Levy Distress By Equita

[DChapman]

Could anybody help me please:

I had been in arrears on my council tax for a period of time until December 2010 when I gained steady employment following a period of sickness with depression. I managed to get myself in a better place, but had accrued a debt of £2743 and four liabilty orders.

I began paying off my arrears at a rate of £100 per month in addition to my £68 per month council tax bill for that current year - this was the most, if not more that I could afford on a basic wage of less that £700 a month.

I paid the appointed agent of the council, Equita, the £100 per month over the phone and I ensured that I paid Equita on the day that my wages were paid to me. This was always before the date that I was required to pay the money.

During the period that I was paying my arrears, Equita started sending me letters stating that I was not paying on time and that they were going to send a bailiff to my house. I maintained that I had always made my payments on time, but eventually I could not bear to deal with their rude and aggressive staff any more and began paying my arrears directly to the council, and making a formal complaint. The council, whilst accepting my payments stated that they are unable to track my debt to ensure that I am paying and therefore I must pay Equita.

It has since transpired that Equita had mismanaged the money I was paying them and rather than splitting the amount I paid pro-rata over two debts had applied it only to one debt and had assumed that I had not paid any on the other debt. They admit that I have paid all the payments I was required to make, but have supplied information about the method of payment and payment dates which do not correspond with my records.

In February 2012, whilst still paying my arrears to the council rather than Equita, the amount of money I was paying became too much with the rising cost of fuel and food and I could only afford to pay £50 per month. I completed an Income & Expenditure Form and a payment of this amount was accepted as reasonable by the council.

Equita, however, have stated that they would only allow me to reduce my monthly payments to £50 if I allow a bailiff to attend my property and 'levy distress', if I do not allow that, they will not accept a reduced payment.

I feel that I have done my best to try to reduce my council tax debt and in fact have paid over half off it in little over a year. I do not feel that I have been treated fairly by Equita and feel that they are trying to bully me into allowing a bailiff into my home to levy distress. So my questions are:

If I am dissatisfied with the manner in which I feel that I am being treated by the bailiff appointed by the council, can I refuse to pay them and continue paying my arrears directly to the council?

Can the council refuse to accept payments from me for arrears?

Do Equita have legal recourse against me if I am paying my debt to the council instead of them?

Do Equita have the right to insist on a bailiff levying distress in order for them to reduce my monthly payments?

Please help me!!

[labman]

Re: Levy Distress By Equita

If the Council have accepted the payments as reasonable, then ask them to take the debt back and call off their appointed enforccement agents. The only reason the bailiffs want entry to your home is to make money out of you. Do not let them in under any circumstances.

Return to paying the council directly and e-mail the Head of Revenues with a letter along the lines of Following acceptance by the council of my repayment proposal, I shall be making payments directly to the Council following Equita's refusal to accept the plan already agreed by yourselves. Please recall the debt to the Council and notify your appointed enforcement agents that this has been done and no fees are due.

[ploddertom]

Re: Levy Distress By Equita

There is no law that says you have to deal with or speak to a Bailiff. They cannot insist on visiting you with the purpose of levying distress on your goods as a condition of their agreement and this should form the basis of a complaint to the Council.

There is also a good chance they have had you over a barrel in the past and you should write to them asking for a breakdown of the fees on all accounts they hold for you. Here's an example of what to send, adapt as you see fit and send initially by email followed by a copy in the post:

"From:
My Name
My Address

To:
Acme Bailiff Co
Bailiff House

Ref: Account No: 123456

Dear Sir

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

This includes:
a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.
b - the reason for the fee.
c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.
d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were Certificated at.
e - the date of the Certification.

This is not a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

I require this information within 14 days.

Yours faithfully

Ripped off customer"

[DChapman]

Re: Levy Distress By Equita

Thanks for your help,

I am already in the process of having a complaint against Equita investigated by the council and they HAD been instructed not to contact me again until it was resolved.

Seems like they have just assisted my case by (1) contacting me at all; and (2) implying that they have a right to do something which they don't.

[Lord_Alcohol]

Re: Levy Distress By Equita

You've had good advice here DC.

I can, however, state with complete confidence that;

1. The council will not investigate the matter with Equita, other than an email between the revenues dept and the account manager at Equita. But, under the Freedom of Information Act, you could always ask to see the audit trail between the two regarding your complaint.

2. Equita are huge - they do not care about individual debtors. There is no point in trying to deal with them, unless it is in court (I sued them in 2006, successfully, for phantom charges).

3. By focusing on 1 of the 4 orders, they get more money by pursuing the other 3. I believe that councils turn a blind eye to this as their relationship with Equita and their like brings the money in whereas other routes may not.

4. If you really cannot afford your CT then you are within your rights to claim a discount under S13 of the Local Government Finance Act. As you have 4 liability orders I'm surprised the council hasn't discussed this with you already. If you suffered from depression can you ask your GP to give you a note as it will really help in getting a discount (or CT bens).

The advice from ploddertom and labman is the way to go.

Good luck
LA