Equita

[superman123]

Morning all just need some advice please.

Opened my postbox this morning to find a hand delivered letter from a bailiff working for the above saying I have 24hours to contact and make a payment else they will return and remove goods even in my absence. I believe it is for council tax but I have had no previous correspondence or contact with the company. I have tried to ring the bailiff twice this morning but straight to voicemail.

Any help greatly appreciated

[WendyB]

Re: Equita

Have a good read through this before you do anything Bailiff Guide - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum then post again with any further questions.

In the meantime, don't speak to them on the phone.

[i-fought-equita]

Re: Equita

Hello Superman,
Have you had any other correspondence from Equita or your council? The letter should state what the debt is for and how much it is! Don't ring the Bailiff direct, email the company and ask for a breakdown of what you owe them, this way you have a copy of correspondence.
Then go to your council office but be careful who you speak to as many councils hire Capita to collect their council tax, and Capita owns a nice little company called Equita, so when you think you are speaking to your council you may in fact be speaking to Capita. Tell your council that you will pay them direct the money you owe them. If you pay through Equita the council will not get all the money so you will end up paying more as Equita take their cost out first before giving any to the council.

[WendyB]

Re: Equita

however, you should also be aware that if you pay the council direct then any legitimate fees due to the bailiff will still be due, and you will be liable for them.

[Caspar]

Re: Equita

Then go to your council office ........ Tell your council that you will pay them direct the money you owe them. If you pay through Equita the council will not get all the money so you will end up paying more as Equita take their cost out first before giving any to the council.

Sorry, but I think you'll find your council refuse to take payment assuming it is CT, and say you have to pay the bailiffs. You can pay the council via automated phone system or on line; Wnedy will tell you this runs the risk of being allocated to the wrong year's account, so you need to be careful. Wendy is also absolutely right that if you pay the council direct, any legitimate bailiff fees remain outstanding and the bailiffs are within their rights to take you to court for this. By far the easiest thing to do if you decide to take this route is to keep a detailed record of everything, calculate legitimate fees and once the LO is paid, pay the bailiffs what they are legitimately owed.

[Amy]

Re: Equita

The council are not allowed to refuse to take your payments.

[WendyB]

Re: Equita

This is absolutely the case, I have indeed paid mine direct to the Council, but I would always do this in person, or preferably by phone direct to the CT Recovery dept within the council. If you just pay to the reception/neighbourhood offie/ general customer service dept, you run the same risk as paying online in that it may get allocated to the wrong year, or not to the arrears. And of course, any legitimate bailiff fees will still be payable.

It all depends on the council, and if you can get through to the right department, rather than just the bogstandard customer services.

[Caspar]

Re: Equita

The council are not allowed to refuse to take your payments.

Agreed, but then bailiffs aren't allowed to do half the things they do either.

[Amy]

Re: Equita

The bailiffs are not a government body. Although they are collecting taxes, they are out to earn money for themselves and they cannot do this if they remain within the constraints of the law.

[Caspar]

Re: Equita

Amy, I have vast respect for your knowledge about bailiffs which is second to nobody else I know. I'm sure you must have come across this many times - the debt is passed to a bailiff, then the council say they cannot deal with it anymore. I know legally they cannot refuse payments, but they do and many people are taken in by their lies.

[enaid]

Re: Equita

The councils want the council tax due, simple as, the only way they think they can get it, is by sending in the bailiffs and I suppose in many cases this is the only way they will get their money.
No one disputes that the tactic works more often than not, but the tactics the bailiffs use are far and beyond the law and this is ignored by the councils.
Amy did a vast amount of work getting info from various councils through the FOI act trying to find out how the councils worked through this process, it's a shame this was not fulfilled for one reason and another, but if the powers that be took half as much trouble as she did then they too would see the errors and distress caused by people failing to pay this tax.

[Caspar]

Re: Equita

I couldn't agree more Enaid. Every council really needs an Amy working there to point out what is right. Unfortunately I think many of the people behind the front line know the score exactly, but as you say, they just want their money and their threats and refusal to comply with law by taking payments etc... only serves to create more misery and hardship for many people who are trying their best, often in the face of severe adversity, to pay their dues.

[superman123]

Re: Equita

Sorry for not responding to above replies thanks for all your help is appreciated could anyone help with my newer thread.

Kind regards

Adam