Dreaded council tax arrears and Equita Bailiffs - Help!!

Mowgleigh

Hey guys, this is my first post on here so any advice given would be greatly appreciated!!

I'm in arrears with Lambeth council of the sum of about £1,600. Stupidly I buried my head in the sand about the sum and it has now consequently caught up with me

As I have moved house since the council tax period 11-12, the first contact I had about the arrears was an equita bailiff putting a letter through my door at the beginning of November last year stating that I needed to pay £173 effective immediately. I tried paying the bill on the equita website but it wouldnt allow me. I called Equita who said I would need to deal with the bailiff direct. I called him 2 days later and he asked me if I was aware how much I owed, to which I replied no, I'd had no contact from Lambeth council. He informed me of the sum and said that I would now need to pay £473 to stop any further action. I naively payed this as I was so scared of any further action. We then discussed that I would pay a lump sum of £500 the following week and then £100 every month until the oustanding sum was paid. He said that I would receive this in writing along with a receipt for the sum I had just paid.

I receive nothing in the following weeks but just put it down to the xmas period. Then on thursday of last week (13th Feb 14), I recived a hand written letter through the post. The letter stated tht I would need to pay the full oustanding balance in full in 24 hours or further action would be taking!

Well as you can imagine I was horrified and confused. I called the bailiff but it went to answer phone and I haven't recived a call back. This then led me to these forums and gave me a little ray of hope that all was not doom and gloom :j

The reason I guess why I'm writing this is for some advice specific to my situation. Reading all the other similar threads as helped me greatly but I'm just a bit confused as to what my firsy course of action should be. Pleas help, you lovely MSE people :A

Many thanks in advance!!!

National_Debtline

Hello there,

We've a fact sheet dedicated to bailiffs and council tax which you can find here: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=02_bailiffs_and_council_tax

From the information you've given it appears that the bailiff has not been inside your property, can you confirm this?

If the bailiff hasn't gained entry you must NOT let them in, please keep doors and windows locked and secure.

- Don't open the door to them as they may try to push past you. If they get inside, they may have the right to enter again and may break in to take your goods.
- Don't leave windows open or doors unlocked – bailiffs can legally get through these.
- A bailiff cannot break in to take goods they have only seen through a window so if you do not let them in they will not be able to take anything from inside your home.
- If you have a car, please hide it away from the property.

If the bailiff cannot seize any assets, you'll be able to state how much you're able to pay - this should always be in writing. If the bailiff doesn't wish to accept your offer, their only alternative option is to pass their file back to the council.

DO request a breakdown of their fees. If they've not been inside, the maximum they can add to the debt is £42.50 for two visits. That's it. More on fees at the end of the fact sheet.

If you let us all know the current position, we'll be able to help you get this sorted.

Best wishes,

David @ NDL.

hallowitch

sorry I don't have time to reply properly right now but will look back in later today


I assume you have read enough to know you need to hide your car and don't let them into your house


put your offer of payment in writing to the council (if you have the council ref no start making payments on line )


you also need to need to find out from the council exactly how much you owe in council tax and how much the bailiff has added in fees


there is a template on here somewhere will post it up later (if someone doesn't beat me to it )


have a look and see who administrates council tax for Lambeth council im sure its Capita


Equita are part of The Capita group of company's its therefore very important to keep everything in writing and all correspondence should be sent to the council this can be done by e-mail


your bailiff should be certificated to Equita check here
http://certificatedbailiffs.justice.gov.uk/CertificatedBailiffs/
the list is not always 100% accurate you may need to send an e-mail to confirm he is a certificated bailiff if he is not listed

hallowitch

questions for the council can be done over the phone but get it confirmed by e-mail



1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you (ask for council tax and liability order ref no )
2 - the dates they were obtained
3 - the addresses they were for
4 - the period of time each covers(important if you moved during the financial tax year )
5 - how much each one was for
6- Have there been any adjustment's made to any of the liability orders
7- Reason for adjustment (liability order ref no the adjustment relates to)
8 - the dates the liability order(s) were passed on for enforcement
9- the date the adjustment was passed on for enforcement
10 - the dates & amounts of any payments




This should be sent to Equita and the councils revenues department again can be done by e-mail
From:
My Name
My Address
.
To:
Acme Bailiff Co
Bailiff House
.
Ref: Account No: 123456
.
Dear Sir
.
With reference to the above account(s), Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.
.
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.
.F- if a levy fee has been charged please provide a copy of the notice of seizure however at this stage I will accept a list of the goods seized

This is not a Subject access request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.
.
I require this information within 14 days.
.
Yours faithfully
.
Ripped off customer"

[Deleted User]

National_Debtline wrote: »

- Don't open the door to them as they may try to push past you. If they get inside, they may have the right to enter again and may break in to take your goods.

Pushing past you, doesn't give them the right to re-enter/break in.

That would require "peaceable entry", which forcing their way in is not.

hallowitch

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Pushing past you, doesn't give them the right to re-enter/break in.

That would require "peaceable entry", which forcing their way in is not.

quite correct but once a bailiff has pushed passed you its your word against his and without concrete proof who do you think they will believe

National_Debtline

hallowitch wrote: »

quite correct but once a bailiff has pushed passed you its your word against his and without concrete proof who do you think they will believe

We would always urge a caller simply not to open the door at all, and to communicate in writing (or via e-mail) if at all possible.

By the way, if you think the fact sheet could be worded in a clearer fashion please feel free to drop me a line at socialmedia@nationaldebtline.co.uk

David.

[Deleted User]

hallowitch wrote: »

quite correct but once a bailiff has pushed passed you its your word against his and without concrete proof who do you think they will believe

Hence why I keep one of these on hand.

I use it on all unrecognised callers, of which (being a non-TV Licence holder), I get plenty.

Mowgleigh

Thank you so much for your advice, David.

No, they haven't gained entry.

My main concern is that I live in a shared, furnished, rental property so 99% of the items don't actually belong to me. I don't actually have anything of value apart from my clothes and my laptop...and even that's 7 years old!

Mowgleigh

hallowitch wrote: »

questions for the council can be done over the phone but get it confirmed by e-mail



1 - how many Liability Orders they have against you (ask for council tax and liability order ref no )
2 - the dates they were obtained
3 - the addresses they were for
4 - the period of time each covers(important if you moved during the financial tax year )
5 - how much each one was for
6- Have there been any adjustment's made to any of the liability orders
7- Reason for adjustment (liability order ref no the adjustment relates to)
8 - the dates the liability order(s) were passed on for enforcement
9- the date the adjustment was passed on for enforcement
10 - the dates & amounts of any payments




This should be sent to Equita and the councils revenues department again can be done by e-mail
From:
My Name
My Address
.
To:
Acme Bailiff Co
Bailiff House
.
Ref: Account No: 123456
.
Dear Sir
.
With reference to the above account(s), Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.
.
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.
.F- if a levy fee has been charged please provide a copy of the notice of seizure however at this stage I will accept a list of the goods seized

This is not a Subject access request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.
.
I require this information within 14 days.
.
Yours faithfully
.
Ripped off customer"

Hallowitch, thank you so, so much for your advice!

If you could please post the template to send to the council to see how much I actually owe, that would be hugely appreciated, as I don't actually know the exact amount.

Unfortunately I don't know my council ref number, otherwise, I would definitely start paying online.

So, my first course of action will be to find out how much I owe and how many liability orders I have outstanding from the council and obtain a breakdown from Equita. Brilliant! I will keep you updated with my progress!!

supercygolf

I have just received a Notification of Liability order From my council. In December I was late with my council tax payment. Genuine mistake. I contacted the council and paid it immediately. In my January payment I was 2 weeks late but still paid it then recieved a Notification of Liability order and request for information letter from the council. Aparently they took me to magistrates court for being late. No reminder, no letter no telephone call just straight to Magistrates court. However having paid I now have a Notification of Liability Order and Request for Information letter. They use threatening words like prison, bankruptcy & Bailiffs as they request costs of £81.00. They will get paid but do I need to provide them with my financial information?

In the 30 years I have been a council tax payer in Coventry you can count the amount of times I have been late with a payment on one hand. I think it is disgraceful bully boy tactics.