Equita Parking Fine - Bailiff's PLEASE HELP!

skinner1980

Hi,

I had a payment plan (£51 per mth) for my parking ticket with Equita, but I missed 1 payment by 2 weeks due to a death in the family - of which they had no sympathy. I tried to make a payment today but Equita refused to take any money and said it was referred to the bailiff's.

I called the bailiff and he said I owe him £486 which is double the amount of my balance and he is due to come and seize the goods from my house tomorrow if no goods are taken he said the fee will increase £750

I never received any letters, and when I asked for a breakdown of the charges Equita said they could not give them to me as it's been passed to the bailiff's.

Any help please????? I don't know what to do and I can't afford the money they are asking.

shortchanged_2

What did you get a ticket for?

How much was the original ticket?

Was it a council ticket or a Private ticket?

hallowitch

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?168-Bailiffs-and-High-Court-Enforcement-Officers

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=idx


I don't know enough to help you with this but the above 2 sites are a good place to start both sites are free to join

http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/
This sit is a fee paying site costs approx £10 but is the best place to get help


what i can tell you is that Equita are at it fees are set by legislation they can only charge for 1 letter £11 plus vat and 3 visits the visit fees being 28% of the debt
how much have you paid to Equita to date
do not let the bailiff into your house legally you don't have to (with or without a levy they cant charge you approx £300 for there visit tomorrow )
they cant get a locksmith ,police ECT

Do you still have the car the fine relates to as the warrant Will have the reg of the car on it
is your car on HP/finance (if yes they cant levy against it)
did you know about the parking ticket before the bailiff turned up
your council are fully responsible for all actions of Equita

start by sending this to your council and Equita by e-mail and/or recorded delivery letter

Name
Address
Bailiff Ref: Account No: 123456
Council Ref No: 435672
Date
Dear Sir,
With reference to the above account please provide me with a breakdown of all fees charged and payments made for the above account
This includes:
a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.
b - The reason for the fee.
c - The name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.
d - The name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were certificated at.
e - The date of the Certification.
This is not a Subject access request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10.
The National Standards for Enforcement Agents state that if a written request is made an itemised account of fees will be provided.
Please provide the information requested within 14 days of this E-mail /recorded delivery letter
Yours faithfully
Ripped off customer"

jascrawf

I had the exact same problem with Equita - not to mention a very intimidating and rude bailiff at my door.

I owed £200 for council tax from a previous property. I was on a payment plan for £30 a month and I missed 1 payment by a day because of a bank holiday. The debt was immediately transferred to an Equita bailiff who gave me a notice by hand. The fees had clocked up by roughly £150. I explained I couldn't afford to clear the debt immediately but he just kept badgering me. I called him later that afternoon, explained my circumstances again and the debt was transferred back to Equita and they've allowed me to setup a payment plan - the additional charges have been removed. I think Equita are pretty cutthroat, explain your circumstances to the bailiff, how you cannot afford to pay the outstanding amount and that you want to see a breakdown of costs before proceeding. With any luck they'll transfer it back to the main office and allow you to continue with a payment plan. GL

hallowitch

most people are unaware that the council has to take full responsibility for there contractors (Equita) therefore any complaint should be directed at them

Most local authority's will tell you to take it up with the bailiff/firm this is simply not true if your local authority tells you this you make a formal complain to the Chief executive of the local authority

this is particularly important when dealing with Equita as most councils don't administrate there parking /council tax the work is outsourced to private company's one of these company's is called Capita who just happen to own Equita

jascrawf

I've just had the following conversation with an Equita call operator.

E: Let me check your account. Umm, 15th August, missed payment, umm, yeah, umm.

Me: Would you like me to explain what's happened?

E: Yeah

I explained what had happened and he kept talking over me, repeating 15th August and umming.

Me: I'll explain it again if you'll listen.

E: Ok

Me: I had a payment plan for £30 a month, I missed a payment on a bank holiday, Equita transferred the debt to a bailiff, he transferred it back because I couldn't afford to pay it in a lump sum. I've called today, spoken to someone else who said if I paid £30 I could go back on to a payment plan. I've paid it and I'm calling back now to arrange the payment plan.

E: That's wrong, you can't have a payment plan.

Me: Why? The person I spoke to before said I could.

E: Well you can't. You need to pay it in full.

Me: I can't, I'm on benefits and I don't have access to that kind of money.

E: What benefit?

Me: Incapacity.

E: We don't class that as a benefit, you need to pay it in full.

Me: Are you winding me up? I was allowed the first payment plan because of Incapacity.

E: No. It's the truth. They were wrong.

He then puts me on hold without saying anything.

E: You're in arrears. If you pay the arrears you can go on a payment plan. It was sixty quid, you've paid 30, you need to pay another thirty quid.

Me: I can't, but I can commit to a payment plan starting November 7th.

E: Nah, that's like well far away.

Me: Your English is impressive.

He put me on hold again without warning then came back. I had expected him to hang up when I mentioned his English!

E: What's your sort code?

Me: Hold on, I need to check.

E: Sort code?

E: Sort code?

Me: Would you please hold on?!

E: You can have a payment plan if you pay £20 a fortnight.

Me: Ok, that's fine. Are you accepting that my Incapacity benefit is valid now?

E: No. I wouldn't question it.

Me: Who wouldn't question what?

E: You. Don't question the benefit because our managers have been nice to you. They could make you pay more.

Me: I've spoken to numerous people at Equita and nobody has ever been rude to me.

E: I don't care. It ain't my problem.

Me: Good grief, I don't believe this. I can't access my sort code as online banking is running slow, is the payment plan set up?

E: Yeah.

Me: Then I'll call on Monday to make the payment with my card.

E: You can't.

Me: Why not? I've paid with my card before and the people I've spoken to have always accepted it.

E: Well, they were wrong.

Me: Given that you've told me everyone is wrong, could I please speak to a manager instead?

E: Okay call on Monday to make the payment.

Me: Thank you.

E: Yeah whatever.

I hung up, "yeah whatever"?? How blinking rude! What a royal twonk! :rotfl:

hallowitch

typical Equita(you should never call a bailiff/company unless you can record the call) the fact that you are on incapacity benefit means you may be classed as vulnerable and the debt should have been sent back to the council
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.dca.gov.uk/enforcement/agents02.htm
Vulnerable situations

• Enforcement agents/agencies and creditors must recognise that they each have a role in ensuring that the vulnerable and socially excluded are protected and that the recovery process includes procedures agreed between the agent/agency and creditor about how such situations should be dealt with. The appropriate use of discretion is essential in every case and no amount of guidance could cover every situation, therefore the agent has a duty to contact the creditor and report the circumstances in situations where there is potential cause for concern. If necessary, the enforcement agent will advise the creditor iffurther action is appropriate. The exercise of appropriate discretion is needed, not only to protect the debtor, but also the enforcement agent who should avoid taking action which could lead to accusations of inappropriate behaviour.
• Enforcement agents must withdraw from domestic premises if the only person present is, or appears to be, under the age of 18; they can ask when the debtor will be home - if appropriate.
• Enforcement agents must withdraw without making enquiries if the only persons present are children who appear to be under the age of 12.
• Wherever possible, enforcement agents should have arrangements in place for rapidly accessing translation services when these are needed, and provide on request information in large print or in Braille for debtors with impaired sight.
• Those who might be potentially vulnerable include:
  • the elderly;
  • people with a disability;
  • the seriously ill;
  • the recently bereaved;
  • single parent families;
  • pregnant women;
  • unemployed people; and,
  • those who have obvious difficulty in understanding, speaking or reading English.

please send the letter (post 3) to get a breakdown of there charges with no levy on goods the most you can be charged is £42.50

RobertoMoir

I just want to underline something hallowitch mentioned: Never Ever discuss stuff with a bailiff / bailiff company over the phone. I know some people don't like writing letters but this is one situation where it really pays to do everything in writing.

Coupon-mad

Did this thread start in the wrong forum or something, was it moved? I cannot understand why no replies have been given so far by the usual forum members on this parking board and it all seems to be more of a discussion than we normally see on here...

Hallowitch's links are good - to the OP you must go and register on bailiffadviceonline IMHO. It costs a tenner I think to get expert information about what the bailiffs can and cannot do - and they will help you to get the costs brought back down I am sure.

Skinner1980, go to bailiffadviceonline asap and let us know how you get on with their help, in due course. BTW I have nothing to do with that site but do come on here and on pepipoo every day - and the link Hallowitch gave is the best advice IMHO.