Nightmare with Equita. Please help me

shelby1306 · 20 June 2017 at 9:41PM

Evening all I currently owe 801.00 in council tax from 2015. This debt has gone to Equita. I arranged an agreement of paying 130 a month to begin on the 28th of May. To cut a long story short I have had to leave my marital home with my children and I missed this payment. Obviously it was stupid of me but I am currently taking new medication for my mental health disorder and due to my marriage breakdown this was the last thing on my mind.

On the 10th June my husband informed me that a debt collector had been at the property and left an enforcement notice. It states the following:

debt & court fee: 10983.83 (hand written in red pen)
compliance fee: £75
Enforcement fee: 345
Total balance due: 601.83

The bailiffs name (Mr Foster) and his phone number was left at the bottom of the letter which stated I had 24 hours to pay the total balance due.

I contacted Equita but they refused to communicate with me and that all communication must go through Mr Foster. I contacted Mr Foster gave him my new address and took out a wonga loan to pay off the 601.83. He told me that the debt had now been paid and that I can go back to paying the arranged payment plan to pay off the remaining debt.

All great I thought it was sorted. That is until this evening my husband has contacted me again to tell me another enforcement letter has been left.

This letter states the following:
Debt and Court fee: £726
Compliance fee: £75
Enforcement fee: £238
Total balance due: £1039.00

This time the bailiff name is Mr Dearing, again his contact number has been left.

Now when I look at both of these letters and look at the applicant ref number, the numbers are exactly the same.

I have contacted Equita this evening to ask what this second enforcement letter is for and they have said they are two separate debts and that is why there has been two separate enforcement visits. I said that this is the first I have heard of having 2 separate debts and I have it in writing from the council that there is one debt of 801.00. The man at the call center refused to speak and said that I may only speak to the enforcement agent. I asked to speak to someone in charge and they refused and said that if I had a complaint this should be done in writing and then hung up the phone.

I am completely confused as to what I am to do now. I was planning on contacting the council tomorrow but they keep telling me that it is out of their hands. I do not know where to turn now this is actually making me feel seriously suicidal as I feel like that 601 I paid off was for no reason.

I know I have been stupid and its my own fault I am in this mess but can anyone offer any suggestions on what I should now do?

CIS · 20 June 2017 at 10:20PM

Equita were always one of the more awkward enforcement agents to deal with (they used to argue even when I was instructing them on behalf of the council).

The problem you have is that they are well within their rights to refuse a new arrangement and the Equita office will very rarely intervene once it's with an enforcement agent, they prefer to leave it in the agents hands. The council may intervene if you contact them but they don't have to. Whether or not you are vulnerable is the decision of the enforcement agent and council.

One thing you do need to do is to ask the council to confirm the details of the liability orders that they have passed over to Equita so that you know where you stand. Have you being paying this years council tax ?

Craig

shelby1306 · 20 June 2017 at 10:36PM

Hi

Thanks for the reply. Yes I have been paying this years council tax. The issue I have is what exactly the 600 paid off and why are the applicant ref numbers the same but with two different totals?

What are my options as there is no way at all I have a spare 1000 and odd pound sat in the bank. I cannot borrow anymore as I am just keeping my head above water.

I have no issue with paying off what I owe and I have offered to pay £150 a month of the debt but it is being refused. I honestly do not know what to do now

Thanks again for your response.

CIS · 21 June 2017 at 9:27AM

Thanks for the reply. Yes I have been paying this years council tax. The issue I have is what exactly the 600 paid off and why are the applicant ref numbers the same but with two different totals?

Equita will be able to give balances etc of the cases they have but they won't be able to say why they've been instructed. Only the council can say why they instructed Equita twice - I used to see the odd error where Equita had duplicate cases but that was due to an I.T. error on the council's part.

Craig

National_Debtline · 21 June 2017 at 1:14PM

Hi shelby1306

Dealing with bailiffs can be very stressful, it’s still best not to borrow more money and get further into debt to deal with them. The first thing to do is follow the advice of CIS and contact the council tax department for details of exactly what the debts are - dates covered, payments made etc. Once you have that information you can decide whether you agree you owe the debt and what steps to take next.

Remember council tax bailiffs do not have the right to force entry into your property unless they have been inside previously to list your goods. Keep your doors locked and if you have a car, keep it hidden. Also inform the council and the bailiff of any effects this is having on your mental health so they are aware you are potentially vulnerable. You can do this over the phone but it’s a good idea to follow it up in writing as well.

If you do owe council tax arrears you will need to complete a statement of affairs (SOA) to work out what you can afford to offer. Send this to Equita, even if they refuse your offer you will have proof you want to negotiate a reasonable payment plan. Where possible start making your payment. You may find this factsheet on council tax and bailiffs useful https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/council-tax-recovery/counciltaxdebt.aspx.

Susie
@natdebtline

shelby1306 · 21 June 2017 at 5:34PM

Thank you so much for replying.

I have contacted both Equita and the council today to ask if I can continue with the £130 a month payment and they are refusing this as they are saying I have already defaulted on a default plan.

I am seriously so stressed out with this. I work full time and I am worried being at home with the kids in case I get taken to prison and the kids are left alone.

I WANT to pay them and I agree that I owe them money after them clarifying this for me but they will not allow a payment plan so I really do not know what to do now? I thought that as I had paid a large lump sum off they would be ok with me continuing on the p;an but they arent. Do I pay the council or do I pay Equita because surely if I pay nothing it looks like I am trying to not pay!

sourcrates · 21 June 2017 at 5:53PM

Ok,

You need to change your strategy.

Dont go looking for approval from anyone, just keep making the payments that you can afford, they will not refuse them.

Pay Equita for now, you may have to pay some of there charges.

CIS will help you with that.

Just keep paying and ignore what they say.

Keep the doors locked, and dont allow them access, there is nothing they can do in this situation, especially with young children in the house.

Bailiffs have differing powers dependent on what type of debt it is, and what type of premises you have, for example they can force entry to business premises, but not to private property.

They like you to think they have more powers than they actually have, dont be fooled, and dont let it stress you out.

CIS · 21 June 2017 at 5:56PM

Do I pay the council or do I pay Equita because surely if I pay nothing it looks like I am trying to not pay!

Make the payments to Equita and they will pass them on as required to the council - Equita will be instructed to accept any payments, even if they won't agree a formal payment arrangement.

Craig

Herbie21 · 25 June 2017 at 9:59AM

shelby1306 wrote: »

Evening all I currently owe 801.00 in council tax from 2015. This debt has gone to Equita. I arranged an agreement of paying 130 a month to begin on the 28th of May.

On the 10th June my husband informed me that a debt collector had been at the property and left an enforcement notice. It states the following:

debt & court fee: 10983.83 (hand written in red pen)
compliance fee: £75
Enforcement fee: 345
Total balance due: 601.83

I contacted Mr Foster gave him my new address and took out a wonga loan to pay off the 601.83. He told me that the debt had now been paid and that I can go back to paying the arranged payment plan to pay off the remaining debt.

All great I thought it was sorted. That is until this evening my husband has contacted me again to tell me another enforcement letter has been left.

This letter states the following:
Debt and Court fee: £726
Compliance fee: £75
Enforcement fee: £238
Total balance due: £1039.00

This time the bailiff name is Mr Dearing, again his contact number has been left.

Now when I look at both of these letters and look at the applicant ref number, the numbers are exactly the same.

I have it in writing from the council that there is one debt of 801.00.

Shelby,

I have cut your original post down to focus on the main points.

It is very important that you speak with the COUNCIL and ascertain from them the PRECISE amount of the debt that they had passed over to Equita and the date that the debt was transferred.

Did the council's debt consist of one or more Liability Orders and if so, were they sent to Equita at the same time?

The reason for my query concerns the enforcement fees that have been added by Equita.

The regulations are quite clear in that in order to avoid multiple 'enforcement fees' being charged, an enforcement agent should ensure that they enforce ALL debts that they have on their records at the same time.

Please post back once you have spoken with the council.

LilyLizzie · 3 November 2018 at 12:19PM

If you have a mental health condition then you may well be entitled to different treatment from Equita and covered under the Equality Act 2010. The same is true of the council - they should allow you things like extra time to resolve your problems with them if you have problems communicating because of your disability for example. They should be willing to correspond with you in a format that is accessible for you if you have difficulties using the telephone for example. Remember that your debt is still to the council not Equita. You can complain to the council about Equita if they do not seem to be giving you a transparent, fair bill and taking your disability into account. You do not have to allow a debt collector or bailiff into your home and they cannot remove a car from private land apparently. They have to know what stuff in your home belongs to you before they are allowed to break in and take the stuff away.

LilyLizzie · 3 November 2018 at 12:23PM

Also vulnerable people (like those with disabilities and mental health conditions) that live alone should not be visited by agents ....

Nightmare with Equita. Please help me

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