Equita 'Hit & Run' Scam?

indifference

Hello, would really appreciate some advice from you knowledgeable folks if I may?

First of all, will hold my hands up and say I completely messed up my Council Tax payments, very much acted with 'head in the sand', changed banks, didn't check all dd's had been set up correctly after switch and then ignored letters. My bad

Ok, so I didn't pay my Council Tax, they took me to court and passed my debt onto Equita.

Equita have been in touch by letter MANY times. Mostly enforcement notices delivered by normal post. I paid the whole council tax bill off in one payment to Equita, which they acknowledge but I didn't pay their fees. This is because they never, ever gave me a breakdown of how much the debt was for. So I just paid the whole amount as per the last council tax bill I got. The tax is now clear but they are still chasing me for their fees. I am more than happy to pay their first £75 'Compliance Fee' as they have clearly been given my debt, but I am not happy to pay the £235 'Enforcement Debt' as I don't believe a register/authorised bailiff has ever attended my property.

I live in a block of flats, communal entry, anyone that rings my doorbell goes through to my mobile phone, I can let them in by pressing the # key. I got home one day to a letter on the side in my communal entrance addressed to me, it was a hand delivered letter from Equita saying they had attended to remove goods. It had obviously been squished under the door as it was filthy dirty and a bit screwed up. Now, I never had any missed calls that day (I was out on the school run when letter was delivered) so they obviously didn't try to gain entry. A bit of Googling led me to a scam where they send a runner to hand deliver these letters, then run away, leaving the letter as a scare tactic. I believe only a registered bailiff can attend to remove goods. Now, we have a CCTV camera pointed at the entry door, it doesn't work but it looks operational. Can I request proof/id of the person who delivered it and tell them I wish to check it against the Bailiff Register? If so, what to I send them to request this info?

Or any other tid bits of info that might help me?

Thank you in advance

Herbie21

indifference wrote: »

Ok, so I didn't pay my Council Tax, they took me to court and passed my debt onto Equita.

Equita have been in touch by letter MANY times. Mostly enforcement notices delivered by normal post. I paid the whole council tax bill off in one payment to Equita, which they acknowledge but I didn't pay their fees. This is because they never, ever gave me a breakdown of how much the debt was for.

So I just paid the whole amount as per the last council tax bill I got.

The tax is now clear but they are still chasing me for their fees. I am more than happy to pay their first £75 'Compliance Fee' as they have clearly been given my debt, but I am not happy to pay the £235 'Enforcement Debt' as I don't believe a register/authorised bailiff has ever attended my property.

Thank you in advance

Once the account has been passed to an enforcement company it is not at all easy to avoid paying bailiff fees. The procedure is outlined in detail on the following page from our website.

If you have any questions, please post back.

http://bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/index/council-tax-national-non-domestic-rate-nndr/i-dont-want-to-deal-with-the-bailiff

Bailiff Advice Online.

indifference

Thanks for getting back to me

Its not that I want to avoid paying them as such, but I do think its unfair if perhaps they haven't followed the rules as they should, with the no ring to my doorbell etc, I honestly don't believe a certified bailiff came here. Of course if there is any way I don't have to pay it, I won't. I'm not well off at all, scrape by every month, so every single penny counts.

Herbie21

indifference wrote: »

Thanks for getting back to me

Its not that I want to avoid paying them as such, but I do think its unfair if perhaps they haven't followed the rules as they should, with the no ring to my doorbell etc, I honestly don't believe a certified bailiff came here. Of course if there is any way I don't have to pay it, I won't. I'm not well off at all, scrape by every month, so every single penny counts.

Well, the problem that you have at the moment is that payment has been made to Equita and as per the statutory regulations, Equita are legally entitled to deduct their compliance fee of £75 and apportion the balance as outlined on my webpage. Accordingly, the Liability Order has not been paid in full and Equita can continue enforcing for the balance.

You have not said if you have a vehicle outside. If you do, this is at risk of being taken so please be careful.

If you are satisfied that the vehicle is secure, then you should write (or better still..email) Equita asking for a screen shot of the account so that you can be establish whether or not the enforcement agent was properly registered.

indifference

Hi again Car is parked 0.6 miles away from home, one of the joys of living in London, or erm, something!

I have requested a full breakdown of my 'account', including details of what was charged, who by, when and who allegedly visited me however they have been very economical with my request, simply told me the balance. It is interesting to know that I could potentially ask for a screenshot of the details though. I shall do that, thank you.