Please help...Equitas

[Debiness]

Hi all, this is the first time I've ever posted anything on a forum so please forgive me if I don't make sense. Basically I got married last May at a council owned building. The total cost for the wedding was £2,175. I paid £500 deposit cash and the balance was paid 2 day before the ceremony, again by cash as my mother in law lent us the money. In December I received an email from Coventry council claiming that I had not paid the balance and demanded that I either provide them with a copy of the receipt or they would instruct bailiffs to come to my property and remove goods. Unfortunately I do not have any receipts of invoices relating to the wedding ( why would I keep them 7 months after the event) and now I have received letters from Equitas demanding payment. I'm at a total loss as what to do and the worry is making me I'll. I have responded to the council stating that I want to make a formal complaint, but I don't know if I have a leg to stand on. I will not pay twice, I couldn't even if I wanted to!! Any advice would be gratefully received.:tinysmile_cry_t:

[ruthie59]

Re: Please help...Equitas

You say that your mother in law lent you the balance which you again paid in cash. Did your mother in law pay you in cash or by any other means, for example a cheque? If so, such a large amount of money ought to show up on a bank statement.

[bluebottle]

Re: Please help...Equitas

Hi and welcome to Legal Beagles.

Coventry Council has featured quite a bit on the LB forums and they appear to have some strange ideas as to what the term "legal compliance" means. Are Equita acting as bailiffs or debt collectors. In order to send bailiffs, the council would first have to take you to court and obtain a CCJ. Even then, only court bailiffs or High Court Enforcement Officers (formerly known as sheriffs) would have the necessary legal authority to attend your property.

In what form did you mother lend you the balance and how was it paid and to whom and where?

[Debiness]

Re: Please help...Equitas

Hi, thanks for responding. My mother in law gave us cash. She only deals with cash and has never even had a debit card. So I assume a large withdrawal would show on her account.

[Debiness]

Re: Please help...Equitas

Thank you for responding . I've just been looking for the letters that Equitas have sent and they state that, "we are disappointed that despite previous reminders the above debt remains outstanding. Our debt recovery officers have been passed a file for preparation for further action. The costs of this action will be added to your debt. Please make this course of action unnecessary by making payment to our offices immediately. If payment is not made immediately, our officers will call without further notice". My mother in law gave us cash, which I took to the council office 2 days prior to the wedding.

[MissFM]

Re: Please help...Equitas

Hi Debiness

Were there any witnesses to you handing over the cash and can you remember the individual you paid it to?

I hate to be cynical but it looks like theft on the part of an employee and if it were me I would involve the police.

Look for ANY evidence you have for this payment.

I'm so sorry - it rather sours a wedding experience to have this happen. :hug

[wales01man]

Re: Please help...Equitas

If cash was paid t the council it would have been at the cash desk at their offices?

[Debiness]

Re: Please help...Equitas

Hi, thanks for responding. I have just drafted an email to the finance officer at the council, informing him that I wish to make a formal complaint into the missing money. It has certainly made for a worrying Christmas and my mum then passed away in the new year, so all in all I'm about at the end of my rope with everything:Cry::Cry::Cry:

[bluebottle]

Re: Please help...Equitas

Hi Debiness

Were there any witnesses to you handing over the cash and can you remember the individual you paid it to?

I hate to be cynical but it looks like theft on the part of an employee and if it were me I would involve the police.

Look for ANY evidence you have for this payment.

I'm so sorry - it rather sours a wedding experience to have this happen. :hug

No, I don't think you're being cynical, MissFM. I think you may well have hit the nail full on the head.

The OP takes the balance to the Council offices two days before the hire date, as specified by the Council. If the balance had not been received, I doubt the wedding would have gone ahead as they would almost certainly have prevented the hire going ahead or would have said something long before now. Leaving it seven months before saying anything seems suspiciously like some light-fingered individual has had their hand in the till, but entered the sum on a ledger and the letters the OP has received are the result of it coming to light during an audit.

The OP needs to ask Equita what authority they are acting under and to ask what proof they have of non-payment. If all they can come out with is, "Our client says..." and the answer is, "Cobblers. Where is your evidence and have you checked to ensure the alleged debt is genuine and legally-enforceable and not the result of an accounting error?" Also, the OP needs to ask the council for proof of non-payment, why they have left it seven months before saying anything and can they rule out an accounting error, which is also a possibility, as the payment may have been entered in the wrong ledger, giving the impression of a non-payment. I have had this happen to me and threatened a local authority with legal action if they did not sort it out within seven days. The local authority in my case had it sorted in four days. It was an accounting error. To say the letter of apology was contrite is an understatement. Grovelling was more like it.

If neither Equita and Coventry Council can provide a satisfactory explanation and/or are unco-operative or insist you have not paid, then, I am afraid, the OP will have to involve the police.

[Debiness]

Re: Please help...Equitas

If cash was paid t the council it would have been at the cash desk at their offices?

Well you would think so, I've also queried why if I owed the money it has taken until December, 7 months after my wedding, for the council to contact me :tinysmile_hmm_t2:

[Amethyst]

Re: Please help...Equitas

Hi Debs, Glad you sorted out the posting bit. I think I mentioned in my email about possibly finding out if the council office have CCTV set up - I'm pretty sure they would have at payment desks. You could give them the time/date of your payment and they could check it out on CCTV recording?? Worth an ask.

[MissFM]

Re: Please help...Equitas

No, I don't think you're being cynical, MissFM. I think you may well have hit the nail full on the head.

The OP takes the balance to the Council offices two days before the hire date, as specified by the Council. If the balance had not been received, I doubt the wedding would have gone ahead as they would almost certainly have prevented the hire going ahead or would have said something long before now. Leaving it seven months before saying anything seems suspiciously like some light-fingered individual has had their hand in the till, but entered the sum on a ledger and the letters the OP has received are the result of it coming to light during an audit.

The OP needs to ask Equita what authority they are acting under and to ask what proof they have of non-payment. If all they can come out with is, "Our client says..." and the answer is, "Cobblers. Where is your evidence and have you checked to ensure the alleged debt is genuine and legally-enforceable and not the result of an accounting error?" Also, the OP needs to ask the council for proof of non-payment, why they have left it seven months before saying anything and can they rule out an accounting error, which is also a possibility, as the payment may have been entered in the wrong ledger, giving the impression of a non-payment. I have had this happen to me and threatened a local authority with legal action if they did not sort it out within seven days. The local authority in my case had it sorted in four days. It was an accounting error. To say the letter of apology was contrite is an understatement. Grovelling was more like it.

If neither Equita and Coventry Council can provide a satisfactory explanation and/or are unco-operative or insist you have not paid, then, I am afraid, the OP will have to involve the police.

Very good point indeed BB! - obvious once you point it out.. (and irrefutable)

[Debiness]

Re: Please help...Equitas

Hi, good to hear from you. I took your advise and I've emailed the finance officer asking whether CCTV is available and also stating that I want to make a formal complaint. Hopefully, this will make the council look at the issue again :tinysmile_grin_t:

[Debiness]

Re: Please help...Equitas

Thank you for this, it's something that I hadn't even considered. I will certainly be asking the Council and Equitas these questions :tinysmile_grin_t:

[Debiness]

Re: Please help...Equitas

Update on the coventry city council situation. I replied to the finance officer asking for further investigation into the missing money and they agreed to conduct a 'trace' on the money. They responded today stating that no trace of any money being paid can be found and unless I can provide a receipt by the 31/1/2014 the matter will be re- referred to Equitas. They state that the onus is on me to prove payment. As it stands I have no way of doing this. What else can I do? All of this is really making me ill.