equita

[dianac16]

Hi and I hope someone can help, basically my sons car had a parking ticket written for his car on 16th April, his car was registered to an address that he moved out of 3 days after the ticket was written (from what I can gather from the council, the car drove off before the ticket was attached. All the letters from the council went to the registered address of the vehicle and he didn't get his post forwarded.
The car was sorn in August 2011 and the registered address changed to our address, then put back on the road by us and insured for my husband. We had a bailiff clamp the car on 20th July 2012, and I explained that my son didnt live here and that we had received no notification, I was told to pay the £412.50 to get the clamp off so my husband could get to work and deal with it after. I then contacted the council to find out that the letters went to his old address, then on the 4th August 2012 received a letter from the bailiffs office dated 5th July asking for £125 or a bailiff would attend, thats 4 weeks after the date it was posted. If we had had that letter we would have paid it and would have been £280 better off. My problem is the Royal mail will only give us 6 ist class stamps and who is at fault, the Royal mail or Equita?

[ploddertom]

Re: equita

If he changed address then the Bailiff should have returned the warrant to the Council. This should have been re-issued at the original "price". You should be able to make an Out of Time Statement to the Traffic Enforcement Centre and claim any overcharge incl Bailiff Fees from the Council.

[dianac16]

Re: equita

According to the council, they sent the letters to his first address and so did the baliffs, because there was no reply they then did another DVLA check and came up with our address as the registered address, and then clamped the car, would they still have had to go to the council to return the warrant because I am confused, because I dont really understand the process just that we had no notification just the baliff.
sorry if I appear a bit thick, just trying to clarify. and thank you

[ploddertom]

Re: equita

They have "data cleansed" the warrant. The procedure is it must be returned to the Council and they in turn must start the process all over again, which then gives the opportunity to pay at the original rate.

Both Bailiffs and Council will probably say otherwise as neither of them are bothered about who or how the debt is paid.

You must contact the Traffic Enforcement Centre for further help on this, itmay be because of data protection issues that your son is the only one who can do this.

[bluebottle]

Re: equita

They have "data cleansed" the warrant. The procedure is it must be returned to the Council and they in turn must start the process all over again, which then gives the opportunity to pay at the original rate.

Both Bailiffs and Council will probably say otherwise as neither of them are bothered about who or how the debt is paid.

You must contact the Traffic Enforcement Centre for further help on this, itmay be because of data protection issues that your son is the only one who can do this.

To the best of my knowledge and belief, data cleansing of warrants by bailiff companies is illegal. As you have said, PT, the warrant must be returned to the Local Authority who originally issued it for cancellation as it is no longer valid. If the LA involved is allowing this to happen, both they and Equita could be in serious trouble as they would be acting ultra vires - beyond the law - unless the warrant stated it was enforceable anywhere in England and Wales. If this endorsement is not on the warrant, the bailiffs' legal protection against trespass and other legal anomalies is null and void. A court would, in my considered judgement, tear the LA and Equita's senior management to shreds if it came out in an open court that the LA allowed the bailiffs to act illegally.

In view of the serious nature of this matter, I feel the OP needs to complain to OFT Credit Fitness Team and their local Trading Standards Department asap. The complaint to OFT should be made by email to enquiries@oft.gsi.gov.uk and the words CREDIT FITNESS inserted in the subject box. The complaint needs to be clear and concise and the following details need to be included in the complaint -

Company Name: Equita Limited
Credit Licence No.: 483020

When TS are contacted, ask if they have an email address to which a copy of the email to OFT Credit Fitness Team can be forwarded. This will save the OP and them a lot of time.

[Guest]

Re: equita

my sons car had a parking ticket written for his car on 16th April, his car was registered to an address that he moved out of 3 days after the ticket was written (from what I can gather from the council, the car drove off before the ticket was attached. All the letters from the council went to the registered address of the vehicle and he didn't get his post forwarded.
The car was sorn in August 2011 and the registered address changed to our address, then put back on the road by us and insured for my husband. We had a bailiff clamp the car on 20th July 2012, and I explained that my son didnt live here and that we had received no notification, I was told to pay the £412.50 to get the clamp off so my husband could get to work and deal with it after. I then contacted the council to find out that the letters went to his old address, then on the 4th August 2012 received a letter from the bailiffs office dated 5th July asking for £125 or a bailiff would attend, thats 4 weeks after the date it was posted. If we had had that letter we would have paid it and would have been £280 better off. My problem is the Royal mail will only give us 6 ist class stamps and who is at fault, the Royal mail or Equita?

Telephone the Traffic Enforcement Centre on 01604 619450 with your PCN number, and ask to make an out of time Statutory Declaration on the grounds you have moved since the PCN was incurred.

Once your appeal has been allowed, you reclaim the fees from the council. One letter marked Formal Complaint should do it.

If you get palmed off with 'contact the bailiffs' then contact the Local Government Ombudsman and ask they intervene.

You cant recover fees from a bailiff because they come up with excuses like, they are "unable to unexecute the warrrant".

This means you have to go through rigmorale of reclaiming it in the small claims court. The LGO is free and less hassle. It is the councils problem getting the fees back.