problem with an absolute unreasonable ballif

[chrissysargo]

hi everyone. I really hope someone on here can help us out. we received a letter on Saturday from equita which was a REMOVAL NOTICE for outstanding council tax. so on Monday I tried to contact them on the number provided on the bottom of their letter. They informed me that I had to speak to the bailiff and gave me his name and contact details. I rang the guys number and asked what it was all about (at this point i thought it was a miss understanding or computer error) i was informed that we had a bill of £412.76 which had been passed to them for collection but it was now a bill of £ 455.26. I was a little shocked so informed him that i would visit the council tax office and get to the bottom off it. To cut a long story short last year my partner fell pregnant and her maternity pay was far less than her wage was so we fell behind on the council tax aswell as a few other bills and made arrangements with citizens advice to do a DRO order. She filled in all the relevant paper work and was at the point of sending it off when our baby girl decided to arrive early and wasn't very well for quite a few months so the DRO order was simply forgot about as our daughters health took priority. So after visiting the council tax office it was clear we were at fault. When I got back home I contacted the bailiff again and basically held my hands up and said the debt was ours and it hadn't been done intentionally. The guy was an absolute arrogant bully. I asked the bailiff if we could come up with a payment plan and his reply was ring me back tomorrow and we will discuss your option. (which made me feel a bit easier thinking we could come up with a plan to suit both parties). I spent all day today trying to ring this guy and right up until 4:30 pm today had no luck he just simply kept answering and putting the phone down on me. So instead off me loosing my temper with this guy I asked my partner to try and call him because my patience was wearing thin and i didn't want to make the situation worse. Surprise surprise he answered and didn't put the phone down when he heard my girlfriends voice. She informed him that we were waiting on a payment which would cover the full amount and it should be with us within 10 days and we could set up a £50 a month payment plan to start this month so he know we were genuine but we would be able to settle well before the 1st payment of £50 was due. He then totally changed his mind and basically informed my partner he would now be calling within 24hrs with his van to take goods from our property and everything else regarding a payment plan is in his words is just "academic now". So basically this guy lied to me yesterday because he had no intention of accepting any type of payment plan from us he was simply playing for time so he can add more charges. So because of this hanging over us i have now had to go cap in hand to my parents to lend the money the bailiff is wanting to collect. This is were some people might think im playing with fire but i think ive read on here that i could actually go direct to council tax office and try to get them to take the full outstanding payment and call off the bailiff which would also save us the charges he is threating to add . Both my self and my partner are very relieved we are now in the situation to clear this debt and will do so. Im just so angry at the way the bailiff has conducted himself hes lied to us and tried to bully us. it would give me great pleasure in getting one over on him, and simply cut him out of the picture full stop. Either way the debt will be paid tomorrow but i will be taking the matter of his conduct further so if any body can help with any info regarding how i do this it would also be very gratefully received. thanks chris

[charitynjw]

Re: problem with an absolute unreasonable ballif

Hi chrissysargo, & welcome to Legal Beagles.

I'm sure one of our bailiff experts will be with you shortly.

[bluebottle]

Re: problem with an absolute unreasonable ballif

Hi and welcome to Legal Beagles.

Equita are currently under investigation by Northamptonshire Trading Standards over fee irregularities. According to the figures you have quoted, he is claiming for two visits. Was the letter hand-delivered or received via Royal Mail? Also, a bailiff needs to have a valid and lawful levy in order to remove goods. No levy, no fees for vans or levies. Equita are well-known for fee irregularities and their ham-fisted attempts to justify them. Were you in when these two alleged visits were made or were you not at home?

[labman]

Re: problem with an absolute unreasonable ballif

Hi there and welcome to LB,

You are under no obligation whatsoever to even talk to the bailiff or deal with them in any way whatsoever. As long as they do not gain a levy on anything, there is nothing they can do about this, even though they won't like it. The main thing they will try to levy on is your vehicle(s) if parked outside, so move them somewhere a few streets away where they are not going to find them, or lock them up in a garage if possible.

Before you go to the council tomorrow, phone them and ask:

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?

This will tell you what is owed to the council. You can then go and pay this, or pay it online, or using their automated telephone system. If for a previous year and it is not too much trouble, it's probably worth going there in person, but make sure you speak to a member of the council if at all possible, not one of Equita's staff there. Obviously make sure you get a receipt for the payment.

You are then liable for one visit if I've read your post correctly. This means you owe a further £24.50 (£22.50 in Wales) for that visit, or if it was two visits a further £18.00 for the second visit (£16.50 in Wales).

Much as it may go against the grain to pay these, it may save you a huge amount of trouble further down the line as any legitiamte fees are deducted from payments and paid to the bailiff BEFORE your payment to the debt starts, so you'd still be left with an outstanding debt to be collected if you don't pay them.

Hope this helps. Any problems, just post up again.

[chrissysargo]

Re: problem with an absolute unreasonable ballif

thanks for getting back with some info/advice. we have only had 1 letter and it came from equita in the post on Saturday and its dated 02/07/2013. I contacted the number on the letter on the Monday and was told by an automated service that it had been past onto a bailiff it gave me his name and contact number. so I contacted him straight away. he wasn't very pleased that I miss heard his surname from the automated system and the conversation went down hill rapidly from there on in. he asked me if it was one of his letters and I told him it had came on the Saturday and was just signed bailiff manager equita ltd. he basically called me a lier. but he was very arrogant and I couldn't get a word in edge ways so when I did have to interrupted him try and to explain to him that I didn't know what it was about he asked me if I was being threatening towards him. if I called him mate or fella ( which is a friendly term were I live) he took great offence. Infact everything I did say he just tried to turn it into an argument. I contacted the equita office twice today the 1st time was to inform them I couldn't get intouch with him because he kept putting the phone down on me every time I tried to arrange a payment plan with him. and on the 2nd time I contacted the office I asked if I could deal with a different bailiff or if I could just deal direct with them they told me they understood were I was coming from but the bailiff is now in charge of the case so sort it out with him. ( how can you sort things out with a man who isn't willing to listen to anything you say and put the phone down when you mention payment plans). Then I was told if I want to complain I would have to send in a letter of complaint because nobody there end was available to deal with my complaint and it would take up to 2 weeks. so as far as visits or contacting me this bailiff has done neither and ive been bendng over backwards to try and sort this out. on the last telephone conversation my girlfriend had with him he seemed to turn his bad attitude up to a new level. I could hear him saying loudly / shouting its not my problem what I said yesterday about arranging a payment plan its Accademic now im coming in my van within 24 hours and if you havnt got the money im taking your stuff out off your house I will see you in the next 24 hours. we seem to be banging our heads into a brick wall. surely this guy must answer/work for somebody and equita must be able to do something about the way this guy conducts himself. it seems that this bailiff is nothing but a legal bully. im glad im in the situation to pay the debt but would love to get one over on this guy. and im crossing my fingers that the council will take the payment from me then if he does turn up in his van I will just show him a copy of the receipt to show its been paid.

[chrissysargo]

Re: problem with an absolute unreasonable ballif

thanks for getting back with some info/advice. we have only had 1 letter and it came from equita in the post on Saturday and its dated 02/07/2013. I contacted the number on the letter on the Monday and was told by an automated service that it had been past onto a bailiff it gave me his name and contact number. so I contacted him straight away. he wasn't very pleased that I miss heard his surname from the automated system and the conversation went down hill rapidly from there on in. he asked me if it was one of his letters and I told him it had came on the Saturday and was just signed bailiff manager equita ltd. he basically called me a lier. but he was very arrogant and I couldn't get a word in edge ways so when I did have to interrupted him try and to explain to him that I didn't know what it was about he asked me if I was being threatening towards him. if I called him mate or fella ( which is a friendly term were I live) he took great offence. Infact everything I did say he just tried to turn it into an argument. I contacted the equita office twice today the 1st time was to inform them I couldn't get intouch with him because he kept putting the phone down on me every time I tried to arrange a payment plan with him. and on the 2nd time I contacted the office I asked if I could deal with a different bailiff or if I could just deal direct with them they told me they understood were I was coming from but the bailiff is now in charge of the case so sort it out with him. ( how can you sort things out with a man who isn't willing to listen to anything you say and put the phone down when you mention payment plans). Then I was told if I want to complain I would have to send in a letter of complaint because nobody there end was available to deal with my complaint and it would take up to 2 weeks. so as far as visits or contacting me this bailiff has done neither and ive been bendng over backwards to try and sort this out. on the last telephone conversation my girlfriend had with him he seemed to turn his bad attitude up to a new level. I could hear him saying loudly / shouting its not my problem what I said yesterday about arranging a payment plan its Accademic now im coming in my van within 24 hours and if you havnt got the money im taking your stuff out off your house I will see you in the next 24 hours. we seem to be banging our heads into a brick wall. surely this guy must answer/work for somebody and equita must be able to do something about the way this guy conducts himself. it seems that this bailiff is nothing but a legal bully. im glad im in the situation to pay the debt but would love to get one over on this guy. and im crossing my fingers that the council will take the payment from me then if he does turn up in his van I will just show him a copy of the receipt to show its been paid.

[bizzybob]

Re: problem with an absolute unreasonable ballif

First of all, stop talking to the bailiff, he is only interested in you paying his probably unlawful fees, Equita as alluded to by bluebottle have "form" for "Frontloading" fees ie: charging for work not done, and are being investigated.

Now something else to bear in mind is that as the bailiffs are Equita, there is a strong possibility your council has a Capita infection, a problem as annoying as a nasty recurring STI, Capita commonly known as Crapita, own two bailiff companies one of which is Equita, and when you speak to the council you are actually speaking to Crapita, who will send you in the direction of their greedy mates at Equita.

If you tender payment at the council counter you will probably be dealing with crapita, so as it is unlawful to refuse a tendered payment get the drone to sign to the effect that they cannot accept payment as it is in the hands of the bailiff, then send copies of that to the CEO, Elected Council leader, your local member and MP. If they refuse pay into the online payment system the council should have including the two visit fees, and print a receipt. Your new step-friend may call screaming that the very Firament of heaven will fall if you don't pay his unlawful extra fees, but he can be told to foxtrot oscar at that point and you could call the police to have him removed, in any event if he shows up deny him entry, and film his visit through an upstairs window, even with a phone to capture any threats.

[chrissysargo]

Re: problem with an absolute unreasonable ballif

would just like to say a massive thanks AGAIN. after a sleepless night trawling the internet for information and advice on every site I could find I was at the council office bright and early ( you could say knocking the door down) lol. I had to deal with a few little problems but thanks to the info I got from here I had an answer for everything they tried to put in my way. I left the council tax office completely free of council tax debt and sat at the desk whilst the lady dealing with the matter phoned equita (on load speaker) and called off the bailiffs it feels great. ive got all the info needed to complete and submit my complaints over both equita's and the bailiffs conduct and I have sunk my teeth in and refuse to let go. I was brought up to always be fair and treat people the way you want to be treated. Im now kinda hoping that equita do there usual nothing and don't inform there balliff that the account is now settled and this very aggressive bully bailiff turns up today so I can slap him on the head with my receipts. the funny thing is through out this whole terrible experience all ive wanted to do is sort it out and come up with a solution that all parties were happy with. the not so funny thing for the balliff if he does turn up is that Im actually a fully trained door supervisor,close protection/ one to one security operative and ex successful kickboxing champion 6ft 3" and still train in both the gym and the ring 5 days a week. (obviously without aggression) I would really love to show this bully the fear and anxiety he made my girlfriend feel. but once again thank you all so much for your help it helped me and my little family so much. respect to you all and hopefully I can return the favour

[ploddertom]

Re: problem with an absolute unreasonable ballif

Pleased to hear you have a result but beware just in case they turn up claiming to know nothing.

[charitynjw]

Re: problem with an absolute unreasonable ballif

Pleased to hear you have a result but beware just in case they turn up claiming to know nothing.

[bluebottle]

Re: problem with an absolute unreasonable ballif

Yes, PT, the "pleading ignorance" number seems to be quite common with some bailiff companies we could mention. It sounds to me that this bailiff may have bitten off more than he can chew. I would p*ss myself laughing if you put this bully flat on his arse and the police took him away or do their own version of kickboxing, which is to insert the toe of their Size 11 police boots up his backside to the top lacehole repeatedly until he is off your property.

Well done on getting this sorted out.