equita bailiffs

[stella0573]

Hi, had an agreement with equita to pay last years council tax due to my father dying and another family tragedy i forgot to pay 2 installmentswith my local council they seemed understanding and i basically payed it as normal through them the trouble came when my last but one payment i paid extraonly leaving me owing £54 which i was meant to pay at the start of June 2009, it slipped my mind, having recieved no reminder letters i was surprised when yesterday morning 25th June 2009 a bailiff turned up on my door demanding £234.00 after some aguement i paid, well today 26th june i recieved a letter from equita dated 23 June saying formal notice they have not been able tocontact me ( dont know how im home all day) and a bailiff will come monday or tuesday to collect unless i pay immediately, image my surprise considering i had already had a bailiff, sobasically from what i understand the bailiff came 5 days earlier than the letter said, i phoned equita and explained that i'd simply forgotten had i recieved this letter today or yesterday instead of the bailiff i would of paid i explained he had already been they seemed confused and told me not to worry as debt paid, i explained not to worry? ive unnecessarly paid £184.00 fee which with 4 children to feed is alot of money all they said was phone the bailiff himself so i did, he said its not his problem had i not defaulted this wouldnt of happened and to phone equita which i did, they told me put my complaint in writing, what i want to know is what can i do and where do i stand legally? I know i should'nt of missed the payment but it do'sent seem right that the bailiff came 5 days early please help it is alot of money for me to lose

[Guest]

Re: equita bailiffs

There is a formula for calculating the scale of fees that may be charged and for the bailiff to charge fees that have not been “actually and necessarily” incurred and are unreasonable and disproportionate to the amount of the debt being collected is de facto unlawful and actionable.

It is not reasonable for a debt of £54 to result in fees and charges of £180.

Furthermore, the “National Standard for Enforcement Agents” issued by the Department of Constitutional Affairs has a section titled “Professionalism and conduct of the enforcement agent” which among other things states:-

“Enforcement agents will on each occasion when a visit is made to a debtor’s property which incurs a fee for the debtor, leave a notice detailing the fees charged to date, including the one for that visit, and the fees which will be incurred if further action becomes necessary. If a written request is made an itemised account of fees will be provided.”

Have you been provided with a full breakdown of the fees that have been charged and how did you pay the £234?