New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

[ploddertom]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

If they were to turn up tomorrow - very unlikely - would anyone be in? Bear in mind they have not gained access previously & therefore have no Controlled Aggreement over any goods, any goods in danger of being seized/removed would have to be outside - but only if of any value.

[Kati]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

If they were to turn up tomorrow - very unlikely - would anyone be in? Bear in mind they have not gained access previously & therefore have no Controlled Aggreement over any goods, any goods in danger of being seized/removed would have to be outside - but only if of any value.

Also, they cannot break in. For CT debts, the bailiff can only get into the property peaceably via a regular means of entry!

[julia305]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

I doubt it - i leave for work at 7.30am and dont get home until 7pm. I can quite happily ignore the doorbell as well if they turn up after 7 and if necessary I can leave via the back door like a criminal

[Kati]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

if necessary I can leave via the back door like a criminal

No need for that julia - they cannot force their way in!

Kati x

[julia305]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

so if they turn up, obviously i'll go outside to speak to them. Shall I ask again for a payment plan?

[Kati]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

If they turned up (very unlikely I think) you could even talk to them through a window :tinysmile_twink_t2:

You should (if they did) just inform them that you are willing to pay via an affordable payment plan, but that you should have 21 days from the delivery of a correct enforcement notice (which they haven't sent as they didn't give you the "7 clear working days" in the one you received) to arrange it in accordance with the councils own website.

They would not be able to charge you the £235 fee if they did turn up tomorrow either.

Kati x

[julia305]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

Thanks Kati

[Milo]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

OK thank you. I wish they would just accept the offer though its horrible thinking that the bailiffs might call at any moment.

Anyway, here is the notice of enforcement Milo

Julia,

Can you remove your address details please !!!

[julia305]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

Oh noooo! How do I delete the pdf i thought i'd blocked it all out

[Guest]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

The problem that we have is that whilst the Council Guidance from Eric Pickles is excellent it is not legally binding and neither is the National Standards. They are both guidance.

At this present time the National Standards 2014 are currently under review and is in the process of being changed. Meeting have taken place with Stakeholder groups ( I am a member of 2 such groups) and they have been asked to provide suggestions for the revised Standards. The revised Standards will be looking to incorporate the Council Tax Guidance in some way. It was hoped that the revised Standards/Guidance would be released by now but only yesterday we were notified of a delay. It would seem that the Council Tax guidance will stay in one form or another. Discussions are continuing.

Bizzybob is correct. The Ministry of Justice are carefully looking at how the new regulations are 'bedding in' and it is known that amendments will indeed be made to the statutory regulations (Schedule 12 of TCE) and the Taking Control of Goods regulations within the next 3 months (and will continue to be reviewed).

One important area (and one that I wrote extensively about in a media publication) is the matter of the '7 working days'. Frankly it is a problem and all stakeholders have been asked to provide evidence to the Ministry of Justice where the number of days is not being adhered to. I can assure anyone that any cases that I see now are being reported. The enforcement companies have had long enough to get their house in order.

Local authorities continue to be a major area or concern as a large number of them have little or no idea how the new regulations work and this is made significantly worse given that the majority of local authorities received training sessions on the new regulations....by the bailiff companies.

Coming back to Redbrdge. Firstly they need a 'pat on the back' for insisting that a period of 21 days be given to debtors. However, I would suggest that Julia should not complain at this point at present given that I am to understand that the 21 days consists of an INITIAL letter allowing 7 working days and if payment is not forthcoming a SECOND letter will be sent allowing a further period (which in total will be 21 days). I would prefer to see whether Equita send the 2nd letter instead of complaining IN ADVANCE. The reason being that last week we came across evidence where this time period is not being observed (although the enforcement company was not Equita). Most local authorities have at lest 2 different companies under contract.

My final point is concerning local authorities taking accounts back into their control. Whilst this provision is suggested in the Council Tax Guidance from DCLG it needs to be made clear that Eric Pickle's guidance was published last summer and had not be written with the new regulations in mind. It was not known then that the new regulations would provide a clause whereby local authorities agreeing to return accounts back into their control would be responsible for PAYING the bailiff fees incurred to date!!! Accordingly, very few take accounts back.

Julia, I think that you have done enough at the moment and you should now wait for the response from Equita.

Milo-I would be very interested to discover which regulation places an authority liable for fees if a debt is taken back. In many cases, debts are taken back because of wrongdoing or irregularities carried out by bailiffs or because of vulnerability. There is also a potential for cases to be taken back because of "human error" in allocating them. It is difficult to envisage an authority paying fees in these circumstances.

The reason most councils are (and always have been) reluctant to take debts back is because once they do so, if the debtor defaults again (which would be likely if it was so easy to have a debt returned), the council would not be able to reinstate bailiffs.

[julia305]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

OK well i dont know if i did the right thing here but as nobody has contacted me from the council or equita I sent my last and final email today:-

Dear Sirs,

Further to my numerous emails please note that I have tried to contact you by email and telephone both without success. I find it quite astonishing that nobody has responded. Please be aware that the enforcement agent has given me until 5.30pm today to make a payment arrangement. Please also be aware that I have tried to do this both with the enforcement agent and yourself without success. It states on your website that you have instructed your enforcement agents to allow a period of 21 days from the date of the notice. However, Equita have given me until today – a period of 4 DAYS. I will be taking this matter further. I will also continue to make payments direct to yourselves with the next instalment of £150 being paid on or around 26 September. I do not wish to appear fractious over this matter I simply want to come to an agreement with yourselves allowing me further time to pay. I do apologise for allowing my council tax to fall into arrears however I am in some financial difficulties at the moment and doing my best to get out of this situation.

If you wish to contact me I can be reached on xxxxxxx. If I do not hear from you I will take that as your agreement to my proposals for a payment plan.

I doubt it will elicit a response but i thought that maybe the "If I do not hear from you i will take it etc" might get them going.

[Kati]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

OK well i dont know if i did the right thing here but as nobody has contacted me from the council or equita I sent my last and final email today:-

Dear Sirs,

Further to my numerous emails please note that I have tried to contact you by email and telephone both without success. I find it quite astonishing that nobody has responded. Please be aware that the enforcement agent has given me until 5.30pm today to make a payment arrangement. Please also be aware that I have tried to do this both with the enforcement agent and yourself without success. It states on your website that you have instructed your enforcement agents to allow a period of 21 days from the date of the notice. However, Equita have given me until today – a period of 4 DAYS. I will be taking this matter further. I will also continue to make payments direct to yourselves with the next instalment of £150 being paid on or around 26 September. I do not wish to appear fractious over this matter I simply want to come to an agreement with yourselves allowing me further time to pay. I do apologise for allowing my council tax to fall into arrears however I am in some financial difficulties at the moment and doing my best to get out of this situation.

If you wish to contact me I can be reached on xxxxxxx. If I do not hear from you I will take that as your agreement to my proposals for a payment plan.

I doubt it will elicit a response but i thought that maybe the "If I do not hear from you i will take it etc" might get them going.

Nice letter

One addressed to the CEO of the council asking him/her to look into your case might be a good next step (especially if you cc your local MP in on it too)

Kati x

[julia305]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

Hi kati. Ok I'll do that thanks

[Kati]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

Let us know how you get on :tinysmile_grin_t:

x

[swantop]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

HI I have just been reading the above post by Julie 305. I would like to point out that everything suggested is not really that easy.
I am dealing with Equita i posted a few weeks ago regarding the same thing. and I have read your downloads regarding Enforcement standards and the Code of good practice for local councils. is there anyone who has actually been successful in getting their council to take back the debt. today i went to my council and quoted both these practices cried and pleaded with them to either recall the debt or at the very least call off Equita to stop them sending letters 22 in all i have tried my very best to get them to accept my offer even entered into DMP and the standing order I have set up with my first payment already paid to show my willingness to try and resolve this problem to no avail.
All i got was its gone to the Bailiffs there's nothing we can do, and the reason why they wont take back the debt is because of how much its cost them to get to the stage where i am at and where most non payers end up with a debt collection company

they want their money back before the end of the financial year which they know is impossible. i pointed out that a loan of £3000 which is what i owe over 36 months would be £94 a month i was offering a little more. i could declare bankrupt and they would get nothing or i could end up claiming benefits and then they would only be paying themselves back at 3 or 4 pounds a week.

I know I've made a big error in not paying i also regret not getting in touch with them sooner, but i have really tried everything, I have spoken to CAB who were amazing the lady even tried phoning the council who said they need my authorisation to speak to her i sent an email because I thought it would it quicker but no she was told it would be a least 3/5 days before they got the email so what's the point.