation by Birmingham City Council and I also wrote to Birmingham City Council to arrange to settle the debt with them instead in monthly installments and told them this was because I was unsure about the bailiff charges.
During this time, I received a letter from Equita on 29/4/09 saying that as they were unable to levy distress upon my goods, the matter may now be referred back to their instructing client who have the power to apply to the court for a warrant of commitment to prison against me and that to stop this action, Equita required payment in full immediately.
Then early last week, I had a letter from Equita saying that the debt total was £621 with bailiff visit fees of £42.50 total=£663.50 then a payment of £521.50 was reeceived which brought the balance to £142.00 owing. They also stated that my account was currently being dealt with by another named bailiff who should be contacted immediately and that it may incur me to further (in my opinion, unfair!) costs.
I also received a similar letter from Birmingham City Council who told me that they contacted Equita and they told them my costs were £142.00 plus their costs and is still out with the bailiff with the contact details. amazing, considering a previous letter had said that the case may have to be refurred back to their instructing client.
What should I do now? sorry if theres too much info here and I would be grateful of any assistance as this seems in a right mess.
many thanks.
jason
Back in february, I received a letter from Equita Bailiffs saying that I had failed to pay £459 outstanding to Birmingham City Council. This was due to the fact that I hadn't received a payment book when I moved into my new property toward the end of 2007 and despite a few phone calls to them, I received no payment booklet and therefore some months were still owing when I received a payment booklet for 2008.
The letter informed me that unless the outstanding council tax was cleared by return, the bailiff would be calling and removing my goods to be sold at public auction and that this action would involve me in considerable further expense which will be deducted from the proceeds of the sale.
I phoned the number on the letter and a recorded message told me that my case was being dealt with by a named bailiff and gave me the mobile number. I contacted him straight away and told him I could not afford to pay all of this because of me losing hours at work after last christmas. He told me that I needed to borrow it from someone, like a mother or my father or another family member as it is better to borrow off them than to owe it to Equita. I said I could not because of personal reasons and the fact my father had passed away several years ago. He gave me two days to pay it otherwise a warrant would be issued and I faced imprisonment. I said that If it went to court, I would offer to pay in installments then but he said that It wouldn't do me any good as he said that on the last friday, over 40 people went to the court over non-payment on council tax and nearly 30 of them went to prison. I told him I would do my best and I told him I would contact him two days later and hopefully pay the £459 and he agreed on this. I managed to get an emergency loan from my bank and rang up the bailiff as promised 2 days later, but when I phoned him, he told me the cost had gone up and I had to pay £502.99 with an extra charge for using my solo debit card (natwest). I wasn't happy about this but paid it. He then said there was another outstanding case of over £600 from council tax owing in 2006 which I knew nothing about and I asked him about this but he would not or could not give me anymore information or the address what it related to. The weird thing was, I was working in Butlins for 2 years from 2005. I heard no more about this though until I received another letter from Equita on 14/4/09 saying:
"REMOVAL NOTICE - Despite previous applications for payment (didnt get any) you have failed to pay the outstanding council tax due to birmingham city council. Therefore, I have been issued your case so that I can call at your home this coming weekend with a removal contractor when I will remove your goods for auction.
Should you prefer to pay the balance outstanding (though this amount was not on the letter) I will require the full payment to be at this office in good time before I call"
I received this letter on the friday. I had been told not to contact the bailiff whatsoever as I disagree with their unfair charges and so I contacted Equita with a letter asking how much I owed and to give me a list of payments received and any bailiff charges and any visits they made to my address and that there charges were under investigation by Birmingham City Council and I also wrote to Birmingham City Council to arrange to settle the debt with them instead in monthly installments and told them this was because I was unsure about the bailiff charges.
During this time, I received a letter from Equita on 29/4/09 saying that as they were unable to levy distress upon my goods, the matter may now be referred back to their instructing client who have the power to apply to the court for a warrant of commitment to prison against me and that to stop this action, Equita required payment in full immediately.
Then early last week, I had a letter from Equita saying that the debt total was £621 with bailiff visit fees of £42.50 total=£663.50 then a payment of £521.50 was reeceived which brought the balance to £142.00 owing. They also stated that my account was currently being dealt with by another named bailiff who should be contacted immediately and that it may incur me to further (in my opinion, unfair!) costs.
I also received a similar letter from Birmingham City Council who told me that they contacted Equita and they told them my costs were £142.00 plus their costs and is still out with the bailiff with the contact details. amazing, considering a previous letter had said that the case may have to be refurred back to their instructing client.
What should I do now? sorry if theres too much info here and I would be grateful of any assistance as this seems in a right mess.
many thanks.
jason
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