equita baillifs problem

[n8935f]

Hello everyone I was wondering if anyone can be of help to me

i unfortunately defaulted on my council tax and got into arrears
i had a payment plan set up with equita £10 on the 1st of every month and £10 on the 15th .
unfortunately i have been ill and not had a chance to get to post office to pay one of the payments

yesterday i was about to leave the house to go post office and i received a letter in the post from equita staing that in 48hrs a removal contractor was comin to my house with a bailliff to remove property and take it to a local sale room .
it states taht additional charges in excess of £150 will be added to your debt and deducted from the sale of your posessions

the letter does not state how much the debt is
Is this normal procedure ?

i have contacted equita who told me to ring the bailliff
teh baillif does not want to listen and said he was still comin round
i offered to make a payment to cover the failed payment plan arrears and tehn to carry on payiong on teh 1st and teh 15th
he was not interested

i am unemployed currently and have no way of paying the debt in full
can anyboday advise me on what to do next

thank you

[Happyolddog]

Re: equita baillifs problem

Hi n8935f,

Welcome to the forum.

If the bailiffs do call at your home don't let them in. Without a court order they would be acting illegally, I doubt that given the short period of time they have given you they wouldn't have obtained a court order yet. I think it is a mere scare tactic. Write them a letter and state that you were unable to make the payment due to illness, maybe enclose a cheque for the amounts you missed and see what their reaction is.

Best wishes,
HOD..Liam.

[Amy]

Re: equita baillifs problem

Have you allowed the bailiff access to your property?

If not, then there is nothing he can do, but you should maybe consider sending the Subject Access Request letter from the Bailiff Guide to ascertain what charges have been added to your account.

The charges a bailiff can apply to your account will depend on whether he has levied on your goods or not. If he has he is allowed to add a levy fee, but he can only charge for two visits regardless of how many times he actually visits you as long as the liability order covers one council tax year.

[Ellis27]

Re: equita baillifs problem

As advised do not let the bailiff into your home. If the bailiff is unwilling to accept your £10 instalment pay this online direct to your local council. Print off receipt and send to council with covering letter, explain your position ie you have only missed one payment, you are unemployed and bailiff is being unreasonable. Ask them to take debt back from bailiff.

[n8935f]

Re: equita baillifs problem

the bailliff came yesterday and put a hand delivered letter through the door
i have not and will not let them in to my property
the letter stated he will be back in 24hrs to remove goods or receive payment in full

i have wrote a letter to equita explaining that i do not own properety to the value of the £440.42 and also that i am not refusing to pay but due to ill health a payment was missed

i then made a payment to equita online and sent the receipt of this along with the letter

i have written a letter to the council asking if they can and will they take the debt back

fingers crossed


cheers for the advice
no doubt i will be back here for more advice shortly


here is the letter i wrote/copied from another website

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: *********
I understand Birmingham City Council has appointed you to recover my Council Tax Liability arrears for 2008 of £440.42
Firstly I would like to make you aware that I am fully aware of my rights and you will not gain entry to my home under any circumstances to levy goods and I know the fees allowed under statue and when these fees can be applied.
The items i have in my home do not belong to me they are the property of my sister who has loaned them to me until i have the financial means to obtain my own.

Due to my circumstances I am unable to pay this in one payment. I advocate a payment schedule of 22 months with 21 months payments at £20 and the balance of £20.42 to be paid on the 22nd month to cover the principle. I understand this may seem a long time but this is a realistic offer that is affordable to me and will allow me to pay future bills issued for Council Tax without them falling into arrears. A greater amount would cause me real and factually hardship.

I am able to pay the above amount on the 1st of each month. Please advise how you would like future payments made. I already have payment slips in my possession from your company.

It should be noted that I am not at any point refusing to pay this debt but only asking for a fair payment period considering my circumstances. I understand that i had a payment plan set up and due to ill health i once defaulted this plan. I will not let this happen again .
All i am asking is for a chance to clear my debt .And if you are unable to accept my offer I will place the money aside each month until such a time the council take the account back into their management, when I will make payment of the set aside money to the council.

Please also send an itemised statement of account that clearly shows what charges have been added and what for, you are required in statue to supply this information and I look forward to this within 14 days.

I am sending the council a copy of this letter and requesting that it be filled with my account for further reference.

I hope the above meets your approval and I look forward to your timely reply by letter.

Yours faithfully,

[Amy]

Re: equita baillifs problem

If you haven't previously allowed the bailiff access to your property, he can threaten all he likes and that is all it is, a threat.

He cannot take away your property.

[Guest]

Re: equita baillifs problem

For the avoidance of doubt, the law states that bailiffs collecting council tax have no power to force initial entry or break open an outer door if it is either locked or bolted. They must enter a property peacefully through an unlocked door or through an open window. They may not enter through a closed window, even if it is not locked. They cannot obtain a court order to gain entry and the police have no power to force entry on their behalf. Bailiffs can only force entry if they have previously gained peaceful entry. Given that this is set out in law, you should request details from the bailiffs of precisely how they intend to remove your goods within 48 hours, or indeed at any time.

If fees have been added for visits that have not been made, or bailiffs are attempting to collect goods and additional fees when they are not in possession of a valid and signed walking possession order then the bailiffs and vicariously the local authority may be guilty of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006.

If the total bill is now £440, is this including the £150 that Equita have so graciously added on? If this is the case, then the original debt was £290 making their fees over 51% of the debt. Even if the £440 does not include the £150 fees, they will still comprise 34% of the debt and this is simply not permitted.

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.