Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

[archer_66]

Hi i would normally spend time looking around site for information but my time is limited.so any advise would be greatfully received
I had my benefits loooked at last year and in their wisdom they decided that they would drop my entitlement to benefits causing me to have arrears in in council tax rent and overpayments.
my council tax went to the bailiffs Equita .i set up a repayment of £20 per month .
unfortunately my aunt was taken seriously ill about the same time and have been trying to sort out her affairs as im exectutor.shes only been given days now.
my payments were late and last week i made a payment for the £40 owed
monday i got a letter saying theyd tried contacting me and wanted to get a date off me to come and remove goods from my house.i phoned the number on the letter but was told i could only speak to one person on a mobile number
i called him and left a message
he didnt get back to me
today i had i letter hand delivered by the bailiff i had the mobile number of.he said i had 24hrs to get the money
i did leave a message for him a bit abrupt saying that id appreciate him calling me back this time
he called and left a message while i was out,saying id been rude and that he had phoned several times.(no message left)
i called him twice since today but no call has been received.hes saying that no [ayment has been received and that i had to have proof,which ive got .i left a message saying i did have proof and to let me know if this was enough or did i still have to pay the whole amount,but ive heard nothing and am worried sick now
please help
anyone i only have til tomorrow morning .
by the way ill probably be out when he comes as he hasnt given a time hes due tomorrow so what happens then? can he just force entry? or if someone opens the door can he just come in? and what if he does? my daughters here staying and would hate for anything to happen while im out

[enaid]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

OK Archer have a read of this.

he Bailiffs Rights of Entry

The Bailiff cannot force entry into a domestic property. The bailiff can walk through an open door, an unlocked door, or go through an open window. Once in tthey will make a walking possessiion order (a list of all your goods/belongings). Usually once they have the list of goods they will enter into an arrangement, but this will be on their terms. If you do not keep to the arrangement the Bailiff can force entry and seize goods after default. Agreement can only be made after peaceful entry.

What is the Walking Possession Agreement?

This is an agreement signed by the debtor which allows the goods to remain with the debtor as long as they keep to a payment arrangement. However, if the debtor defaults on a payment arrangement the bailiff can return, force entry and seize the goods

Which Goods Can or Cannot be Seized?

Goods which can be seized - The bailiff can only seize goods which belong to the debtor. However, the bailiff can seize goods which are jointly owned even if the other joint owner is not the debtor. Goods which cannot be seized - Generally the bailiff cannot seize the following:
Goods which belong to another person.Fixtures and fittings.Goods on hire - purchase.Goods which are rented.

[enaid]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

Will try for more info but as it says there they can not break in but you must not let them in or leave doors or windows open.

[scottishlass]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

I Hope this helps Archer


National Debtline England Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 02 Bailiffs And Council Tax

[enaid]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

You say you have proof that you paid the £40, did you pay it in the normal way? if so will the payment have cleared yet if it was not cash?

[Guest]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

Has the bailiff already gained peaceful entry to the house, by which I mean has the bailiff ever been inside your house at all?

If he has not been allowed in in relation to this debt and you have not signed a Walking Possession Order then they cannot break in and they cannot remove goods, no matter what they may tell you. However, they can access the house via an open window or door and they can enter a shed our outhouse if they wish.

It is very important that you instruct anyone at the house not to let them in. Tell then not to even open the door, should the bailiffs call round. Talk to them from an upstairs window. You do not need to allow them access to the house.

Please also PM me the bailiff's name, do not publish it on the forum.

Have you signed anything? For example, did they leave a Walking Possession Order, or push one through the door?

Even if you have, unless the bailffs have actually been inside your house, this is not sufficient to bring about the legal consequences of Distress. Posting a Walking Possession through a door, without first entering the property can be invalid. (Davidson v Roach (1991) & Evans v South Ribble Borough Council (1991) )

[archer_66]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

thanks guys i cannot thank you enough ive been worried sick about this
i paid by post office as they said it was the only way i could pay...
post office said that it took about 3 days to be received so they should have it by now
i cannot believe that he still hasnt called back to talk to me i even gave him my mobile number twice so i wouldnt miss his call but have received nothing.
i feel a bit more empowered now after reading the links.and more able to deal with his visit
thanks again
xxxxx
hugs to you

[scottishlass]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

Hi Archer

Just glad you could get back on and get the information you need.


Take Care SL xxx

[archer_66]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

well good news on the bailiff thing
he actually phoned me back friday and said there must be a delay in him being notified of payments sent by me and agreed to reset the debt!! yay!
thanks all.
xxx

[Amy]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

Excellent news Archer, well done xx

[archer_66]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

[enaid]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

Oh well done Archer, you don't half scare me at times lol Hows Jet?

[archer_66]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

haha do i? i scare myself sometimes!!
jets very good! shes only a little staffie but shes great.shes very well behaved ,shes one in june!! how time flies!
im just off to take her out now b4 it rains again!! so much for bank holiday!

[archer_66]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

ok having problems again!
in december/january i missed a payment due to my coucil tax benefit being messed up and i was told i would have to pay money for an overpayment.i couldnt afford to pay them and the full amount to equita so i had to do what i could. i paid just over the monthly amount to equita and told them i would pay the rest the next time.
they said it should be ok and said theyd make a note of it on my files....
then i was told that my benefit was originally right (id reported them to the government ombudsman about different matter and hey presto everything gets put right!!) i told them to forward the amount to equita,and this meant i was only £3 overdue.
then i get a letter saying they are coming to remove my property in the following week.... i phoned and they wouldnt listen to anything saying the debt wouldnt be reset.. i told them about the benefit mix up and the amount from council tax being forwarded.they said they hadnt received it...
i phoned benefits and they said 2 amounts of £11.73 had been put back on... and then i had an email saying they had forwrded the £12 to equita... this meant i wasnt overdue..
so i phoned them again.. the lady was not going to listen insisting the full amount HAD to be paid and the debt wouldnt be reset. i then asked if any payments had been received on the account in January.. she said that a payment for almost £60 had been made.... i pointed out that that meant the account was 3 months ahead at least.. well she was having none of it.. i asked for the ombudsman address and she refused saying i had to complain through them first. I told her i had sent a letter to their birmingham office address from the letter i had received.. she said it was the wrong address and that my complaint wouldnt be looked at... so i got a bit annoyed and asked who i shouldve addressed it o? and why was the address on the letter if you couldnt write to it??
i then wrote another letter to the address she gave and also one to birmingham city council asking for the account to be passed back to them as the amounts didnt add up that equita had and they were processing payments too late...
the payment for £60 had been made by benefits in november!! and also the one the council tax office had sent for £12 had not been processed even though it had been 2 weeks and no sign of the other 2 payments
in the meantime i had 2 letters off equita on the same morning.. one saying they would be round within 24hrs to collect goods and then next one saying that they had not been able to levy distress and the account would be handed back to their client for a warrant for arrest!! i was happy they had passed it back to the council as it gave my letters time to be processed.... so i relaxed a bit for a week..then i get another lettter saying equita bailliffs were in my area in the coming week and would be coming to seize my property......
what i want to know is...what on earth is going on with them? where do i stand? i dont know whether im coming or going... :tinysmile_cry_t:

[Amy]

Re: Equita bailiffs Urgent help required!! please

Archer, have you sent Equita a Subject Access Request? If not this would be a good idea. You will then be able to ascertain what fees, if any, they have added due to your 'late' payments and what payments they have on record for your account and check them against your own records of payment.

Depending on what information they supply you should consider filing a Form 4 complaint against the bailiff. You should consider filing this in any case as their behaviour is beyond the pale when you are clearly making every effort to pay and by all accounts are actually ahead with your payments.

Frightening you with their threats of a warrant for your arrest is not acceptable.

Details of the Form 4 can be found at the bottom of this post http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ad.php?t=14113