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Equita Help Please.
LouLou75_3
Posts: 3 Newbie
I hope i am possting this in the right place and sorry its a bit long.
It all began back in 2005 I rented a property for 6 months when i split from my partner, It was a one bed above a shop and cost £620 PCM inclusive of electric and council tax.
When letters for council tax arrived in my name i forwarded them to my landlord.
After six months i moved out and thought that was the end to it.
Four years later in 2009 i recieved a letter from Lewisham council saying that my debt had been passed to the bailif company Equita and that i owed over £500
I contacted Lewisham council and said i wasnt liable for the debt and made an appointment to see someone. I went there and took a copy of the tenancy agreement,
The woman agreed with me that it wasnt my fault and i went away. 2 weeks later i was sent a letter from lewisham saying that the debt was mine as the tax payer registered at that adress.
At this time Equita startd sending letters demanding payment, i called and said the debt was in dispute and they said i must pay something so offered £5 a month.
During the time of paying them i contacted Lewisham again and asked them to review the decision, the woman i spoke to was very helpful and said that she couldnt believe they were chasing me for it, but there was nothing could be done at that point. She also told me that the council had also been chasing Mr Patel for the money as well, and he was contacting his solicitors for advice, but they never heard from him again.
I carried on paying Equita at £5 a month until Jan this year when i got a bailif card through my door, they said i had missed payments and broken my agreement and wanted payment in full. I hadnt missed a payment so rang them, they said that £5 a month wasnt enough and i should be paying £5 a week, and it was an error, they asked me to pay in 3 installments of £120 or the bailif would reomove goods from my house. Scared i paid up.
Over the time dealing with Equita i have asked for a statement of my account 4 times as i plan to take action against my landlord and Lewisham council but each time they havent sent it. I made my final payment on the 27th of March this year and again asked for a statement of my accont and have still not recieved it.
I would appreciated any advice on where to go from here.
So sorry its such a long post, i have condensed it alot i promise!
Many thanks, Lou
It all began back in 2005 I rented a property for 6 months when i split from my partner, It was a one bed above a shop and cost £620 PCM inclusive of electric and council tax.
When letters for council tax arrived in my name i forwarded them to my landlord.
After six months i moved out and thought that was the end to it.
Four years later in 2009 i recieved a letter from Lewisham council saying that my debt had been passed to the bailif company Equita and that i owed over £500
I contacted Lewisham council and said i wasnt liable for the debt and made an appointment to see someone. I went there and took a copy of the tenancy agreement,
The woman agreed with me that it wasnt my fault and i went away. 2 weeks later i was sent a letter from lewisham saying that the debt was mine as the tax payer registered at that adress.
At this time Equita startd sending letters demanding payment, i called and said the debt was in dispute and they said i must pay something so offered £5 a month.
During the time of paying them i contacted Lewisham again and asked them to review the decision, the woman i spoke to was very helpful and said that she couldnt believe they were chasing me for it, but there was nothing could be done at that point. She also told me that the council had also been chasing Mr Patel for the money as well, and he was contacting his solicitors for advice, but they never heard from him again.
I carried on paying Equita at £5 a month until Jan this year when i got a bailif card through my door, they said i had missed payments and broken my agreement and wanted payment in full. I hadnt missed a payment so rang them, they said that £5 a month wasnt enough and i should be paying £5 a week, and it was an error, they asked me to pay in 3 installments of £120 or the bailif would reomove goods from my house. Scared i paid up.
Over the time dealing with Equita i have asked for a statement of my account 4 times as i plan to take action against my landlord and Lewisham council but each time they havent sent it. I made my final payment on the 27th of March this year and again asked for a statement of my accont and have still not recieved it.
I would appreciated any advice on where to go from here.
So sorry its such a long post, i have condensed it alot i promise!
Many thanks, Lou
0
Comments
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Please if i have posted this in the wrong section could someone tell me where to go please?
Many thanks, Lou0 -
If CT is included in your tenancy agreement you are not liable for it, in all other circumstances the CT is owed by those that live at an address. You should never have been made to pay anything
You have a right to the information, send a SAR to the bailiffs and tag in they have refused 4 previous requests, this is in breach of OFT guidelines so now you have no choice but to use a legal request under DPA. - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=30356311&postcount=22
If they refuse goto the ICO to force them to hand over the information. Then do take your landlord to court for CT and legal costs.Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0 -
Thank you for the advice, but all the abbreviations are baffling me. I followed your link and it looks good but i think it mentions and agreement, i never had an agreement with Lewisham or Equita?
Is it still the same or do i need to change it slightly?
Lou 0 -
You can modify it or maybe use the sample agreement. It is a generic letter requesting all information they hold. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=30356293&postcount=21
CT = Council Tax
SAR = Subject Access Request (the letter above)
ICO = Information Commissioners Office (Government regulator for data and breaches of data protection act)
DPA = Data Protection ActAlthough no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0
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