Equita Bailiffs - Advice needed urgently please

emyork87

Hi all,

I came home today to a hand delivered letter from an equita bailiff telling me he had attempted to call to possess my belongings and that he was calling again within 24 hours unless the debt was paid in full.

It stated on the letter that a payment plan/arrangement was no longer acceptable and that he would return to possess my belongings "even in your absence".

I tried calling the mobile number on the letter, left voicemails asking to be contacted to resolve the matter and arrange a payment plan (full or part) and I also text the number when I had no response from him; I have still not heard from him almost two hours later.

I am wondering if someone could advise me - is this the end of the line for me? Can I definitely not arrange a payment plan or is that a scare tactic? I am a student midwife and live alone with my daughter, not only do I not have a huge surplus income to pay them off in one lump sum but I am terrified of losing things that belong to us both that I will never afford to replace!

Really hoping someone knows what I can do, I am willing to negotiate a payment plan with them, but is it too late??

Sorry for the rushed appearance of this post - am quite shaken up!

Giraffeseeker

Hi Em,

A couple of questions:
- What is the debt that Equita are collecting?
- Have they got a CCJ?
- Have you been paying anything to them?

emyork87

Hi,

Its a council tax debt that i thought i had resolved with the council directly, but apparently not.
As far as I am aware there is no CCJ - the letter has no mention of any.
And I have not been paying anything to them, but am more than willing to set up a plan.

Thanks very much for your response

hallowitch

emyork87 wrote: »

Hi,

Its a council tax debt that i thought i had resolved with the council directly, but apparently not.

can you explain why you thought this was resolved

As far as I am aware there is no CCJ - the letter has no mention of any.

Its a liability order not a CCJ
what did the letter say
does it give an amount outstanding to the council and the fee you have been charged for the visit

And I have not been paying anything to them, but am more than willing to set up a plan.

Thanks very much for your response

do not under any circumstances let a bailiff into your home if you have car move it away from your property NOW bailiffs can come to to your home from 6am till 9pm

emyork87

Hi, thanks again for the response

my council tax was calculated incorrectly. as of may this year I am not required to pay any council tax as I became a student and am therefore exempt from then until now.
ill try to explain the rest as briefly as possible:
Moved in with a partner in nov 2010. he moved out in september 2011. from september 2011 to may '12 they still had me as a double occupancy (when I should be single with a dependant) when he was no longer present in the home, so there is backdated unresolved issues there. however, i admit i have been stupid and have not always paid council tax. I dont know how much i owe them but i estimate it as less than £900. I was trying to arrange to resolve this with the council directly but in May they told me it had gone to 'the bailiffs', this is the first I have known of it as far as I am aware.

The letter has no mention of any amount - in my text and answerphone messages i asked for him to let me know what the amount was; the office number would not help, they told me to contact the bailiff directly. I called twice in total and left 2 messages, one text.

The letter said he had called today and would return within 24 hours due to the council tax debt in question, that I can pay in full within 24 hours and that a payment plan was no longer acceptable.
it also invited me to contact him immediately to avoid the "distressing occurance" of having my possessions removed. At the end of the letter it said "no contact will be taken as your refusal to pay" which gives me hope that my contact will open the door to a payment plan and that the rest is a scare tactic they use?

thanks very much for the time scale, I was unaware of this. I do not drive nor does my home have a drive so that is not a problem.
I do have property of a friend within my home while she waits to move into a new place herself and she is obviously worried that if they gain entry they will take her belongings along with mine, I've read that they cant take anything that doesn't belong to me but I doubt they would believe me if they entered the room and I said "no, most of this belongs to somebody else"

I understand that this is mostly a problem of my own making due to my procrastination and ignorance in resolving it but I genuinely appreciate your responses and anything you may know that can help
I will contact the council tomorrow to make sure the figure is correct and not the double-occupancy and miscalculated, but my priority at the moment is trying to satisfy the Equita bailiff that I am willing to negotiate payments and stop them from taking things from my home.

emyork87

honestly, I am absolutely petrified that there are no more options available to me other than to let them claim items that I will not be able to replace and that I will have to go through the distress and upset of having someone rifle through my home to take things and the effect this will have on my daughter. If I am willing to negotiate, surely they cannot do this?

hallowitch

Have a read of this

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=02_bailiffs_and_council_tax

Bailiffs can only remove your goods if they have a levy on them to levy goods the bailiff must get peaceful entry to your home so you keep your doors locked at all times bailiffs can enter through an open window, closed but unlocked door(in other words they can open the door and walk in) or by invitation
Bailiffs sometimes try to put there foot in the door so you cant close it and its best not to open the door to him /her

If possible you do not speak to Equita/the bailiff/the council unless you can record the call

you send a letter /e-mail to the council making an offer of payment do not offer what you cant afford there is no point in offering a payment plan you know you are going to default on
Make this clear to the council

your payment will be by standing order only
make this very clear to the council it is unacceptable that anyone has to remember to £x amount by x day every moths for 6/7/8/ months or however long it takes to pay the debt

there is big difference between to be paid on /by you say payment of £xx to be paid by the end of each calender month first payment to made before 31/8

emyork87

Thanks very much for your advice.

That sites really helpful and I'm happy now that I know they won't try to gain entry within the next few days and just take what they see. I'm obviously inexperienced with how they work and I feared that was the way of it.

I will call the bailiff again tomorrow and also email the council (they are trying to be 'modern' and will only deal with enquiries via email, not the telephone) to not only check that the calculation is right but also if I can pay the debt directly to them as I will not be accumulating any other council tax bills for the next 2.5 years.

If the equita bailiff insists he come tomorrow to make a list of goods to take instead of accepting that I am contacting the council and/or willing to make a payment plan, what should I do? Or is this unlikely? If I leave him a further message asking the action be postponed while I liase with the council, is he likely to accept this?

Thanks so much again

hallowitch

emyork87 wrote: »

Thanks very much for your advice.

That sites really helpful and I'm happy now that I know they won't try to gain entry within the next few days and just take what they see. I'm obviously inexperienced with how they work and I feared that was the way of it.

I'm not always here and there are very few posters who deal with bailiffs i suggest you join
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?168-Bailiffs-and-High-Court-Enforcement-Officers

I will call the bailiff again tomorrow and also email the council (they are trying to be 'modern' and will only deal with inquiries via email, not the telephone) to not only check that the calculation is right but also if I can pay the debt directly to them as I will not be accumulating any other council tax bills for the next 2.5 years.

please try and record your conversation with Equita and the bailiff
Its very important to try and keep everything in writing bailiffs lie say things they shouldn't (break into your house using locksmith,police, even in your absence etc) add fees they shouldn't the list goes on and on

If the Equita bailiff insists he come tomorrow to make a list of goods to take instead of accepting that I am contacting the council and/or willing to make a payment plan, what should I do?
you do not let him into your house to make a list of goods
the bailiff if you have a car you must park it away from your house until this is resolved

the reason for the levy is to secure the debt against your goods once the bailiff has made the levy he will ask you to sign a walking possession agreement THE BAILIFF then has the choice of telling you to pay in full within 5 days or your goods will be removed

or enter into a payment plan THE BAILIFF will tell you how much he wants you to pay (once goods are levied YOU have no choice but to agree to this )

Or is this unlikely? If I leave him a further message asking the action be postponed while I liaise with the council, is he likely to accept this?

no he wont accept this he will not postpone enforcement while you liaise with the council only the council can stop enforcement

Thanks so much again

1) you do not let the bailiff into your home under any circumstances
2) you hide your car (a levy on a debtors car is the easiest way for a bailiff to get a levy on the debtors goods)
3) you do not speak to the bailiff/Equita unless you can record the call
4) you make an offer of payment in writing to council
5) you pay the council using their on-line payment
6) If your payment offer is refused you continue to pay the council and ignore the bailiff

As long as the bailiff doesn't get a levy on your goods he will eventually return the debt back to the council)

The levy walking possession is not really about the bailiff removing goods
If the bailiff get a levy its game over

The levy gives the bailiff a significant amount of fees
LEVY FEE on a debt of £900 £47
walking possession fee £12
if the debt is not paid with in 5 days you will be charged a van/attendance fee approx £200
If the bailiff allows you to pay in installments and your payment is 1 day late you Will be charged the van/attendance fee

in both situations your outstanding balance including fee will be due immediately

they may then remove the goods previously levied at further cost to you

the goods will be sold at auction if there is still an outstanding balance against your council tax you will will still have to pay it

kerry87_2

Hello, I know this is not the ideal thing to do but I went through the same process with equita last year so I went to the the town hall to explain and was told off the lady dealing with It...DONT ANSWER THE DOOR DONT LET THEM IN DONT SPEAK TO THEM AND EVENTUALLY THEY WILL BRING THE DEBT BACK TO US...this in my eyes is just a waste of everyone's time passing to the bailiff in the first place however the lady was true to her word and the debt did get past back to the council.

brummiekel

I am trying to pay off equita i a payment plan over next 4 weeks from my dole.the debt was £200 2 weeks ago i paid 18.50 but when i called them monday to make payment they told me that it had been sent to bailiff and they could no longer access the file.ive spoken to the bailiff and sent txts.he has said in txt that the plan to pay off in 4 weeks should be ok.now he is not answereing phone and only replying by txt.ive kept txts and recording calls.to make things worse ive moved house so sent him proof of new adress .should i be worried as its now wed and he agreed to plan by txt monday and again this morning