HELLLLLLP

[vinnyjay700]

Good Morning Guys
I wonder if you could give me some advice as i think Equita have totally ripped me off.

I recently had a liability order for £532 for unpaid council tax. The bailiffs sent a letter (their first one) and i responded straight away - i contacted the bailiff to arrange payment, a very rude man told me it was £621 including his charges. i agreed to pay made the payment and thought that that was the end of it...........
Until Lambeth sent me another notice saying there was still £158 outstanding on the account. I contact the council tax and the lady explained that the debt passed to the bailiff was £374 and the £158 outstanding was due to be paid directly to them. I asked why the bailiff had charged soo much for the one letter he had delivered they said it sounds a bit excessive and suggested i contact Equita to request a breakdown of the fees. I have done so and they have provided me with a one page letter that shows that shows the debt of £374 and a number of charges: statutory visit fee £42.50, Levy fee £36, attendance fee £167 and card payment fee £1.50. This seems really excessive for one letter and the council seem to agree with me. The problem is i have been unable to find or obtain from equita a list of all their standard fees (for all i know they could be making this up to cover the £245 of charges they have taken from me). Can someone please advise as it seems so excessive for one letter - which they say was delivered by hand.

[ploddertom]

Re: HELLLLLLP

Did they list the dates all these charges were applied? Usually they do not and you will need to write to them again asking for these. Have you also been given the name of the attending Bailiff and if so have you checked to see if he is suitably Certificated?

If you can post a copy of what you have so far we can have a look and see what they have done - best done as a PDF and remove all personal identifiers. you need some additional info from the Council as well. You need to speak to someone at the Council and ask the following questions:
1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you
2 - the dates they were obtained
3 - the addresses they were for
4 - the period of time each covers
5 - how much each one was for
6 - how much is still outstanding
7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement
8 - the dates & amounts of any payments

[vinnyjay700]

Re: HELLLLLLP

Did they list the dates all these charges were applied? Usually they do not and you will need to write to them again asking for these. Have you also been given the name of the attending Bailiff and if so have you checked to see if he is suitably Certificated?

If you can post a copy of what you have so far we can have a look and see what they have done - best done as a PDF and remove all personal identifiers. you need some additional info from the Council as well. You need to speak to someone at the Council and ask the following questions:
1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you
2 - the dates they were obtained
3 - the addresses they were for
4 - the period of time each covers
5 - how much each one was for
6 - how much is still outstanding
7 - the dates they were passed on for enforcement
8 - the dates & amounts of any payments

No they did not list the dates the charges were applied. I have spoken to council and i am satisfied that they only past one order to Equita for £374 (hence the £158 still ouststanding) and it was passed to them on the 10th December. What i am trying to find out is why equita have charged so much money for the one letter posted by hand, if these charges are correct and fair and legal so i know if i can lodge a complaint. Surely there must be a Master list somewhere which details Equitas standard charges for a letter, a visit etc?

[ploddertom]

Re: HELLLLLLP

Have a look at http://www.bexley.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3028&p=0 if it isn't on this list they cannot charge it.

[bluebottle]

Re: HELLLLLLP

Looks to me like Equita have been rather creative with their book-keeping. No wonder they are under investigation by Northamptonshire Trading Standards for fees irregularities and overcharging.

[CleverClogs]

Re: HELLLLLLP

I wonder if you could give me some advice as i think Equita have totally ripped me off.

There's an easy way to determine if that had happened - was the bailiff breathing at the time?

I recently had a liability order for £532 for unpaid council tax. The bailiffs sent a letter (their first one) and i responded straight away - i contacted the bailiff to arrange payment, a very rude man told me it was £621 including his charges. i agreed to pay made the payment and thought that that was the end of it...........
Until Lambeth sent me another notice saying there was still £158 outstanding on the account. I contact the council tax and the lady explained that the debt passed to the bailiff was £374 and the £158 outstanding was due to be paid directly to them. I asked why the bailiff had charged soo much for the one letter he had delivered they said it sounds a bit excessive and suggested i contact Equita to request a breakdown of the fees. I have done so and they have provided me with a one page letter that shows that shows the debt of £374 and a number of charges: statutory visit fee £42.50, Levy fee £36, attendance fee £167 and card payment fee £1.50. This seems really excessive for one letter and the council seem to agree with me. The problem is i have been unable to find or obtain from equita a list of all their standard fees (for all i know they could be making this up to cover the £245 of charges they have taken from me). Can someone please advise as it seems so excessive for one letter - which they say was delivered by hand.

Yes, it is excessive.

Firstly, you have been charged for two visits rather than just one.

Next, you have been charged a levy fee although you did not mention any notice of seizure, as well as an "attendance fee" which, you can see from paragraph C, is only for "one attendance with a vehicle with a view to the removal of goods (where, following the levy, goods are not removed)".

Did he levy distress on any of your goods, or did you just pay up at once?

If you paid up at once, on a first visit from a certificated scoundrel, the only fee payable would be £24.50.

Which council is it and why are your local snollygosters quite happy with the way they have wasted taxpayers' money by outsourcing administration to Crapita?

[bizzybob]

Re: HELLLLLLP

Excellent advice so far, Crapquita have form for frontloading fees before they even send a letter, hoping they won't be questioned and the debtor pays up, very naughty, ruler across the knuckles for that one. To claim the levy fee they would have had to either seized a car, or been inside your home and listed goods, and left a Notice of Seizure, also attending to remove and levy fee should not be applied on the same visit.

If you get no result from the enquiries advised by ploddertom, a Formal Complaint to the GHead of Revenuess, copied to council CEO, the elected leader, your councillor, and MP Capita, are also being questioned in Coventry and Birmingham by councillors regarding their shenanigans whilst enforcing for council tax, along with the investigation alluded to by bluebottle.

[L-Smillie]

Re: HELLLLLLP

http://www.equita.co.uk/Portals/6/Th...20amended).pdf

I have just taken this from their website. I recently had a similar problem with equita where they charged me £423 for a parking ticket.
I opened an official complaint on their website quoted their own fees and after 3 weeks have received a letter saying they are refunding me £211.
Worth a go

[CleverClogs]

Re: HELLLLLLP

I recently had a similar problem with equita where they charged me £423 for a parking ticket.
I opened an official complaint on their website quoted their own fees and after 3 weeks have received a letter saying they are refunding me £211.

Have you taken the letter to the plods? It seems to be evidence of fraud.

[bizzybob]

Re: HELLLLLLP

Have you taken the letter to the plods? It seems to be evidence of fraud.

Worth a punt if only for nuisance value, to establish in plods mind that bailiffs can be as dodgy as any thug and burglar, only difference is the bailiff hide behind the law, his attempts at extracting unlawful fees are as criminal as any scam merchant.