My son has moved back and equita are after him. What do i do? Help?

nolnoc

My son has been a fool and while living with his girlfriend they have ran up massive debts. He is 23 and has moved back in with us his parents. Today a letter landed from equita stating he and his ex girlfriend owe council tax of over £500. i have contacted them straight away but it has gone to a bailiff but the bailiff cannot be contacted as his answerphone is full!!

My son owns nothing, he is unemployed.

will the bailiff try and get into my house and take away the families belongings because of his debt. God this is terrible.

please good people help.

Tixy

If the bailiffs turn up don't let them in. They are not allowed to seize anything belonging to anyone but the debtor. As this is clearly your family home and your son is obviously just living back with his parents it shouldn't be a problem to convince them that all the main assets in the house are yours anyway but its simply easier not to let them in and not to have to worry about signing declarations that you own the items in the house etc.

What is girlfriend's situation? does she work? does she have assets? are they in touch? do you know if she got the same letter? If she is the better prospect for getting money from (ie employed, living in own place) they will probably focus their efforts on her.

What period does the debt relate to?

Might also be worth a read of this http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=02_bailiffs_and_council_tax

dancingfairy

While I sort of agree with Tixy that they are most likely to go after the girlfriend if she has assets you can't rely on that as a strategy and someone somewhere has to pay the council tax - either him or her. O.K whilst he is unemployed and signing on he won't be able to pay it all back but he may need to make token payments of say 1 pound until the debt is cleared - at least to show he is trying.
Do you think he has other debts that may catch up with him as it may be worth him getting hold of his credit files, facing up to the full horror and then getting help from one of the debt charities such as National Debtline, CCCS or your local CAB - it will be easier if you/they've got the full picture up front rather than then saying one thing, for another debt to pop out of the woodwork later down the line etc. O.k it is likely that he will end up paying them token payments of 1 pound each but that is better than nothing. Hopefully his prospects will soon improve and he can repay more. Other alternative include a DRO, dmp's, bankruptcy etc but obviously that will depend on his circumstances and how big his debts are.
df
P.S watch out for bailiffs who may try any trick in the book - they may lie/mislead/threaten etc so don't listen to any of their scare tactics - such as you're going to prison (technically this is a possibility but frankly you've got way, way more chance of winning the lottery jackpot - especially if you pay what you can but the bailiffs like to scare people (oh and it's not up to them either!- this is just such a remote posibility but listen to the bailiffs and you'll think people are locked up all the time for this which is complete rubbish), we'll take the house, 'let us in or we'll call the police' etc etc. Also some bailiffs are well known for being very creative with their fees as well so watch up out on that one. Just don't let them in! - this then becomes a license for them to print money and it could add several hundred pounds to the bill if they are let in.

nolnoc

thank you

who does he make token payments to? the bailiff or the council or equita/

also if they knock can i open the door and go outside to talk to him or is that too dangerous?

JaymesKenin_2

I would suggest that you do not open the door, if you must converse with them, do so through your letter box.

RAS

nolnoc.

One possibility is that he makes payment on-line straight to the Council.

If he pays the bailiffs, they will use the money towards their illegal fees rather than the CT.

He needs to ring the Council and ask them the value of the liability order. if the bailiffs bill exceeds that by more than £42.50, he needs to come on here for advice.

He also needs to WRITE to the Council and tell them he is on benefits.

nolnoc

now the debt has gone over to a bailiff can he still make repayment direct to the council?

he would be very happy to do this but will the bailiff take any notice.

he is on benefits and i am sure a bailiff will not accept £10.00 per month

also what will bailiff do if i never let him in

Tixy

Eventually they'll pass it back to the council if they cannot gain access.
Should still be able to pay the council direct - the bailiffs won't like it but the council should take the payment.

sazzyc10

Hi

We had this problam with them. They are terrible. But if your son is on benefits u need to get in touch with the council as they have to have the debt back and allow a payment plan. they will sometimes take it straight from ur sons benefit.
WE had a bailiff turn up on our doorstep. and lets just say it was ok and when we rang to pay a week later the head office wouldn't take payment and forwarded to the bailiffs mobile number. He rang back for payment 3 yes 3 weeks later. When i challenged him to the £340 charges we had racked up in 2 days he got very irate and started threatening me. I basically challenged that he could only charge a certain amount for each visit and seeing as he had only visited once how could it be so much.
Well we reported him to my social worker who imediatly got on the phone to the council and had a huge go at them. Thye said they would look into it. Well today i rang equita and they accepted a reduced payment plan and had removed all the charges. So we were well pleased. The best thing to do is ring the council and make them aware that equita won't make a pay plan with ur son and then put a complaint in writing. Thats what worked for us

Hope u get it sorted

nolnoc

Thank you sazzyc10
really helpful
this is not going to be easy is it?