Dreaded Equita & Council Tax

vixelite

Hi Everyone
I’m new to the forum and was hoping that someone could help me at all? As I seem to be going round in circles!!

I have an outstanding bill of a whopping £65!! Council Tax Bill from last year, my own fault as my payment to Equita in March bounced and I did not realize until I had a lovely letter from the Bailiffs/Equita saying they were on their way to remove my goods (a hand written letter) (and no way in a billion is he stepping foot through my door!)

I phoned Equita to make my payment where they told me they could not take my payment as it had been passed onto the Bailiff so gave me his mobile number to contact. Phoned him where he told me my bill was now £235?? From what I have read they can only charge £25 for a first visit then £18.00 for a second & they can’t even charge to deliver that hand written letter?? So where £235 has come from is beyond me.

I told him I cannot afford anywhere near £235 today & he said… I quote…. ‘Well luv there is nothing I can do’

I just want to pay this £65 to someone Birmingham City Council/Equita/The Bailiff?? & clear this debt . I know it may sound trivial but I don’t know where else to turn as £235 is quite a lot of money to me.

Many thanks in advance
Vicky

RAS

There have been a number of threads here about additional illegal fees added to CT accounts with bailiffs. There is an email you can send demanding details which enabled others to reduce the costs.

Will be back in a mo.

RAS

The expert on bailiffs is Herbie21. She provided this advice to a previous OP.

You need to WRITE to Equita or better still send an e-mail to:

[EMAIL="info@equita.co.uk"]info@equita.co.uk[/EMAIL]

You need to say something along the following lines.

I refer to the above account in relation to unpaid council tax due to xxxx

As you will be aware from your files this account has been assed to your bailiff Mr xxx to enforce.

The query that I have is concerning the amount that your bailiff is now stating is due. You will be aware that your bailiff visited my premises on xxx and for this visit I am advised that Mr xxx may only charge a fee of £24.50 for "attending to levy where no levy was made".

As a matter of urgency can you please provide a full and detailed breakdown of the charges made by your bailiff.


They may well recognise the e-mail but that will not harm.

They can only charge the fee if the letter was delivered by the bailiff by the way.

vixelite

RAS - Many thanks for your quick reply it's much appreciated

even though it's a silly amount it's stressing me out beyond belief!!

I shall send the email straight away.

How the Council can have such an incompetent system of trying to get their money is just beyond me, with so many people having awful experiences with these people (1000 times worse than mine) I can’t believe something has not been done about it

Thanks Again

RAS

Hi

Once you get that e-mail off, you need to get ready to contact your local councillor (once the decision is made tomorrow about who they are).

If you can prove that equita have attempted to charge illegal fees, you might be able to get the Council to take the debt back in house.

They may insist you pay the bailiff the basic £42 fees even if they do this.

katsu

Just a quicky - there is a typo in the email.

It says "As you will be aware from your files this account has been assed to your bailiff Mr xxx to enforce."

It should say "As you will be aware from your files this account has been passed to your bailiff Mr xxx to enforce."

Made me LOL but thought it might be worth updating if you haven't sent it yet.

All the best.

DarkConvict

Agreed, bailiff can only make charges for £42.50 if they have no been inside your property or levied goods like a car. If this is the case their charges are illegal and you should as above ask for a breakdown and ask for the council to take the debt back.

What you need to pay is the council tax + court fee for the LO + £42.50 bailiff charge.

vixelite

"assed" ....I've been calling him more than an a*s !!! this afternoon to myself! lol

The email is sent so will just wait for the reply (hopefully I'll get one!)

Many thanks for all your advice !

vixelite

Well I got a reply .......

Dear Sir/Madam

I can confirm receipt of your recent correspondence and can advise that a response will be sent within 21 days.

Kind Regards,


Equita Ltd

Looks like I'll be dodging that Bailiff for 21 days!!

RAS

This is their standard response.

1. If the bailiff contact you tell him you have queried the fees, although I suspect he already knows.

2. Get hold of that local councillor and you may be able to get the debt recalled by the COuncil.

3. get the £65 paid off ASAP.

4. If this debt was with Equita before March, I suspect they have already factored in the £42.50 for two visits into the £65 you still owe them. I would suggest that you do not pay any further fees until you have the response from Equita. Several OPs have had hundreds of pounds worth of "fees" removed from accounts.

vixelite

I know this may sound stupid but do I pay the £65 straight to the council as Equita and their Bailiff did not accept any payment offer from me before??

I shall get on to the councillor first thing tommorow too

Again thanks so much for all your help, the statement... " a problem shared " is so true!!