Equita

[pop37uk]

Can some one please advise best course of action.
Outstanding council tax, missed payments for £471.73, bailiff requesting £684.23.
Asked bailiff to provide breakdown of fees and he advised he will only do once full amount paid.
We have the money to pay the council tax amount and tried to pay direct to council but they said they couldn't accept, as now passed over.
I'm convinced the £212.50 fee is just an over inflated amount.
We have just received one hand delivered letter from Equita and one posted letter. They have never been in the house and will not be allowed in, also we havn't signed anything, never been in when they have called.

The hand delivered letter states threats like "may REMOVE goods even in your absence."
Also when speaking to them over the the phone about the fee they did mention part of the fee was due to breaking the verbal payment arrangement. I believe this is to be an illegal fee to charge us. They also mentioned about the car on the phone and described our house to us, which we informed them we know what it looks like and that we have 2 American bulldogs.

Should we pay the council the £471.23 and hold out paying Equita, until they provide a breakdown of fees that are reasonable and lawful.
Or pay the whole amount to Equita and then try to claim back the overstated fees.
Advice would be much appreciated.

If we were to pay the council only, could Equita still claim the car that would far exceed the value of the outstanding fees they are trying to claim?

[Amy]

Re: Equita

Without a doubt the fees are inflated since a first visit fee of £24.50 and a second visit fee of £18 does not add up to £212.50.

Should we pay the council the £471.23 and hold out paying Equita, until they provide a breakdown of fees that are reasonable and lawful.
Or pay the whole amount to Equita and then try to claim back the overstated fees.

Yes, you should pay the council. They cannot refuse to accept your payment.

If we were to pay the council only, could Equita still claim the car that would far exceed the value of the outstanding fees they are trying to claim?

Have they levied on your car?

Have a read of the guide and send the bailiffs a Subject Access Request. Also check to see if the bailiff is certificated (link contained within bailiff guide). Bailiff Guide - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

[pop37uk]

Re: Equita

Thanks for the quick response.
How do I know if they have levied on the car?

[Amy]

Re: Equita

If they have levied, they should have left you some paperwork, but as they have not you will have to ask them. Send them a Subject Access Request as per my last post and take care where you park your car until this is resolved.

[pop37uk]

Re: Equita

Thanks again.
We have not received any paperwork, so if we ask them, wont they just say yes on the phone to putting a levy on the car?

Also if they were to claim the ca,r wouldn't this be classed as excessive distress, as the value far exceeds the amount that's outstanding?
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
Amy,
So the action plan is to pay the council directly the £471.73. Advise Equita in writing of this and enclose a cheque for £24.50 for their 1st visit from them and now hope the matter is closed. And if not and they require further fees, then we would require a breakdown of what these represent, before we are willing to pay.
How does this sound?

[Amy]

Re: Equita

We have not received any paperwork, so if we ask them, wont they just say yes on the phone to putting a levy on the car?

You do not ask them specifically - you send the SAR that is contained within the bailiff guide.

So the action plan is to pay the council directly the £471.73. Advise Equita in writing of this and enclose a cheque for £24.50 for their 1st visit from them and now hope the matter is closed. And if not and they require further fees, then we would require a breakdown of what these represent, before we are willing to pay.
How does this sound?

Yes pay the council directly. Why would you send Equita a cheque when they refuse to tell you their fees? Play them at their own game.

[pop37uk]

Re: Equita

Okay will do.
I just thought being reasonable in paying them the correct fee they may see sense and would be reasonable themselves.
Will let you know how we get on and once again thanks for your help, it's greatly appreciated.

[pop37uk]

Re: Equita

Okay Update.

Directly paid the council and sent SAR request(recorded deleivery), 2 days ago.


Bailiff rang today (12.00pm) and spoke to o/h. Avised him we have paid council full o/s amount and we still require a breakdown of fees before we pay them. Stated we are not refusing to pay but just wanted to know what we were paying for. Advised he couldn't provide that until the full amt is paid. O/H also advised him that we have taken leagal advice and have requested a SAR.
He was taken back by this and asked who from, just advised he didn't need to know who. He said okay but he still needs his fees paid by 31st of this month.

Bailiff rang again at (2pm) and said not paid council but he had rang equita HQ. O/H advisd that it had come out of bank(we had checked with bank earlier on in the day), so just their systems had not been updated. He then said it needs to be paid. At which point O/H passed phone to me, before i could say anything he said i need to pay by the 31st or he will be arriving with a van to seize goods. I said why when he had not levied against any of my goods and that would be illegal as he's just trying to increase his fees. He ignored this and then asked what car i drive, i replied i don't drive. His altidude had now became rather aggresive. He asked if I drive a renault and spurted some reg out and said he had levied against this car it was parked outside my property. I advised it must have been a vistor. The car belongs to my o/H father who was visiting. He then said he will be returning and put the down.

We rang up council after who confirmed that they have received money and will be advising equita in the morning of this.

So what happens now with the car. Can they just turn up and take the car? Although unlikely the car will be here. Only visit once a week. Can they just turn up and levy on any car parked outside my house and if so, once they levy on a car can they take it away straight after levying on it?

[Amy]

Re: Equita

Bailiff rang again at (2pm) and said not paid council but he had rang equita HQ. O/H advisd that it had come out of bank(we had checked with bank earlier on in the day), so just their systems had not been updated. He then said it needs to be paid. At which point O/H passed phone to me, before i could say anything he said i need to pay by the 31st or he will be arriving with a van to seize goods. I said why when he had not levied against any of my goods and that would be illegal as he's just trying to increase his fees. He ignored this and then asked what car i drive, i replied i don't drive. His altidude had now became rather aggresive. He asked if I drive a renault and spurted some reg out and said he had levied against this car it was parked outside my property. I advised it must have been a vistor. The car belongs to my o/H father who was visiting. He then said he will be returning and put the down.

Keep a record of how many times and on what dates he calls you. He's clutching at straws and he knows it.

So what happens now with the car. Can they just turn up and take the car?Although unlikely the car will be here. Only visit once a week. Can they just turn up and levy on any car parked outside my house and if so, once they levy on a car can they take it away straight after levying on it?

If the car is unlikely to be there, then there is nothing to worry about. In any case if they do levy on someone else's car, all you have to do is prove it does not belong to you.

[pop37uk]

Re: Equita

Thanks for the reply. So now the full o/s debt to the council as been paid, can the bailiff continue to put levy's on cars that are parked outside my house, just for his inflated fees? Or do you think now he has levied against the one car he will not continue to levy against others? How do these end up playing out? Does he continue to harress and threaten us until the 40days are up on the SAR request.

I've read that once the council have been paid or accept payments, the bailiffs cannot continue to levy on goods, is this true? Our payment was made prior to him saying he levied on the car.Sorry for so many questions, we are really stressed. O/h wants to pay him but i said this is wrong and we shouldn't.

[pop37uk]

Re: Equita

Update:
We have now received a reply to our SAR request.
I attach copy of our SAR request and their reply.I've removed any personal data.
Can you please advise next course of action.
Are these fees legal, we've only received two letters from equita one via post and one hand delivered. Also why threaten to turn up with a van after we have told him that we have paid the council tax off and only want a breakdown of his fees before paying him and he then says his levied on a car. Is this just trying to increase his fees illegally.
Many thanks

[pop37uk]

Re: Equita

Sorry missed our sar request which states we had paid coucil tax.

[Amy]

Re: Equita

This needs a letter of complaint to the council insisting that they call off the bailiffs.

The bailiff has negated to say what he levied on, so rather than assuming he levied on your car, you should presume he didn't levy on anything. He could not possibly have levied on anything else, since he has not been in your house.

Search the bailiff forum for "fraud" and put that in a letter to your council. Have a look here at post #3 for more information on fraud Jacobs / Council Tax - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

[pop37uk]

Re: Equita

Thanks for the quick response.
So this is fraud? Do I send a copy of compliant letter to equita as well?

Also I noticed that the 1st letter received from equita via the post, they had increased the outstanding debt by approx. £50(don't have letter in front of me for exact figure).
I originally thought this just included the liability order cost but after speaking to council this was already included in their costs that we have now paid. So what would this have been for?

[pop37uk]

Re: Equita

Update.Received reply from council about two weeks ago, who advised they have fowardered the letter onto equita and they do not set equita fees. What a complete waste of time. Not accepting any responsibility for their agents actions. Have not heard anything from equita since the SAR reply. What next?