Massive screw up by Equita, we may now have a bailiff visit.

Honeybee_2

Rossendales bailiffs by any chance?

gilligansyle

Hi, you need to clarify the situation with regards to the court action. If the council have been granted a liability order, they will have passed it to bailiffs. I take it this is for a previous address? They CANNOT enter your premises without your permission, unless they have previously been in and have a'walking possession'. National debtline has a fact sheet on Council Tax and Bailiffs. You can download this from their website. Give them or CAB a ring ASAP.

Amy._3

I haven't received any court order from these people.

The only thing with regards to court is when the council took it to court, of course we didn't turn up because we were un-aware of it.
They then sent it to Equita, who have since November 2007 been sending us the letters, to which we responded, by December an actual payment plan was sent up for £70 a month, we paid £120 in december to sort of get things rolling and then paid £70 in January, next payment due in february for another £70

I have just had a call back from the bailiff, he seems nice but a little confused as he is in Northampton and i am in lincolnshire and it is Manchester council tax, i gave him a very quick run down that we haven't actually defunkt on any payments and icant understand what is going on, Equita wont tell me anything.
He said he will bring up my case and have a look at it and call me back
That was about 20 minutes ago.

Before he rang me i was still trying to get through to anyone at Equita who would speak to me, i kept getting the same selection of people speaking over me and interrupting me saying we cannot discuss it, this is no up for discussion, you've got the number just keep ringing the bailiff then hanging the phone up on me.
One girl did actually leak a scrimp of information, its gone to a bailiff because i broke the agreement, i said i haven't as the next payment is not due until February 1st she said i have broke the agreement and its not up for discussion then she hung up on me.

Amy._3

And yes this is for a previous address, we now live in Lincolnshire the debt is to Manchester city council

Amy._3

While i am waiting for him to get back to me im writing a letter of complaint to Manchester city council about the conduct of Equita and one to the Local ombudsman.

Amy._3

Have spoken again to the Bailiff ( he was more reasonable than Equita ) he says he cannot see where i have gone wrong on my payments as there is at least 3 payments made in December and one in January and as its monthly payments theres no room for default.
He asked to ring back Equita stating that i had spoken to him and to try to get some more details, which i did and hallelujah i got one of the nicer ones i spoke to back in December. I told him everything i had said to the bailiff and what he had said tome and he stated that the last payment was made on January 4th and nothing since, so i said that is because it was agreed to do monthly payments of £70 next payment is due on February 1st
he says no the agreement was for £15 a week, so i then explain the hour long conversation with manny and that the offer of £15 a week was declined the minimum that could be accepted was £70 a month to which i agreed.
The man at Equita then APOLOGISED **faints** and said that if i just ring back the bailiff he can then send it back to Equita to be dealt with as normal and i can makemypayment of £70 on friday as normal.

aligerdie

this happened to us a while ago, i got a letter pushed through the door by a bailiff stating they were going to remove our possessions for a CT bill from our old house.
I felt absolutely sick, and had no idea how i was going to pay it, so i rang the national debtline. They were absolutely brilliant, and I felt so much better when i'd spoken to them.

Whatever you do, don't let the bailiff in. Once they have had entry into your house they will make a levy of your goods. You don't have to let them in, i didn't even answer the door.

The bailiff can only charge twice for visiting your home, i forget how much it is, but after those 2 visits, they don't get paid for coming round again, so because they're commision based, alot of them don't bother. The bailiff will try to bully you on the phone, and will say untrue things to scare you into paying.
I emailed the baliff company with a letter of proposal for repayment along with my budget plan. I also sent it first class recorded too, and copied it to the council, in this letter i stated that i would not be letting anyone into my home as my husband worked away and i was on my own.
The council and bailiff company both wrote back to me and accepted my offer of £50 pm on a bill of £1200, you need your payment plan in writing so they can't go back on it. Also, importantly, make it clear you're not refusing to pay, you just don't have the means.

Please don't worry, i know its scary, but you need to find out where you stand with the bailiffs. I found the help i received from the national debtline was fantastic, and i can't recommend them highly enough.

Good luck

aligerdie

Amy. wrote: »

Have spoken again to the Bailiff ( he was more reasonable than Equita ) he says he cannot see where i have gone wrong on my payments as there is at least 3 payments made in December and one in January and as its monthly payments theres no room for default.
He asked to ring back Equita stating that i had spoken to him and to try to get some more details, which i did and hallelujah i got one of the nicer ones i spoke to back in December. I told him everything i had said to the bailiff and what he had said tome and he stated that the last payment was made on January 4th and nothing since, so i said that is because it was agreed to do monthly payments of £70 next payment is due on February 1st
he says no the agreement was for £15 a week, so i then explain the hour long conversation with manny and that the offer of £15 a week was declined the minimum that could be accepted was £70 a month to which i agreed.
The man at Equita then APOLOGISED **faints** and said that if i just ring back the bailiff he can then send it back to Equita to be dealt with as normal and i can makemypayment of £70 on friday as normal.

thats great! it took me that long to type my reply out that i crossed with your post.....:rolleyes:

petal_family

Just to add, I am dealing with the local Birmingham Bailiffs regarding CT and owe 803.00. They were demanding payment within 24 hours (which I couldnt afford) so they have finally agreed to let me pay 400.00 tomorrow and the remainder on 15th Feb. So there is a little leeway (sp?) although not a lot. Also I think they do have a right to take away pets if they are pedigrees and if they think they are worth any money. I have a pedigree dog so was sh*****g it. Thankfully though it is all sorted now!!!

Amy._3

We are now all sorted, Bailiff has sent or is sending it back to Equita, i can then make my £70 payment on friday the 1st or as soon as the bailiffs name is off the account. I told them i will ring on the 1st and then everyday if necessary until his name is off the account so i can make the payment, they said thats fine.
So were all sorted, im still going to make a complaint about the others i spoke to though as they were extremely un-helpful ( to put it politely )