visit from equita enforcement officer

[ricky9566]

hi and hopefully someone will read this and advise me if i can take this any further
a brief desc. of what happenned
got a parking ticket
i ignored it till i get a letter stating that if u do not pay an enforcement officer will attend
debt has risen from 60 to 150.00
i ring up equita and arrange 52-00 per month 1st one on 1st august
i paid 50-00 on 5th august
1st september yesterday enforcement officer knocks on door and the debt has risen to 339 (as i had already paid 52)
The following is what i have emailed equita
I had a visit from an enforcement officer to collect outstanding parking fine yesterday 1st sept 2014, even tho i had an arrangement to pay 52.00 per month which i paid a few days late and unknown to me the agreement was cancelled. The enforcement officer was very intimadating and threatening in a non physical way(threatened to take car away and charge me more money on top of what i already owed). i explained i needed the car for my business(im a foster carer) we are currently looking after a 5 yo who has severe special needs and we need the car to take him to his education which is over 20 miles from my house and also to take him to health appointments which we had yesterday and missed due to him blocking my and my neighbours drive - the enforcement officer would not listen to why i needed the car for this severley disabled child and threatened in an aggressive way that i have a certain amount of time to pay or he will get a tow truck now. I have since been told he could not do this due to the car to be used in an essential need to transport the severley disabled child. yes i owed the money - which i payed an agreed installment a few days late. But your enforcement officer completley ignored my needs for him not to tow the car due to my needs as a foster carer and threatened that hes not got the time for this and if i dont pay the full amount in 20 minutes he will get the car towed at additional costs. i had to borrow money to pay this as i needed it for transportation of the foster child-he was aware of this yet still persisted in threatening to take the car.
please look into this and get back to me
thanks


im just wondering if this guy had the right to intimadate me like this or if i can take this further

thanks in advance

[ploddertom]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

I imagine you have learned the hard way how the system works. Of your own admission you say you were late in paying so this has given them all they need to add further charges and visits as you had broken the agreement. As you finally paid in full you do not know whether the EA would have carried out his threat to remove the vehicle. I think you have to chalk this one down to bad luck and hope you have learned a hard lessaon.

[ricky9566]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

thanks for your reply
it certainly was an expensive late payment but yes the hard facts were i was at fault paying late
the concern i have is because i needed the car for the child we r looking after i was basically threatened to pay in full or i will get a tow truck and take it. Ive had no correspondance in the past saying they are going to come and take the car. i did not konw the law that they couldnt do this due to the fact i needed the car for child health and eductional welfare and the EA basically said tough. I couldnt chance the tow truck coming as it was a further 200 and i needed the car then
thanks

[Milo]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

I couldnt chance the tow truck coming as it was a further 200 and i needed the car then
thanks

There is no provision for a bailiff/enforcement agent to charge a fee of £200. The correct fee under the new regulations is £110.

It is sadly the case that bailiffs make their living from debtors failing to address correspondence in a timely manner. It is certainly taking a long time to educate debtors that the new regulations require them to take action within a specific time frame and to ensure that a letter (or email) is sent if they wish to have consideration given to accepting a payment proposal.

Never before has there been so much importance given to addressing correspondence from the local authority or bailiff company in a timely manner.

[ricky9566]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

just an update
i have today just received a letter from equita stating that i owe 104-00 and i must pay by return the letters dated 28th august 2014 and it arrives on 5th sept -- over a week late --- yet an enforcement agent arrives on the 1st doing what the original post says. i know they will say its a cross over but i wasnt given any chance to clear the 104-00 its like rubbing salt into the wounds. are they legally correct in what they have done and is there any way i can get the enforcement fee back as they have in my eyes not done things correctly
thanks in advance

[Milo]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

just an update
i have today just received a letter from equita stating that i owe 104-00 and i must pay by return the letters dated 28th august 2014 and it arrives on 5th sept -- over a week late --- yet an enforcement agent arrives on the 1st doing what the original post says. i know they will say its a cross over but i wasnt given any chance to clear the 104-00 its like rubbing salt into the wounds. are they legally correct in what they have done and is there any way i can get the enforcement fee back as they have in my eyes not done things correctly
thanks in advance

Do you still have a copy of the envelope? What postage rate does it show?

[ricky9566]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

yes ive still got the envelope but it only has a barcode on it and a pre stamped royal mail mark with c9 in corner

[pipthedog]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

This is how I dealt with them, don't hide when the agent comes to the door, get your video phone ready and record them, they don't like this as then then have to act within the law, don't accept any paper work from them even if they try to hand you it just refuse to accept it, then tell the bailiff you are refusing to pay, and that you revoke his right of access to your property, by doing this he legally has to leave, you can send a notice of implied right of access to the office, it takes a bit nerve but they quickly move on, only a court bailiff has any real power, these are private baillifs, and have very little rights, if you go on youtube there is many videos of how to chase them, you can pay the ticket, but the actual fact is they are a private company who have taking on the debt, they own the debt, they are not connected to police, courts etc
http://info.fmotl.com/NoticeOfRemovalOfAccess.doc

[pipthedog]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

watch some of these
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...ght+of+access+

[Kati]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

This is how I dealt with them, don't hide when the agent comes to the door, get your video phone ready and record them, they don't like this as then then have to act within the law, don't accept any paper work from them even if they try to hand you it just refuse to accept it, then tell the bailiff you are refusing to pay, and that you revoke his right of access to your property, by doing this he legally has to leave, you can send a notice of implied right of access to the office, it takes a bit nerve but they quickly move on, only a court bailiff has any real power, these are private baillifs, and have very little rights, if you go on youtube there is many videos of how to chase them, you can pay the ticket, but the actual fact is they are a private company who have taking on the debt, they own the debt, they are not connected to police, courts etc
http://info.fmotl.com/NoticeOfRemovalOfAccess.doc

Freeman of the Land?? There's lots of this on the internet, but many people are questioning the rationale of it now ... http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Freeman_on_the_land :tinysmile_twink_t2:

[pipthedog]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

Yeah Iam not such a freeman but seen these videos and used this when confronted by a bailiff who turned up, I was unaware of the ticket so I confronted them with this, it gave me enough time to go to the council, pay the £30, once I had that receipt then they didnt have a debt to chase with there attached fees,

[Kati]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

Yeah Iam not such a freeman but seen these videos and used this when confronted by a bailiff who turned up, I was unaware of the ticket so I confronted them with this, it gave me enough time to go to the council, pay the £30, once I had that receipt then they didnt have a debt to chase with there attached fees,

I'm not saying it's wrong ... although I've never known it to work :tinysmile_twink_t2:

And if it gives you enough time to sort out payment, then all's well and good :tinysmile_grin_t:

[Guest]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

I used it 3 times for people, in the 12 months leading up to April 6th Kati-It worked every time. There is of course the Thorton v Rossendales case from 2013 which went the bailiffs way and obviously the wording of the new regs has not been tested.

I would say that theres no harm whatsoever in sending a bailiff company one-Just don't rely on it, if it helps in any way then its a bonus.

I've always wondered why everyone agrees that you can remove implied right of access verbally but if you do so in writing, it causes such great divide.

[Kati]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

I used it 3 times for people, in the 12 months leading up to April 6th Kati-It worked every time. There is of course the Thorton v Rossendales case from 2013 which went the bailiffs way and obviously the wording of the new regs has not been tested.

I would say that theres no harm whatsoever in sending a bailiff company one-Just don't rely on it, if it helps in any way then its a bonus.

I've always wondered why everyone agrees that you can remove implied right of access verbally but if you do so in writing, it causes such great divide.

I've always said I'm willing to learn ... and if it works then GREAT :tinysmile_grin_t:!

Mind you, I've never had to try it - I just say "off my property or I'll let the dogs out" LOL (they'd lick 'em to death) - that works pretty well too!

The only people I don't know who I would ever let into my house without an arranged appointment are the gas board/fire dept (in an emergency) or the police (with a warrant) - even the postie only gets as far as the gate usually.

@ricky9566 - what is the debt for?? I thought you'd said you had already paid the fine (to stop your car being towed) in your 1st post?? Where's the £104 come from?? (although I might be missing something)

[pipthedog]

Re: visit from equita enforcement officer

Personally I think common law theory is sometimes a little mythical and sometimes used out of context, but having said that I would say as far as dealing with private bailiffs its good to have some well worded answers that you can deliver with confidence, it puts them on there back foot, and as they probably aren't legally qualified it may buy you some time, they are private companies so they have to follow legal procedures & laws, you have a lot of rights in how you deal with them, and how they must act so the video phone pushing them into a corner, I just follow the believe that they use bullying and scare monger tactics, if you can get online and pay the original ticket then most council sites just accept the payment, so once the original ticket is paid, you dont owe anything, and because the bailiff company have bought a settled debt then you owe them nothing, or you could always send a cheque/postal order to the origional parking ticket company, as soon as its banked your bailiff fees don't apply