equita bailiffs please please help this newbie

[havehope]

hello guys,
ive spent literally hours trawling internet and think you are the ones who can help.
long story short...........
paid £30 off a bus lane pcn in march, thought was all done and dusted, carried on with life until..........
got home yesterday to a bailiff removal letter from Equita saying to call mobile.
had to call as no idea what about, bailiff said was the pcn so I called Bristol city council who confirmed it was paid 8 days after 14 day discount period so I paid £30 when it should have been £60.
they say they've sent the relevant letters etc so I have to pay. I am not disputing the charge but I do need to know the law on these bailiffs charges.
the original debt passed to them was £97. Ive had NO contact from them until this letter through the door yesterday.
Theres no point filing an out of date form as I did receive original pcn and paid the £30.
PLEASE help, what should I do? im a single mum and don't have £282.
I called this morning and offered £10 a week but bailiff said not enough and to call back later today with a higher offer.
Thank you in advance for any help offered

[bluebottle]

Re: equita bailiffs please please help this newbie

Hi and welcome to Legal Beagles.

Equita are well-known for being economical with the actualities and front-loading of fees. As you have already paid Bristol City Council £30 and they have accepted that, they cannot ask for that amount again. Bailiffs are, basically, bullies and bullies do not like it when people stand up to them and give as good as they get.

The first thing you need to do is request a breakdown of fees from Equita. Click on the link below and personalise Letter No.1. Send it to them by email and Royal Mail Recorded Delivery.

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...Useful-Letters

[CleverClogs]

Re: equita bailiffs please please help this newbie

Shouldn't Bristol City Council have sent a reminder of some sort before passing it on to the bailiffs?

Of course, the fact that Bristol has outsourced its admin to Crapita (who also own Equita) is, doubtless, purely coincidental.

[Sir Vere Brayne d'Emmidge]

Re: equita bailiffs please please help this newbie

hello guys,
ive spent literally hours trawling internet and think you are the ones who can help.
long story short...........
paid £30 off a bus lane pcn in march, thought was all done and dusted, carried on with life until..........
got home yesterday to a bailiff removal letter from Equita saying to call mobile.
had to call as no idea what about, bailiff said was the pcn so I called Bristol city council who confirmed it was paid 8 days after 14 day discount period so I paid £30 when it should have been £60.
they say they've sent the relevant letters etc so I have to pay. I am not disputing the charge but I do need to know the law on these bailiffs charges.
the original debt passed to them was £97. Ive had NO contact from them until this letter through the door yesterday.
Theres no point filing an out of date form as I did receive original pcn and paid the £30.
PLEASE help, what should I do? im a single mum and don't have £282.
I called this morning and offered £10 a week but bailiff said not enough and to call back later today with a higher offer.
Thank you in advance for any help offered

When you reply can you please list what charges (under which heading) the bailif has applied....I am also not quite clear why the charge from TEC is £97, worth asking the question, because as far as I am concerned it should not be more than £52 .... £30 unpaid PNC .... +50% (£15) .... +£7

[bluebottle]

Re: equita bailiffs please please help this newbie

Shouldn't Bristol City Council have sent a reminder of some sort before passing it on to the bailiffs?

Of course, the fact that Bristol has outsourced its admin to Crapita (who also own Equita) is, doubtless, purely coincidental.

Yes, they should have, Cloggy. It matters not whether a local authority has outsourced its administration to a bunch of incompetent nincompoops like Crapita. Bristol City Council is ultimately responsible for ensuring the law is complied with in all respects. If Crapita has not sent out documents, as legally required, then Bristol City Council has grounds for issuing a Default Notice, which is a step towards termination of Crapita's contract. However, if what Crapita has done amounts to a serious breach of the law or exposes Bristol City Council to litigation which would be otherwise avoidable were it not for Crapita's actions, then Bristol City Council may have grounds to terminate the contract forthwith.

[bluebottle]

Re: equita bailiffs please please help this newbie

When you reply can you please list what charges (under which heading) the bailif has applied....I am also not quite clear why the charge from TEC is £97, worth asking the question, because as far as I am concerned it should not be more than £52 .... £30 unpaid PNC .... +50% (£15) .... +£7

Equita have a nasty habit of front-loading fees and calling them "potential fees", which is total cobblers. It is not exactly a coincidence that Equita are currently under investigation by Northamptonshire Trading Standards over their fees.

[bizzybob]

Re: equita bailiffs please please help this newbie

Equita have a nasty habit of front-loading fees and calling them "potential fees", which is total cobblers. It is not exactly a coincidence that Equita are currently under investigation by Northamptonshire Trading Standards over their fees.

Any news of said investigation, as they seem to be taking too long about it?

BCC could find itself in the soup with Crapita

[bluebottle]

Re: equita bailiffs please please help this newbie

Any news of said investigation, as they seem to be taking too long about it. Still ongoing as far as is known, BB. It is not known how far back Northamptonshire Trading Standards are going with the investigation.

BCC could find itself in the soup with Crapita. If Bristol City Council has any sense, they will cut Crapita loose and take administration back in-house. That's what Plymouth City Council did.

@@@@

[Se7en]

Re: equita bailiffs please please help this newbie

havehope - the folks at Equita unfortunately don't have a brain cell between them. As such the excellent resources, letters and such, you'll find on this forum are likely to be met with ignorant retorts. They will certainly continue enforcement while their admin team fabricates a response.

Even though the council will almost certainly tell you otherwise, they have a legal obligation to accept an offer of payment from you. Unlike the bailiffs, they can't be abrupt or threatening towards you, and as a citizen/tax payer you have a right of access to senior civil servants there if you're hitting a brick wall with the contact centre. A quick Google search for head of parking, etc and ask for them by name, write to them - don't threaten, be polite but firm. In my experience they'll do anything to avoid contact with the populous they claim to serve (I managed to get a perfectly legal parking fine cancelled just by leaving messages for executives at Westminster Council during the course of an afternoon!).

You can buy yourself some time by writing to the council - e-mail is fine. They must put enforcement on hold while they consider and respond to written representations. If you get one of those 'we'll endeavor to reply within x days' e-mails you may want to hand deliver and get an acknowledgement.

Good luck!