Bailiff won't collect

Tetsuko

My partner and I have been hassled by a debt collection agency for the past couple of years. It started when the council tax office screwed up and forgot to take my son turning 19 into account when calculating council tax. Then they surprised me a few months later with a debt I didn't even know I owed. We couldn't afford it...rest is history.

Anyhow, bailiffs from Equita Certifiedl Baillifs have been sending me letters for months and I haven't been able to afford to pay them so they just keep hassling us. They don't accept direct debit payments or regular payments and seem to make it as difficult to make a payment as possible. My partner sent them a little every now and again by cheque when we could afford to.

Recently my partner took out a consolidation loan and took into account enough to pay off the council's fictional debt.
And herein lies the problem. The bailiff kept hassling us for ages. He is next to impossible to contact. The only way to get through to him is leave a message on his mobile phone. And we notified him we had the money to pay him, he hasn't bothered to contact us or come round and get it. And this morning I received yet another letter to add to a very tall pile of Removal notices saying they will call soon to remove our goods. (hope they've made peace with their maker before they try it :mad: :A )

Alarm bells started ringing and I'm starting to think that now they know we finally have the money to pay, they might be putting it off on purpose so that they can add extortionate charges to the bill

Who would we need to complain to if the bailiffs are purposely preventing us paying the debt so they can add charges?

snails's_pace

cant u contact the council direct,from whom you had the debt with...and tell them everything what has happened and now your in a position to pay the debt..at the end of the day..they have the final say and they employee these debt collectors

Storm

If you've got an address why don't you post a cheque recorded delivery to them?

Here's a link with some info on bailiffs & who to complain to - scroll down to the bottom of the page for complaint info

http://www.payplan.com/debt-library/bailiffs-bailiff-law.php?WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=128506

Tetsuko

Thank you, I have considered this but was worried because I have read on other forums that people have still continued being hassled by the bailiffs even after the debt has already been paid to the council.

The bailif company itself, Equita, refused to accept payment because they said we now had to deal with the bailiff when he turns up at our doorstep which got me suspicious initially. I thought if they were so keen to take our money and clear out debt they would take it off out hands as soon as we got it. So instead of paying the debt collection agency by cheque we had to take the money out in cash and sit and wait for the bailiff to actually turn up and collect it. It's total crazyness.

I'll see what my partner says when he gets home.

plumduff-2

Have the bailiffs been in the property, made a levy on goods, have you signed a walking possession agreement...

If not, I would strongly urge you to go to the town hall and if possible make a payment direct to the council tax unit... If you try to contact the bailiffs they will undoubtably decide to add fictional charged to your account...

If they have not been in and have not levied on a car outside your house, then the only charges they can legally add are £39... But they will tell you anything to make themselves a bit of cash...

Beware of bailiffs they are legalised thugs and bullies...

Tetsuko

No. No one, that I know of, has actually called to the house as yet. I definately don't want to put money into the pockets of vultures who mercillesly prey on people who are at their most vulnerable.

I phoned my partner and he says that the bailiff is intending to come round and collect but I didn't want him to for the reasons you said.

My partner is being all very professional about it. Which is all very well if the bailiff has the same attitude, but if not I feel we might get ripped off. I see bailiffs as being no better than legalised theives and I don't want one in my house even to pay him no more than I would pay a paedophile to babysit children.

anniestar

Contact both the council AND your MP. Do this as a matter of urgency. Do it NOW.

cattie1

I had exactly the same prob as you-I contacted mp and council-the debt was transfered back to the council-who I then payed instead of these idiots called bailiifs.
every time I tried to pay them they would say "no can't accept that kind of payment you need to ring the office...rang office-no you have to ring bailliff he can take that payment!" idiots!
the mp also agreed that these people did not seem to have a clue what they were doing!

plumduff-2

Remember this and tell your partner... im being honest about this... im a debt adviser and see it very often...

If the bailiffs call round once - even if no entry they can charge £22.50 statutory costs...

If they call a second time, they can charge £16.50, even if they dont get in - statutory costs...

If you have goods outside they can levy on them - car, caravan etc... without getting in the property and charge these costs..

If they do this to goods outside or get entry into your property, they will charge anything upto £200 more for the privilege of you letting them into your house to discuss this reasonably..

The bailiffs will act professionally and rationally when at your home, as they want to get in and add maximum charges... Dont let them do this...

Believe me the best thing to do is to pay to the CTU as soon as possible... if there is then no debt, there is no need for bailiffs and as such the bailiffs will ahve to sod off...

Jo_F

A question if I may? I had a ballif turn up on my doorstep a few months ago with regard to council tax arrears, he told me to make an offer to the council and stick to it. He never got his foot near the doorstep never mind anywhere else. Anyway, his sidekick was making a note of the car on my drive.

This car belongs to my boyfriend, who doesnt live with me, he was just visiting that day and had parked on my drive and not on the road.

Am I correct in assuming that when they checked the car out back at the office, and it comes up with a name that is not mine and an address that is in the next town, then they can't 'touch' the car?

thesaint

Am I correct in assuming that when they checked the car out back at the office, and it comes up with a name that is not mine and an address that is in the next town, then they can't 'touch' the car?

In order to remove this car, they would need the authority to remove any car that might be on your drive, they would not know if it was your boyfriends or an off duty policeman's.