Help! Equita council tax debt!

kessik

Sorry to hijack with a quick question but if I've paid my arrears of Council Tax and don't owe them a penny but Equita write to me saying that I have a figure of £xxx Council Tax outstanding that needs repaying immediately to avoid bailiff visits (in reality their own fees for enforcement) then they're basically lying to scare me? Can they be in trouble for doing that?

CIS

kessik wrote: »

Sorry to hijack with a quick question but if I've paid my arrears of Council Tax and don't owe them a penny but Equita write to me saying that I have a figure of £xxx Council Tax outstanding that needs repaying immediately to avoid bailiff visits (in reality their own fees for enforcement) then they're basically lying to scare me? Can they be in trouble for doing that?

You'll most likely find it's not just the costs - once an account is with an enforcement agent then payments are apportioned between the costs and the council tax charge so if you pay the council the equivalent of the council tax charge then this will be apportioned and part of it credited against the costs.

kessik

Thanks for that CIS. I guess the debt was passed back to the council because we paid them one lump sum directly and we have no outstanding arrears plus we are up to date on this year (I have this in writing from the council in the last couple of days - they also advise that we are 'still liable for the enforcement fees'). I read this as the council taking all the money we paid and Equita getting nothing, hence the letter from Equita saying that we have Council Tax outstanding. So basically they are lying to scare us rather than just saying 'pay us OUR fees', which they know many people will ignore? And can they be in trouble for that?

HappyMJ

kessik wrote: »

Thanks for that CIS. I guess the debt was passed back to the council because we paid them one lump sum directly and we have no outstanding arrears plus we are up to date on this year (I have this in writing from the council in the last couple of days - they also advise that we are 'still liable for the enforcement fees'). I read this as the council taking all the money we paid and Equita getting nothing, hence the letter from Equita saying that we have Council Tax outstanding. So basically they are lying to scare us rather than just saying 'pay us OUR fees', which they know many people will ignore? And can they be in trouble for that?

You are technically still liable for the enforcement fees. What they say isn't always true. Can they be in trouble for misrepresenting..probably not. They'll say it was a template letter meant for a customer who has paid them instead of the council and they'll get away with it. I wouldn't worry about it and just ignore them from now on.

CIS

kessik wrote: »

Thanks for that CIS. I guess the debt was passed back to the council because we paid them one lump sum directly and we have no outstanding arrears plus we are up to date on this year (I have this in writing from the council in the last couple of days - they also advise that we are 'still liable for the enforcement fees'). I read this as the council taking all the money we paid and Equita getting nothing, hence the letter from Equita saying that we have Council Tax outstanding. So basically they are lying to scare us rather than just saying 'pay us OUR fees', which they know many people will ignore? And can they be in trouble for that?

Unless the council have asked Equita to close the case and cancel it then they should be apportioning the payment between the costs and the council tax charge. There shouldn't be the situation where the balance is clear and the costs aren't (unless the full balance has been paid + costs).