I can't believe what im reading....

[Alex1976]

I write in respect of the behaviour of Equita who have charged me ridiculous amounts of money and charged for phanton visits and levied on goods even though i don't live at the property they claim to have visited.

I would like some advice about how to respond to their letter below.

To summarise on the 14 August i sent a cheque to Equita towards an instalment towards my account which had an outstanding balance of £194.00. On the 17th August i called the call centre to check they were in receipt of payment, i was told they were not. I called again on the 18th to be told the account had been forwarded on to their certified bailiff and was given his telephone number, i called him straight away and he had not got the paperwork through from head office, he called me back 10 min later and told me the balance was £1111,88 as a result of further court costs applied to the account.

He would be visiting my property on Monday and if payment was not received he would seize my vehicle. The property they have registered is let out to a tenant with a young child and i did not want the tenant to have a knock on the door so at 8.30am

On Monday morning i made payment and the set about getting a refund.

As you can imagine there have been exchanges between myself and Equita and below is their response. I also noticed that the date the bailiff was certified is after one of the phantom visits, but i do not know if this may be an arguement. I also notice the figures dont add up, i paid £1111.80 on the 20th August and in addition £31.50 & £118.50 as detailed below = £1261.88

I take full responsibility for the parking fines and i somply buried my head in the sand following the death of my dad. My arguement is with the fraudulent activity and excessive charges for phantom visits. I really need some help with how to reply.

Their response is:

7th September 2012
Bailiff Ref: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Client Ref: XXXXXXXXXX
Dear Mr XXXXXXX
Re: The London Borough of Sutton – Road Traffic Fine
I write further to your recent emails and communication with our call centre with regards to the above.
I can confirm that since receiving your accounts the following payments have been made:-
Account: XXXXXX
30.05.12 £31.50
20.08.12 £599.44
Account: XXXXXX
25.06.12 £118.50
20.08.12 £512.44
Total: £1,111.88
As requested. I have included a full breakdown of your account including the dates of fees incurred below:-
Statement
Bailiff reference number: XXXXXXXX
PCN: XXXXXXXX
Debt: £172.00
Initial Letter Fee: £11.20 25/05/2012
Levy/Visit Fee: £110.00 31/07/2012 & 18/08/2012
Attendence Fee: £260.00 18/08/2012
Card Payment Fee £1.25 20/08/2012
V.A.T £79.49
Total: £630.94
Payment received: £630.94
Balance: £0.00
Bailiff reference number xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PCN: XXXXXXXXX
Debt £172.00
Initial letter fee: £11.20 22/05/2012
Levy/Visit Fee £52.00 31/07/2012
Card Payment Fee: £2.50
V.A.T: £13.14
Total: £250.84
Payment received: £250.84
Balance: 0.00
Please be advised that our enforcement officer Mr G. Nicker was granted his general bailiff certificate at Northampton county court on the 13th August 2012. He has been certified for many years working as a bailiff.
I am sorry that you have felt the need to complain, however action could have been avoided had you maintained the original agreement affirded to you. Indeed, our intentions had been made clear throughout in notices dispatched from our office and we have no reason to believe visits have not been conducted in line with our collection procedures.
After reviewing your account, as a gesture of good will, to bring your file to an amicable conclusion, the total of 380.10 was refunded to you on the 23rd August 2012. This related to bailiff charges incurred as a result of our collections procedures. It is not considered to apply any further review in this matter, and will not be entering in to further protracted correspondence given thoroughly and to the best of our ability.
All paperwork has been returned to our instructed client marked as successful, ceasing our involvement in this matter.
__________________________________________________ ___

[bluebottle]

Re: I can't believe what im reading....

I very much regret to tell you that Equita have defrauded you of quite a bit of money. The Attendance and Levy Fees are excessive and in contravention of what the relevant legislation allows and you also have evidence of phantom visits.

You will need to get a solicitor involved as you will need to recover the excessive and fraudulent fees from London Borough of Sutton, as they are 100% vicariously-liable for Equita's actions and, therefore, they take the hit for the excessive and fraudulent fees. It has been found that local authorities take complaints from members of the public a lot more seriously if they are submitted via a legal professional than if the member of the public attempts to resolve the matter themselves.

You will need to make a formal complaint to the OFT's Credit Fitness Team about this as Equita hold an OFT Licence under the CCA. Send the complaint by email to enquiries@oft.gsi.gov.uk and insert into the subject box CREDIT FITNESS. Give a clear and concise resume of your complaint. You will need to quote breaches of the OFT Debt Collection Guidelines and the following details -

Company Name: Equita Limited
Credit Licence No.: 483020

in your complaint. You should also quote the legislation that regulates the charges for PCNs.

I am attaching the relevant legislation and guidelines for you.