Equita Bailiff called today, but i paid off debt today..!!

almateus

no it's 'my' car

i paid £435.89 to the council they said my arrears are now clear and they will inform the bailiffs

i am so worried he will still take my car to recover his fee's :S

billinghamfan

Almateus I know you are panicing but you need to take a deep breath and answer hallowitch's questions he knows lots about baliffs!

almateus

yes thanks .. think i have, but here go's

the car is mine not on HP

i asked the council how much i owed to them in arrears and they said it stood at £435.89 which i paid in full over the phone. they said they will notify the bailiff that the account has been paid in full.

of course it's the matter of his ( the bailiffs ) fee's and IF he can still take my car to cover them, i might not even have to be worring so much but the council cant advise, they said they would get the welfare to ring me but it can take up to 10 days, no use to me the bailiff has noted down the car and realistically could take it now ??


sorry for the panic , female, 4 kids under 12 and on housing benefit, and husban on very low income hench the housign benefit etc, if we dont have the car my husband cant work and thats just silly

almateus

should say can't get to work, it isn't a work vehicle only used to get to and from works and the school runs ect so no get out there

hallowitch

In reality the council should deduct any fees due to the bailiff from the money you pay them as you are dealing with Equita i will be very surprised if your council don't deduct the fees

your balance will be showing as a nill balance because the deductions wont have been made yet

This is what the regulations state
Distress


45.—(1) Where a liability order has been made, the authority which applied for the order may levy the appropriate amount by distress and sale of the goods of the debtor against whom the order was made.

(2) The appropriate amount for the purposes of paragraph (1) is the aggregate of—

(a)an amount equal to any outstanding sum which is or forms part of the amount in respect of which the liability order was made, and

(b)a sum determined in accordance with Schedule 5 in respect of charges connected with the distress.

your bailiff is at it

your form 7 should have

outstanding balance £435.89
1st visit fee £24.50
2nd visit fee £18 (the visit fees can only be charged if the bailiff has previously made 2 visits to your home to levy where no levy was made)
levy fee £38

total if paid today £516.39

The only other fee that can be charged on a form 7 is a walking possession fee of £12 if the wpa is signed

start by sending the revenues Dept of your council an E-mail

ask them to explain why the bailiff is claiming a balance outstanding of£478.39 when your liability order is for £435.89
ask them to explain why there bailiff has charged £195.66 on the notice of seizure against a debt of £435.89 when regulation 45(b)schedule 5 charges connected with distress confirm the levy fee is £38
this being £24.50 of the first £100 and £13.40 being 4% of the remaining £335.89 rounded up to the nearest £ giving a levy fee of £38
tell them the £195 is not broken down to explain what fees are being charged
tell them you have paid the liability order amount of £xxx
ask them to put further bailiff action on hold until they provide you with a full audited breakdown of your account including enforcement fees charged

hallowitch

and i am trying to make up a story bout it being sold last week and the buyer has only just collected it, i can sell it to my father in law, of course i can make receipts etc, this is very bad on me lying but i cant have him take my car just to cover his silly fee;s surley

please do not do that

your car will be ok

hallowitch

http://certificatedbailiffs.justice.gov.uk/CertificatedBailiffs/

have a look to see if your bailiff is certificated to Equita

what council are you dealing with

almateus

dealing with blackburn with darwen.. there seem's to be someone on the same name in oldham for equita.

i have double check with the council and there debt was £435.89 this ammount has no been pain in full today.

should the bailiff of added the visit fee's of £42.50 into the part which says " amount owing penalty notice/council tax/non domestic rates " as far as i know he has made only one visit wich was today where her listed our car on the form 7.

then where it says 'bailiff cost' is the ammount of £195.66 or £195.00 his hand writing is shocking.

so he should only charge me £38 for the levy on my car and the visit fee's totalling £42.50 ? where does the rest of the fee's come from then ?

why do they get away with it, i called his mobile again and nothing..!!! no answer, left the 3rd message for him to call me back, i also sent him a text to ring me and nothing.

thank you for the help by the way.

hallowitch

almateus wrote: »

dealing with blackburn with darwen.. there seem's to be someone on the same name in oldham for equita.

i have double check with the council and there debt was £435.89 this amount has no been pain in full today.

should the bailiff of added the visit fee's of £42.50 into the part which says " amount owing penalty notice/council tax/non domestic rates "
no he should not this should only be the amount outstanding against the liability order

as far as i know he has made only one visit which was today where her listed our car on the form 7.
A bailiff is supposed to leave you a letter every time he visits telling you a bailiff has called to levy distress it should also have the fee charged (£24.50 or £18) date time and bailiffs name
then where it says 'bailiff cost' is the amount of £195.66 or £195.00 his hand writing is shocking.

this should be broken down to explain what the fees are for
levy fee
walking possession fee
and any other fee he thinks he can get away with

so he should only charge me £38 for the levy on my car and the visit fee's totalling £42.50 ?

yes if this is his 3rd visit if its his first then only the levy fee

proving a bailiff didn't make a 1st&2nd visit is very difficult because Equita will provide you with a date and time for these visits when requested and its your word against theres I'm afraid however everyone should complain if these visits didn't take place
where does the rest of the fee's come from then ?

some bailiffs call it an enforcement fee (the regulations do not allow for an enforcement fee )
some bailiffs charge it as an attendance to remove fee this fee can only be charged if a levy is already in place(not on the same day) and a payment arrangement has been defaulted on

why do they get away with it,

because your council probably use Capita to administrate there council tax Capita group of company's own Equita


i called his mobile again and nothing..!!! no answer, left the 3rd message for him to call me back, i also sent him a text to ring me and nothing.

thank you for the help by the way.

don't bother unless you can record the call deal with the council in writing only

if he does phone you tell him you have paid the council the liability amount however you have made a complaint about his fees and the wrong balance outstanding to the council and you will pay all legal fees when you have had conformation in writing

almateus

thank you for this help hallowitch, things are more clear now, feeling a little morle positive, if he rings me tomorrow i will tell him as you say and request a full break down of his cost's. we only got the equita letter re the liability order outstanding last week and it says £460.39 another different ammount ?, we got that letter wednesday ( 20th ) letter was dated 15/06/12 ( friday )

they want me to send by return of post, well even if i did i would perhaps only just landed on there table.

we have had no other letters at all from 'the actual bailiff ' just kindly hand delivered this morning while i was still in bed :S ..

as it stands when he finds out the account was paid to the council and that his fee's are just the remainder can he still take off with my car ?