Equita troubles

JacktheCad

Hi,


I've been reading several threads about people dealing with Equita and their various agents.


My situation is as follows.


In March 2014 I moved into a new rented property and registered with Lambeth Council. Several months later (I can't right now, remember how many) I received a letter stating that I was in CT arrears and that a court date was due. I contacted the council and explained over the phone that had I received a bill I would have paid it, but that I wasn't in the habit of paying bills which have not been presented.
I set up a payment plan with the council by Direct Debit and that was that.


In September 2014 I moved again, to a different borough - and informed both Lambeth Council and the new council that I had moved. Either because I was in a hurry, or not listening properly, or whatever, when I spoke to Lambeth I was left with the impression that the debt was now clear, and I cancelled the Direct Debit.


I was clearly wrong, as in December I received a letter from Equita saying that they had been handed my account. I contacted the council, to ask why they had not contacted me in the three months in between, and they said that they had send letters. Obviously these never arrived. I contacted Lambeth again and they recalled the account from the bailiffs and advised me to contact the Post Office about the missing letters. The post office denied responsibility and the account was returned to bailiffs around the end of December.


By the middle of Jan I had received a letter from Equita stating that a Liability Order had been issued and that I owe the sum of £341.49 or an enforcement agent would visit to sieze property.


I immediately contacted them to set up an arrangement, and one was made for £50 pcm. I assumed (wrongly, it transpires) that this was a Direct Debit, and that I didn't need to give it any further thought.


Yesterday I returned from work to find a letter stating that as I had missed a payment they had passed my account to an enforcement agent. I immediately contacted Equita and asked "what about the DD?". "There is no DD," they said, you'll have to contact the enforcement chappy.


I have a call with this guy later today (midday) but what should I say to him, what should I be aware of?


What is he likely to do / say? Will he let me re-arrange the £50/month repayment plan? Should I be on the look out for spurious charges?


In short, this whole situation has got out of hand, and although I admit a few oversights on my part, I feel like I haven't actually tried to avoid paying, and that they have actively tried to make it harder. I'm pretty angry and am disinclined to make this easy for the bullyboys I've been reading so much about.


Any advice will be gladly received!


Thanks in advance!

sourcrates

Hi,

They will insist on full payment, don't let them into your home, they have no right of entry at all.
I would suggest you stop "assuming" things have been done, and make sure next time !!!

Advise the agent, you will only deal with this matter in writing, and leave it at that, do not get into protracted conversations with them.

Then put your offer of payment in writing to there head office, do not speak to them on the phone, deal only in writing.

You must treat this as a priority debt, and also future council tax payments.

JacktheCad

hi Sourcrates, thanks for the reply


How right you are: you know what they say about '!!! u me!' Quite honestly I never even considered the possibility that a DD wouldn't have been set up, as I thought that they wouldn't go away without one - I'm still surprised, tbh. If I were Equita I would insist on one!


Was it a reasonable assumption to make? Is it a standard practice to just take one payment / not set up DDs?


If I ask for this to be dealt with in writing, should it be by post (see above for why that's a worry) or email?

littlefish92

Who did you think was paying the council tax in the begining? Why didn't you ensure the moeny was being withdrawn from your account if you believed a DD had been set up? You say you feel your have never tried to avoid paying the money yet you moved into a property and never made any arrangements to pay the CT. You seem to wish to take no responsibility for any of this.

JacktheCad

hi Littlefish,


I didn't think anyone was paying the council tax at the beginning - I was simply waiting for a bill. I wasn't proactive about trying to get one, thinking that sooner or later one would arrive in the post. Had one arrived I would have paid immediately, and indeed, did so the moment I had received the first letter.


The Direct Debit is a more recent event, and it simply never occurred to me to check that the DD had indeed been set up. I don't deny that this was an oversight on my part.


In my new property the council tax is included in my rent.


I am quite prepared to pay, and have never made any attempt to avoid paying. I take full responsibility for the failure to check the DD, but I was left, at the end of the call with Equita, with the impression that it had been sorted out - perhaps it was relief that the bailiff had been headed off, perhaps it was just a busy lifestyle - I just didn't give it another thought.


I don't see that I can take much responsibility for letters failing to arrive, or if I was given misleading information over the phone, as happened in. I have not ignored any letters, but have, when contacted, tried to resolve the issue immediately.


Have you got any practical advice or are you simply looking to play the holier than thou card?

Red-Squirrel_2

JacktheCad wrote: »

Was it a reasonable assumption to make? Is it a standard practice to just take one payment / not set up DDs?

When you set up a DD, its very clear what's happening, the specific words 'direct debit' will be mentioned several times, you will give your sort code and account number not your card number, and if its done over the phone you will receive written confirmation and a copy of the direct debit guarantee a few days later.

You must have done this before, surely?

JacktheCad

Hi Red Squirrel,


Thanks for the reply.


I confess that I can't remember the exact details of the call in which I thought the DD had been set up. I know that I asked for the monthly payment date to be set for a specific date (the day after payday!), though whether the words DD were used I could not swear. I asked to have the call recordings sent to me to confirm one way or the other.


In the past my finances have always been very tight so I have not used DD as I wanted to be in control of what came out of my account and when, so no, I don't have much experience of DDs or what the process is. Until March last year I was always in 'all bills included' rental agreements and never had to deal with any of this sort of thing.


It is pretty clear that the DD was not set up, regardless of what actually was or was not said - that no DD was actually set up is not in dispute - it wasn't.

sourcrates

JacktheCad wrote: »

If I ask for this to be dealt with in writing, should it be by post (see above for why that's a worry) or email?

It should be in writing, yes a letter.

The bailiff will demand full payment, so if you can pay, then I would.
If you can't pay today, then write to them with your payment proposals.
Emails get ignored, and are unreliable, a letter is the only legally recognised way of dealing with matters such as this.

Do not under any curcumstances allow them to enter your property.

JacktheCad

UPDATE


I spoke to the Enforcement Agent, and tried to explain the situation. He was absolutely rigid, informed me that the debt is now £400+ (the original debt was £250) and that it would need to be paid in full. He then said 'see you tomorrow' and hung up.


I then spoke to Council Tax Advisers, who suggested contacting the council to see if they would take the debt back. They are currently reviewing the calls I made to them when I moved in Sept to see exactly what was said and if I was right in thinking that the agent had told me the debt was fully paid. We shall see what comes of that.


In the mean time, it looks like this enforcement agent is going to be appearing at some point tomorrow, so any advice on how to deal with him when he does would be most welcome.


Any advice on how to dispute the fees, who to contact or any thing else would also be most popular.


I'm aware that I have, through inexperience, a hectic lifestyle and a certain amount of carelessness, allowed this to get way out of hand, but I am desperate to get the issue sorted with the minimum of fuss and bailiffs, but without paying more than I strictly have to.

JacktheCad

Sorry, Sourcrates, I must have been writing my update when you posted this.


That's really helpful advice. I certainly can't pay the full £400+ immediately, so it looks like I need to set out a repayment proposal.


Can you point me towards a template for this letter?


To whom should it be sent / copied? I'm guessing you would recommend recorded delivery?! Is it worth also sending an email?


With regard to the DD not having been set up, is it worth making a complaint to Equita about the communication breakdown, or is the consensus that I'm at fault in that regard?

National_Debtline

Hi Jack and welcome to the forum.


I would suggest that if you are in a position to make any immediate downpayments towards the debt, you do so via the Equita website or their automated payment line using a bank card - there should be a reference number on any Equita correspondence you've received to which your payments can be matched. Sending a letter with your proposal is all well and good in theory, but it's not going to stop them visiting tomorrow as threatened and potentially adding a standard £235 "enforcement fee" for the privilege.


If the agent does turn up tomorrow, my advice is simply as per that of sourcrates above - don't let him in. If you're out when he calls, then he will just have to drop a calling card through your letterbox.


In my experience bailiffs aren't too fond of setting up DDs. It's not clear why this is the case - it should (in theory) guarantee regular payments towards the debt and leave them with less to do.


You are within your rights to complain if you feel that Equita have let you down with poor communication - I'm not in a position to predict how that would go, but you may have your work cut out.



You might find it useful to have a read of our guide to council tax recovery, which includes more on bailiffs:


https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/02%20EW%20Council%20tax%20recovery/Default.aspx

Dennis
@natdebtline