Equita - Again.

[mellymoo74]

Apologies for those of you who are also on Money Saving Expert where I have also posted this.
We ran up arrears with charges of £1425 this was for 2010 & 2011 and was on one Liability order I got a redundancy payment I paid £1200 of as I had some other priority debts and started to arrange payment plans for the rest Equita were next on my list.

I have a timeline of what happened next below.

On 07/07 - letter recieved with no amount on advising me that as I hadnt paid I had been passed to the Bailiff letter is dated 04/07.
07/07 - I call Equita they wont speak to me so I call and leave a message for the Bailiff
09/07 - 14.14 text message from the Bailiff advising me that due to the volume of calls he will ring me tomorrow.
09/07 - 14.20 text message from me asking to email me a breakdown and advising that I dont agree to a home visit also advising I will agree a payment plan
09/07 - 14.25 text message from Bailiff telling me he doesnt have the facility to email, if Equita instruct a homevisit he will be conducting one and if I give a time he will ring me the next day.
09/07 - 14.35 text message from me advising that he wont be visiting my house without a court order and to call at midday.
09/07 - 14.39 text message from Bailiff stating there is already an existing magistrates liability order in place and he doesnt need my permission to visit my property.
09/07 14.54 text message from me offering a payment plan of £35 per month payable by me on 30th of each month and asking for a breakdow.
10/07 - voicemail left by Bailiff advising me that the total is £417 he wont accept a payment plan and will give me until Friday (13th) to pay.
12/07 - CEO's office get Bailiff action held off.

Right under the guidlines they are supposed to contact me if an agreement has been broken (I didnt make an agreement but lets not get into that now) does the letter constitute that if so what is considered a reasonable time to respond before visits?

No paperwork has been left on any car, nothing has been put through my door and they have told the council that they levied against a vehicle on the 9th which was when my conversation was taking place so 2 days after reciept of letter (1st working day) 5 days after letter is dated.

Do I now raise the complaint above with Equita whilst continuing to pay the council (as I have made clear to the CEOs office along with a statement of the facts above showing that Equita's dates don't add up)

I am very very annoyed they clearly disregard the guidlines despite the enquiry that was held at the begining of the year, how many other people do they do this to and how many of them are vulnerable?

[bluebottle]

Re: Equita - Again.

Hi Mellymoo and welcome to Legal Beagles.

We have had a number of people come onto Legal Beagles lately voicing concerns about the activities of Equita. They are currently under investigation by Northampton Trading Standards for irregularities relating to fees. I am also aware that a number of people, on Legal Beagles and another consumer website, have been advised to report Equita to the OFT's Credit Fitness Team and their bailiffs to the Ministry of Justice's Bailiff Department.

I note that the CEO of the local authority has put bailiff action on hold. Which local authority is involved, please, as their CEO seems to be on the ball.

If you haven't received any paperwork from Equita showing that a levy has been placed on any property, including motor vehicles, there is no levy. So there is a good chance that Equita have lied to the local authority.

If the local authority are happy for you to continue paying them direct for any arrears due, carry on. As for Equita, I would report them to the OFT's Credit Fitness Team. You can do this by email at enquiries@oft.gsi.gov.uk and inserting the words CREDIT FITNESS in the subject box. You will need to quote the following details -

Equita Ltd Company Registration No.: 3168371 Credit Licence No.: 483020

Give a clear and concise resume of your complaint.

As such, a bailiff or bailiff company cannot force you to pay more than you can realistically afford and cannot refuse any repayment plan. As Equita are clearly trying to justify making visits in order to ramp up their fees, they are putting themselves in breach of OFT Debt Collection Guidelines, a copy of which I am attaching to this post. In fact, I would go as far as to say Equita are in breach of the Guidelines. I am also attaching a copy of the National Standards for Enforcement Agents and Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.

Keep paying the local authority directly.

[mellymoo74]

Re: Equita - Again.

The CEO of Birmingham City Council put bailiff action on hold, but came back to me to tell me that the bailiff has levied, I have sent a formal complaint letter to the CEO and this morning tried repeatedly to make the payment of £35 that I have been stating since this whole thing began (not £45 that Equita got back to the CEO with) but the council refused. I have taken the name and job title of the people who refused and will email the CEO again this evening with the names of the individuals and the reciept details for the payment.

I will report Equita to OFTs credit fitness team this afternoon as you advise.

I am lucky I am bolshy and able to go and find out exactly what they can charge for, I worry about all the people who don't who they are effectively fraudulently taking money off.

Hi Mellymoo and welcome to Legal Beagles.

We have had a number of people come onto Legal Beagles lately voicing concerns about the activities of Equita. They are currently under investigation by Northampton Trading Standards for irregularities relating to fees. I am also aware that a number of people, on Legal Beagles and another consumer website, have been advised to report Equita to the OFT's Credit Fitness Team and their bailiffs to the Ministry of Justice's Bailiff Department.

I note that the CEO of the local authority has put bailiff action on hold. Which local authority is involved, please, as their CEO seems to be on the ball.

If you haven't received any paperwork from Equita showing that a levy has been placed on any property, including motor vehicles, there is no levy. So there is a good chance that Equita have lied to the local authority.

If the local authority are happy for you to continue paying them direct for any arrears due, carry on. As for Equita, I would report them to the OFT's Credit Fitness Team. You can do this by email at enquiries@oft.gsi.gov.uk and inserting the words CREDIT FITNESS in the subject box. You will need to quote the following details -

Equita Ltd Company Registration No.: 3168371 Credit Licence No.: 483020

Give a clear and concise resume of your complaint.

As such, a bailiff or bailiff company cannot force you to pay more than you can realistically afford and cannot refuse any repayment plan. As Equita are clearly trying to justify making visits in order to ramp up their fees, they are putting themselves in breach of OFT Debt Collection Guidelines, a copy of which I am attaching to this post. In fact, I would go as far as to say Equita are in breach of the Guidelines. I am also attaching a copy of the National Standards for Enforcement Agents and Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.

Keep paying the local authority directly.

[ploddertom]

Re: Equita - Again.

For what reason did they refuse payment?

[mellymoo74]

Re: Equita - Again.

they cant take payment it has to go through the bailiff, I have paid on the automated line as I was told by someone at BCC that if its for an amount other than my agreement for this year it is automatically taken of the oldest balance, plus I can send the info to the CEO making it clear once again that I want to pay but I am not paying Equita fees

[ploddertom]

Re: Equita - Again.

If you look at your Council Tax bills you should notice the following:
1 - Account No - never changes
2 - Property Ref No - never changes
3 - Ref No - this should be the one that changes each year and signifies how much you are paying towards that particular debt.

The problem with BCC is that you will not have been talking to a Council employee but one from Capita who in turn own Equita. It is not in their nature to be helpful.

[mellymoo74]

Re: Equita - Again.

If you look at your Council Tax bills you should notice the following:
1 - Account No - never changes
2 - Property Ref No - never changes
3 - Ref No - this should be the one that changes each year and signifies how much you are paying towards that particular debt.

The problem with BCC is that you will not have been talking to a Council employee but one from Capita who in turn own Equita. It is not in their nature to be helpful.

I know I am not speaking to a council employee but as it is also with the CEO's office (though he just keeps quoting the same cr*p about fees and is missing the point entirely) I figure I have covered myself enough if it goes to court.
I have already contacted the OFT and last night I contacted the LGO the payment made via the automated line on Monday is against the correct account (I checked) though I got the you need to speak to the bailiffs gunf (I just pointed out that the payment had gone through and there is nothing in current legislation that means I need to pay the bailiff a debt owed to the council)
Is there anything else left I can do?

[bluebottle]

Re: Equita - Again.

Mention Regulation 45(7) and 46, Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations 1992 to the CEO of the council. He/She should know what Regulations 45(7) and 46 say. If he/she doesn't, they should be CEO of a council.