Debt company taken too much money

[dgs]

Hi* *just had my daughter on the phone to me in tears. She originally had a council tax problem with payments going out and to cut a long story short they ended up asking for the full amount which she couldn't pay in one go.* They passed it to a recovery company that they use to the tune of over £500.* She has made two payments and the balance that they should have taken out of her account was £200 only. Apparently they have made a mistake and have taken the full amount of over £500.* Bearing in mind she is a one parent family with rent to pay today which now she can't, she rang them and complained, they admitted that it was a mistake and they'll try and pay over £300 back into her account today if they can?* *What urgency do they have to put on this? Apart from them Whyte & Co, who do we complain to?
Thankyou for any advice

[MIKE770]

Amethyst

[dgs]

????

[MIKE770]

Await asked them to pop in here for you

[dgs]

Sorry didn't understand that

[ploddertom]

Unfortunately this is all to common when handing over card details to an enforcement company. She could always ring her bank and complain about an unauthorised amount being taken. She can always make a complaint to the Council as they are also responsible being the ones who set this in action - they will argue the toss but ultimately the enforcement co are a contractor working on the Councils behalf. If the Council refuse to get involved then a complaint to their CEO and her local Councillor should be made.

How about we go back to the beginning of all this - how much was the original Liability Order and when was it obtained? Did she receive a Notice of Enforcement from Whytes? How many visits if any have they made? How much have they charged in fees? How was the payment arrangement made & when?

[Ks26]

Hi the amount I was told to pay by Whyte & Co was for £562.50 this was November last year Debt amount was £252.50 add that with the fees on top compliance fee £75.00 plus enforcement fee £235.00 bringing the total amount owing to £562.50. I had received two visits from a bailiff (I refused to answer the door) as a single parent/sole carer of my 5yr old I am currently receiving Universal Credit with no help from my daughter's father. I was told that a payment plan was non negotiable even after explaining to them and the council my financial circumstances and was ordered to pay £162.50 4th December followed by two separate payments of £200. I made the first £200 payment on the 3rd January and the last remaining payment of £200 this morning. When I contacted Whyte & Co earlier today the person on the phone at their main office told me she had accidentally put it through as the whole amount £562.50 even though I was only due to pay £200 which would bring me upto date therefore ending the debt. I was told that £362.50 will be refunded to me but they were uncertain as to what day or time this will go through. I have very little money and every penny is unaccounted for therefore I was very distressed and have been checking my online banking since the phone call this morning to which it hasn't been transferred back to me.

[Ks26]

Sorry I meant every penny is accounted for not unaccounted for.

[ploddertom]

Can I assume you did not respond to the original Notice of Compliance and following that the first visit happened?

[Ks26]

I argued over the payment as I had an email receipt to prove I had paid that months council tax that they were telling me I hadn't. They therefore wouldn't accept following payments until that payment had been made. The council themselves sent through an email receipt after every time. My point is that I am worried that the debt company now have £362.50 of my money that they took by mistake this morning. That is the issue

[ploddertom]

I'm trying to establish if they have acted correctly in the first place. As a single parent with a young child on Universal Credit then there was always the possibility you should have been treated as a vulnerable person for enforcement purposes. Essentially what this means is that although the debt still exists and needs to be paid the enforcement procedures should have have been more restrained especially as you have been willing to pay. Although the Compliance Fee of £75 would still be due the £235 Enforcement Fee is waived - to me it smacks that the attending Agent has only had eyes on the commission he was to receive which should be in contradiction with Whytes claim they to be accredited to BS18477, the British standard for "Identifying and Responding to Consumer Vulnerability".

[Ks26]

They have on their records as I have been told various times that I am down as a vulnerable person due to the fact I have had mental health issues and am currently on prescribed medication so they are well aware of this and still have proceeded with the full payment including fees.

[Ks26]

I also received this text message from the bailiff this morning:*Hi a reminder of your payment of £200 is due to Whyte & co today, Mr Sheehan

[Ks26]

Just to be clear the text (copy and pasted from my messages) was from the bailiff before I called to make the payment at 10am this morning.

[ploddertom]

I've been talking to someone who knows more than me about this. She agrees with me that the bank is the place to start as it is an unauthorised transaction.