equita baliffs

[trish22]

hi,can you please help my partner he has equita baliffs on his case for unpid council tax of £179.00 he had the first letter 10 days ago and phoned the baliff to arrange a payment plan he didnt want aplan he wants all the money in one go so my partner told him ok i will pay all of it at the end of the month,baliff told him he would keep getting the letters inbetween,since then he recieved a letter yesterday regarding a removal notice today baliffs called today and left a delivered by hand baliff removal notice he called them and referred to previous conversations and he said that a judge had signed court order to remove goods so has increased the charges to £379,is any of this information correct?

[bluebottle]

Re: equita baliffs

Bailiff's fees, in the case of Council Tax, are regulated by the Council Tax (Enforcement and Administration) Regulations 1992 (as amended).

If the bailiff has not gained entry to your property on a previous occasion and has not levied on any goods, the fees he can legitimately charge are as follows -

Council Tax Owing = £179.00
1st Visit = £ 24.50
2nd Visit = £ 18.00
Total = £221.50

By these figures, Equita have to account for £157.50 in additional fees. Equita are currently under formal investigation regarding their fees.

Contact the local authority involved first thing tomorrow morning and ask them to confirm what fees are owing, including the unpaid Council Tax. If it does not correspond with what the bailiff has told you, be suspicious. Equita have "form" for this sort of behaviour. Also, ask the local authority to confirm if they have been granted a court order to force entry to your home. If not, get very suspicious. If you have a car and the bailiff has not levied on this, move it a few streets away so they can't get their grubby mitts on it. If they turn up tomorrow, make sure ALL doors and windows are closed and locked. DO NOT answer the door to them and, above all, DO NOT let them in. If they have a genuine court order, ask to see if by making them push it through the letterbox. They should do this if asked. If they refuse and the police are not with them, it is likely they have not got a court order and are engaging in bullying and intimidation. If you have a video camera or video filming facility on your mobile, record everything they say and do. If they bleat about you filming them, the answer is that they are on your property and you are within your rights to film them. In the event of any acts of intimidation, threats of violence or otherwise, call the police.

[Guest]

Re: equita baliffs

Equita are currently under formal investigation regarding their fees.

This is of great interest to me, do you have any further details

Thanks
D

[ploddertom]

Re: equita baliffs

To gain a Court Order they first need a valid levy after having gained peaceful entry to your home. You then need to have broken the terms of any payment arrangement. When he then next attends you need to refuse him entry. In other words he is spouting a load of garbage.

[labman]

Re: equita baliffs

This is of great interest to me, do you have any further details

Thanks
D

It was at the start of the year with Birmingham City Council. I think it was concluded in February, but am speaking from memory.

[trish22]

Re: equita baliffs

thank you for all your info,my partner phoned birmingham city council they have not applied fora court order asked them to take back the debt they said no deal with equita told them what the baliff said about charges and court order so quoted a few things from beagleybaliff ie complaints procedure and asked them under what legislation did he have to speak to there appointed agents and they didnt have a clue what my partner was talking about and still told him to deal with the baliff,emailed equita and made acomplaint about the baliff and asked for a breakdown of charges etc i gather my partner doesnt have to speak to the baliff but concerned if he comes and my children are here and my car parked outside,shall he just wait for him to come back?i have video recorder ready and wont let him in as stated.

[labman]

Re: equita baliffs

I think now you've established that, at a quick glance through the thread, and apologies if I've missed something - someone will pick me up on it, I think we need to go back to the basics, so the council tax thread, start with point 4.

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...67-Council-Tax

Once done, if the thread doesn't make the next step clear, post back up.

[Emzieowl]

Re: equita baliffs

Hi Guy's, Im new to this forum but have been reading none stop for the last 10 months since the dreaded baliffs got me for non payment of council tax.
to cut a long story short, ive always struggled with council tax been a single mum with an 8 year old daughter working 22 hours a week. The council have had my council tax through an AOE for the last god knows how may years. Then last year i got a letter from the lovely EQUITA threatning to come and remove goods if i was " present or not". The liability orders are from 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. They wouldnt accept any payment offer in the beginning then they decieded to accept £100 per month. I made payment totalling £300 then de to been of work ill i missed a payment. BOOM... back they were again letter after letter threatning all sorts, locksmiths police, vans, porters ect ect. Then last week i had a hand delivered note from them saying i had 24 hours to pay and all that Crap. I called her to adv i was willing to start paying the £100 pound again but she said they only way i could do that was if i pay the whole amount on the smallest LO.. iased how much that was and she said £780.. WHAT i'd already paid £300 off that debt as the council had sent me a letter saying how much i owed, she said "its our charges" .. Not a chance i said, you can olny charge for 2 visitis totallign £42.50. "YOUR WRONG" she said. ( she has NEVER and will NEVER get in my home and boad luck for her is that i dont drive so no car fo her to levy on). Fair enough i told her i'd wait till it goes back to the council, she said it WONT. Im currently 27 weeks pregnant and really dont need this hassel TBH.. ive paid a payment to the council online and im gunna continue to do so.

Ive rang the council but they say i have to deal with the baliffs. Im not contacting them again and going to just keep paying the council direct Equita can go and SWIVEL.

Is there anything else i could do and does anyone know how long and if they will pass the debt back to the council.

Thanks Guys and have a good day
Em :-)

[ploddertom]

Re: equita baliffs

Hi Guy's, Im new to this forum but have been reading none stop for the last 10 months since the dreaded baliffs got me for non payment of council tax.
to cut a long story short, ive always struggled with council tax been a single mum with an 8 year old daughter working 22 hours a week. The council have had my council tax through an AOE for the last god knows how may years. Then last year i got a letter from the lovely EQUITA threatning to come and remove goods if i was " present or not". The liability orders are from 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. They wouldnt accept any payment offer in the beginning then they decieded to accept £100 per month. I made payment totalling £300 then de to been of work ill i missed a payment. BOOM... back they were again letter after letter threatning all sorts, locksmiths police, vans, porters ect ect. Then last week i had a hand delivered note from them saying i had 24 hours to pay and all that Crap. I called her to adv i was willing to start paying the £100 pound again but she said they only way i could do that was if i pay the whole amount on the smallest LO.. iased how much that was and she said £780.. WHAT i'd already paid £300 off that debt as the council had sent me a letter saying how much i owed, she said "its our charges" .. Not a chance i said, you can olny charge for 2 visitis totallign £42.50. "YOUR WRONG" she said. ( she has NEVER and will NEVER get in my home and boad luck for her is that i dont drive so no car fo her to levy on). Fair enough i told her i'd wait till it goes back to the council, she said it WONT. Im currently 27 weeks pregnant and really dont need this hassel TBH.. ive paid a payment to the council online and im gunna continue to do so.

Ive rang the council but they say i have to deal with the baliffs. Im not contacting them again and going to just keep paying the council direct Equita can go and SWIVEL.

Is there anything else i could do and does anyone know how long and if they will pass the debt back to the council.

Thanks Guys and have a good day
Em :-)

First of all have you read http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...67-Council-Tax

If that doesn't help then repost in a new thread for a better response http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...newthread&f=76

[bluebottle]

Re: equita baliffs

This is of great interest to me, do you have any further details

Thanks
D

Certainly, Davy. Equita are being investigated by Northampton Trading Standards over their charging of fees. Their modus operandi is to inflate fees and, when challenged, the inflated fees suddenly disappear. The case that sparked the investigation involves Rossendale Council. As the investigation is ongoing, that is all the information that I have to hand.

I set up a new thread yesterday entitled "Complaints Against Bailiffs and Bailiff Companies" in the the Bailiff forum which provides up-to-date information as regards making complaints about certificated bailiffs and bailiff companies. Those bailiff companies that hold an OFT CCA licence to allow them to carry out certain types of debt collection work need to be reported to the OFT's Consumer Credit Licensing Department.

If you have a complaint against Equita, it is to the OFT any complaint should be made as they hold a CCA Debt Collection Licence which expires in May 2015. Equita's CCA Licence No. is 483020 and their address is 42-44, Henry Street, Northampton NN1 4BZ. A further complaint should be made to your local Trading Standards Department. The link below will take you straight through to the new thread.

www.legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?35460-Complaints-About-Bailiffs-and-Bailiff-Companies