Need Help With Bailiffs & Council

hobogumm

Hi,

I need some advice regarding bailiffs and council tax. It's a long-ish story so I'll try best to summarize as much as I can.

I received a ' Removal Notice' letter from Equita bailiffs with regards to unpaid council tax, no amount was stated. This was the first time I was even aware that I even owed anything as I had never received any letters from the council. I rang the bailiffs to find out the amount and the breakdown is as follows:

Council tax amount £261.49
Bailiff fee £100
Warrant fee £60
Levy fee £40
Total £461.49

I decided to ring the council to find out why I never received any letters informing me of the outstanding council tax, they claimed that they had sent out letters but I never received any. What was interesting to find out was that the amount was actually £218.99 and not the £261.49 the bailiff said it was. (The initial council tax amount was £123 but since I didn't pay [despite not getting any notice of it] the council added a £95 charge before they sent it to the bailiffs).

Now the question that I have is, can anything be done either to the council (since I never received any of their initial correspondence) or the bailiffs for clearly lying about the amount or any of these ridiculous charges? I mean, I would have just paid the original £123 fee instead of £461.49 if I had gotten the letters in the first place, how stupid does the council think people are? Any advice would be appreciated, hopefully sooner rather than later. Thanks.

P.S. The council in question is infamous Lambeth.

aligerdie

If the bailiffs come back, don't let them into your home.

The charges look wrong to me, I thought they were only allowed to charge for the first 2 visits, and even after that, it doesn't come to £100. Have they actually been inside your property yet?

**Amy**

Hi

Im not an expert but i would suggest contacting the council in writing (send recorded) stating that you have not received any of the letters from them. Are you in a position to pay the actual amount stated by the council? If you are I would send them a cheque and ask them to take that as payment.

Im not 100% on things like baliffs etc. but deffo dont let them in your home under any circumstances.

x

fermi

aligerdie wrote: »

The charges look wrong to me, I thought they were only allowed to charge for the first 2 visits, and even after that, it doesn't come to £100.

Yep. Looks like they are charging when they shouldn't to me.

First visit fee: £24.50

This is for a first attendance to levy, but where a levy does not takes place. (For example; where you are not in)

The bailiff can charge a levy fee if they levy, but he cannot charge both amounts on the same occasion.

Second visit fee: £18.00

Despite any further visits, the bailiff can only charge for a maximum of 2 visits.

Have a look at: Factsheet | Bailiffs & Council Tax

hobogumm

Hi,

Thanks for your replies. So far I have been dealing with the bailiffs over the phone. There have not been any visits made yet but for sure if they turn up I won't let them in. When I rang the council they said I need to deal with Equita with regards to the outstanding council tax so I'm not sure if I can pay the council directly anymore.

Does anyone know how likely my complaints will succeed should I decide not to pay all the charges now? I'm sure I'll incur more charges while my complaint is in the system so I'm just wondering what will be the cheapest option in the long-run.

aligerdie

Don't phone the bailiffs, they are very clever at manipulating you over the phone.

I would write to the council and ask that they take the account back from the bailiffs as you think you have been charged unfairly. Send it recorded and copy the bailiffs in too.

If they haven't been inside your home, I can't understand how they can place a levy charge on your account. thats why I'm wondering whether they've given you that amount to show you how much it could cost if you don't cough up now....

when we had this problem I wrote to the bailiffs and copied the council in too. i offered to pay them an amount monthly, and explained my circumstances, and the bailiffs were ordered by the council to accept this amount.

GeorgeUK

I would suggest searching the forum for herbie21. Her posts have alot of information on bailiffs and what they can and cannot do. Her site is https://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk

Hopefully she will be able to comment on your post, or you could PM her. The charges don't look right and i would have thought that the council would have taken the debt back from the bailiff if you were willing to pay the full amount owed immendiately. Did they say anything about this?

aligerdie

hobogumm wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for your replies. So far I have been dealing with the bailiffs over the phone. There have not been any visits made yet but for sure if they turn up I won't let them in. When I rang the council they said I need to deal with Equita with regards to the outstanding council tax so I'm not sure if I can pay the council directly anymore.

Does anyone know how likely my complaints will succeed should I decide not to pay all the charges now? I'm sure I'll incur more charges while my complaint is in the system so I'm just wondering what will be the cheapest option in the long-run.

I don't think the bailiffs can add more charges unless they visit you, and even then they can only charge what Fermi stated. If you have a car, I would park it away from your home for now in case they do turn up.

fermi

Have a look through the information on this site:

http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk

There is a lot of info there, but the author knows their stuff and is a poster on this forum. (Herbie21).

I've sent them a PM to see if they can have a look at this, but they are not normally on the forum till late evening I think.

hobogumm

Hi,

I took your advice and asked the council to take back the debt. The lady told me to email headoffice (Capita) explaining everything. So now I just have to sit and wait. Hopefully they will do it. Would there ever be a reason why they wouldn't take the debt back especially since I would pay it in full?

Herbie21

I am so sorry but I have only just picked this up. Thank you FERMI for your message.

This same situation is happening every day...This is why we put the following on our website:


Liability Orders (council tax):

The Magistrates Court do not send out copies of Liability Orders and because of this, many people do not actually know the amount on the Liability Order.

We would advise that you contact the council to ask how much the Liability Order is for. The reason for this is that we have seen so many cases where the amount being requested by the bailiff company is not the amount on the Liability Order. and in many cases can vary between an additional £24.50 for an "apparent first visit", £42.50 for two such visits and even a van visit of between £100 to £200. The inclusion of van fees is more common when the debt is for a large sum of money as the debtor will very likely not notice this charge.

When questioned, the bailiff has tried to justify the additional amount stating that it must be the court fees !!


This is an utter disgrace....not just by the bailiff or his company (Equita) but most importantly by the council. The reason for this is not only do they have a "duty of care"to you....the council tax payer....but they are "responsible for all of the acts and ommissions of agents under their control (bailiffs)" It is for this reason that THEY and not YOU should have written to CAPITA LTD. For those that don't know, Capita own Equita Ltd.

These fees are all WRONG. I am assuming that the bailiff has not previously been into your home. If this is the case then the bailiff can charge ONLY £24.50 for "attending to levy" (where no levy was made)

I have sent you a message on this as I would be very happy to help you with a letter of complaint.