Fuming isn't the word. I called Equita regarding it being taken back into council control. No email has been received I asked her if they have received my email dated 7th she didn't know due to the high volume of emails they receive that it can take days for it to be read and added to the account I stated that tilt had been days she said they are not open weekends but they have been open Thursday, Friday and this morning. I questioned her about the 7 clear working days her reply was that their procedure is 10 working days from when they receive it from the council and they are doing nothing wrong by giving me just 4 working days to sort it out. She was adiment that they are following the law/regulations and it's 10 days from when they receive it. I did get her name even asked how to spell it so will be adding this to the complaint. Informed her I was making a complaint about the 4 days and was told you do that you are wrong and she hung up on me! Now to pull all 5 his together into a letter to everyone N x

Finally spoke to someone she was from the benefits department but too the notice of in for cement to the ctax department - they are emailing Equita now to have it returned to the council she said to call Equita to let them know an email is on its way. I asked her to take copies of the PIP awards notice and the carers awards notice she asked if they were already on file I said that they should be as part of the housing and ctax benefit claim she said I don't need to take them then we are already aware from that. Her final words were wait until you hear from the council for 8th to be 100% back with them - she had no advice if the bailiffs do turn up. So I'm going to call and follow it up with Equita with a email as soon as I get home and then do a formal complaint anyway as it should never have got this far. I am also going to continue to pay the council via their online portal the £5 a week. Thank you all again for all your help I will keep you updated with the complaint etc N x

I am still actually at the council waiting the man has said that the manager is still in a meeting but he's trying to get an advisor to see me as they can put it in writing he can't I just want proof that I am trying to sort this and getting no where. My husband is with me, but we will need to leave soon so he can eat and do meds etc 1 of his conditions is type 1 diabetic he has to eat every few how's to maintain his sugars something we work extremely hard at and do not want slipping or the con censuses would be unthinkable. I will do as that you suggest as soo as I get home. I have no minutes to call anyone but have some data left which keeps dropping in and out to write on here and do emails etc. N x

I am seriously going to cry. At the council man at reception said write a letter! That once it's with the bailiffs there is nothing the council can do. I explained to him that I have emailed the council and Equita only receiving an automated reply from the council they will get back to me within 10 days last week I no longer have the option of time this has to be sorted today. I stated that the council are ignoring the household vulnerability I have proof with me, and that the council can call it back from the bailiffs at any time, that time is running out and I have been trying to sort this for days and being ignored I stated I can prove via my emails that I have sent an email so what's the point in writing when the email has been ignored. He stated he couldn't help at all. I asked him to put in in writing and he then changed tune and said he will see if his manager can see me she's in a meeting at the moment so will have to wait which is what I am doing nearly 40 mins so far. N x

Just had another thought while sorting my husbands meds out another way the council are fully aware of the vulnerability of the household is that the house is registered for a sharps collection! The yellow boxes they are provided by the council and I have to call them to come and take it away. I had to get one of my husbands specialist nurses to write me a letter which I took into the council. They have the original. N x

Lookingforforinfo - The council are stating it's because no payment plan was agreed and in place because they didn't receive my I&E form with my payment proposal - I sent it off the same day I spoke to them it was the last week in November so they still didn't give it very long to send it to Equita as it was sent 'at the end of December' she refused to give me the actual date considering christmas etc as well Plus they had received the 4 payments as the total due reflects this the last one being on 27th as that was a Saturday they wouldn't have received it until the 29th at the earliest. Brassnecked - I will be putting together a formal complaint today copying in as many people as I can as not one not one person I have emailed trying to sort this out has bothered to reply except for a automated reply from the council we'll get back to you within 10 days - well actually I don't have 10 days to sort this out I was given 4 clear working days to sort this out. Bailiff Advice - Yes I am going to the council offices today I have to deal with some stuff for my husband 1st - medication etc and pray that his medication equipment delivery doesn't arrive while I'm out. However I know that the council will refuse to see me without an appointment but I will insist and insist on them taking more copies of the award notices and providing receipts etc. I am getting more and more concerned Equita haven't even acknowledged my email trying to sort this. I am doing ad much in writing as I can so I have a paper trail, but I'm kinda stuck when no one will reply even if it's just to say we're looking into it. So so scared I'll get a visit with 2 children in the house and a my husband this is a nightmare that I'm trying to sort out but getting no where. Mikeymack - Thank you for taking the time to find this information out for me. We applied for discretionary payments and was refused, we a pealed and was awarded 3 months housing relief we were refused council tax, we reapplied for housing as we also are affected by the 'bedroom tax' to be refused a appealed again and was refused. I had a look and tried to apply online but because neither myself nor my husband are students it wouldn't take my application further. I'll get it printed off (when I can afford the ink for the printer or get someone to do it for me) and get it sent off as soon as I possibly can. Although my husband has some mental health issues as a direct result of his physical issues he is not serve all mentally impaired it impacts on his day to day living however but not as much as his physical illnesses it's more depression and PTSD due to how unwell he is, kinda hard to explain. Can I say many many thanks to you all again for your time and your suggestions and help. N x

Hi, Unfortunately I didn't get to the councillors surgery as my husband is really unwell and cannot be left for any period of time and I have no one who can sit with him for a while. The phone numbers for the councillors are all mobile numbers would it be acceptable to text them and ask them to call me back? as the credit I have on my phone I need to last me another week at least, and just cannot afford to call mobile numbers from my land line. I still have had no reply from anyone including Equita from my emails and time is running out fast. I really do not want a visit incuring more fee's maybe that's what they are doing ignoring so they can visit and charge me more. I want this sorted. I'm not, not paying it I know I have to and have been at a rate I can afford £5 is not much but it's what I can afford every week without defaulting if I have more I will pay more that week. I paid another £5 direct to the council via the online portal this morning. What do I do about the enforcement notice being wrong do I call Equita and inform them. I'd rather stay off the phone and do it in writing but they are ignoring my email. The email address I used was info@equita.co.uk which is the email address the lady gave me on the phone to use as there is no email address on the enforcement notice. It had gone through as it hasn't bounced back to me. Thank you again for your help N X

Thank you, not sure the leader of my council will actually help me at all as have already had a run in with him over something else and proved him to be wrong on several issues regarding children's services it's long and complicated but took several complaints and the MP's involvement and he still got factual things wrong but we'll see what happens tomorrow with the councillors. I will defiantly be telling/showing them about CAG. Just so I have it right in my head the issues are the fact that Capita/Equita are ignoring vunribility (ignoring me full stop) : there have been regular payments to this account and it was sent to equita after several payments had been made : the enforcement notice is wrong as gives too short a time to deal with the issue. Thank you as soon as I have a spare few quid I will be making a donation N x

Thank you all again for your help I have emailed all 3 of my councillors and by looking for their numbers to call tomorrow to follow up the emails I have discovered that they do their surgery tomorrow so I will pop down there and discuss it with them. I will let you know how I get on. Once again thank you so much for your help I really hope that we can get this back with the council. N x

Bailif advice yes the Notice says Date Notice issued 05/01/2015 and on the back it states you must pay or agree a payment arraqngement with the Enforcement agent by date 13/01/2015 time 17:30pm I know for a fact I received this on 7th January as I called the council and equita and sent the email below the same afternoon. To whom it may concern, Re: Equita reference: XXXXXXXX London Borough of Bexley Reference: XXXXXXXXX Complaint I am writing to you to inform you that my household comes under the national guidelines for vulnerability due to a member of the household being disabled and receiving disability benefits of PIP enhanced rate for both care and mobility proff of this can be provided along with the households only income coming from out of work/disability benefits. The London Borough of Bexley are fully aware of this as they have copies of the PIP award notice along with the subsequent carers award notice within the council and housing relief claim. I am asking due to this that the account be returned to the council to whom I have been making regular payments since December 1st when I became aware that there was a miscommunication with myself and the London Borough of Bexley regarding the set up of a payment schedule. I was informed that a payment plan had been defaulted on at the end of November when I was unaware that there was a payment plan in place as the last conversation I had had with the London Borough of Bexley was that they were applying for an attachment of benefits to pay the outstanding amount of £152.06. I spoke to a gentleman who stated that I needed to pay £12 a week, I explained I could not afford £12 a week but I could afford £5 a week he told me to fill in the income and expenditure form and send it off which I did and I started to pay the £5 a week to date I have made 4 payments totalling £30 all before this account was sent off to Equita Payment dates and references are as follows. 1/12/14 - XXXXXXXXXXXX £5 7/12/14 - XXXXXXXXXXXX £5 24/12/14 - XXXXXXXXXXXX £15 27/12/14 - XXXXXXXXXXX £5 This account is not, not being paid as soon as I became aware of the issues regarding attachments of benefits I made payments and have continued to make payments. I will continue to make payments to the London borough of Bexley for this account of £5 per week. By sending this account to Equita London borough of Bexley has caused unnecessary fees to be added to a account that was being paid regularly. Causing distress and more debt to a vulnerable household. I spoke to a lady at the London borough of Bexley this afternoon as soon as I became aware that the account had been sent to Equita who informed me that there was nothing could be done the account is with the bailiffs and the council cannot recall the account was sent to Equitaat the 'end of December' despite payments being made regularly throughout December. I know this to be untrue as the council can recall the account from Equita at any time due to the household vulnerability and the fact that the account is being paid. I spoke to a lady at Equita who advised me to email this and she would put a note on the account. Yours' The car is displaying a disabled car tax disk, and yes he has a blue badge so will speak to him about displaying it at all times atlthough there have been several cars broken into and their badges taken. I just had a look at the link for the councillors and there is no phone number for any of them just a email form so I will use that to contact them tonight with the email above or do I need to add any more to it for their information/ I will get the DWP award notices scanned ready to be sent to Equita. I am planning on going to the council in person with them on Monday morning and they can take a copy for their records and provide a recipt of receving them Thank you once again N x

I did email both Equita and the council stating all i have above and marked it in both the header and the actual email complaint but have heard nothing from either apart from a auto response from the council stating they received it and would be in contact within 10 days. I will try and get on a computer that I can copy and paste it as i cant on my phone, so you can see if I've done it right. I really am not trying to get out of paying it i have been paying it,as soon as i became aware the last week in november my next pay date i paid the £5 but obviously I don't want to pay the fees or deal with bailiffs at my door with a sick husband and 2 children. Thank you again

Hi, Thank you for your help. How do I find the contact details for the councillors? Would it be on the council's website? It is a capita run council I believe London borough of Bexley. I can 100% prove that my husband and that we are married recieves enhanced rate care and mobility PIP and I receive carers allowance for him. So due to this I think we come under the vulnerability guidelines as he is disabled and very long term unwell. The council are already aware of these issues as they have copies of the award notices as part of the housing and council tax relief claim. The notice of enforcement is dated 5/01/2015 I received it via royal mail at about 1:30pm on 7/01/2015. It's for £122.06 for the debt so they have received the 4 payments and deducted these from the original amount as the liability order was for £152.06 plus a compliance stage fee of £75 total £197.06. They have sent this to Equita even tho regular payments were being made. The lady at the council said that you are liable to pay it I'm not disagreeing as I am paying it but I just can't afford to pay the bailiffs fees when there is no need for it and I did send off the income and expenditure form as well as starting to make payments. Do I continue to make payments direct to the council as am due to make one tomorrow when my money goes into my account. Thank you again N X

Hi, I just want to check that I am dealing with the issue I have correctly. It's regarding council tax. There was some miscommunication between the council and myself, they obtained a liability order in June for the remainder of this year's c tax total cost £152.06 I telephoned them as soon as I became aware explained our situation to them and was told we can do a direct payment from benefits. Unbeknown to me the DWP returned this in September as apparently they can't take straight from ESA (it's my husbands claim as a joint claim, he is in the support group. I became aware of this at the end of November I received a notice from the council that I had defaulted on a payment arrangement it was news to me I telephoned them to be told that in September they had set up a payment arrangement of £12 something a month was news to me. I explained our finances yet again to the man and told him I could afford £5 a week the council wanted £12 a week. He told me to fill in the income and expenditure form and send it off with my proposed payment which I did and started to pay £5 a week so far I have made 4 payments totaling £30 since December 1st. Now comes the issue 2 days ago I received a notice from Equita that the account was with them and I have until 17:30pm on 13th to pay the account they have added £75 fee. I telephoned the council to ask what was going on as I am paying it to be told they haven't received the income and expenditure form so there is no payment arrangement in place and they sent it to Equita at the end of December. I asked them due to the fact I am paying it and I believe my household comes under the vulnerability guidelines due to my husband receiving both enhanced rate for mobility and care PIP the car is a mobility car would they please recall it from Equita I was told no I had to pay the bailiffs and they are not allowed to recall it. I called Equita and explained to them about the vulnerability issue and that I have been paying it the girl on the phone told me to email them with a complaint explaining it all including payment dates and references which I have done 2 days ago and have had no reply I copied the council into the email and received a standard reply we'll get back to you in 10 days, Equita haven't replied at all and I'm getting concerned that we will receive a visit which will result in more fees. What do I do now? I really cannot deal with a visit and associated fee's etc the council should never ever have sent it to Equita in the 1st place as I have been paying have made 4 payments 3 for £5 and 1 for £15 & will be making another £5 payment direct to the council tomorrow via online portal. I am my husbands career and receive carers allowance for this as he is on the highest rate for both mobility and care PIP I can and have told Equita that I can provide them with the award notices. Many thanks for your help in advance. N X

Hi all, Many thanks for the advice, could anyone help with the wording of a letter to challenge the fee's I assume I have to challange JBW 1st? And wording for a complaint to the relavant people? I live within the M25, The bailiffs that we had contact with knew my 3 year old daughter was in the house crying and scared and all I got from him was boo hoo never mind it's our job to scare people kind of thing pay up or else we take the car, they clamped it on the drive before knocking. He stated there were no venerability guidelines until i printed them off and handed them to him from my understanding we come under partner has a serious and life threatening illness and we are on benifitis. He then refused to accept I was on my husbands ESA claim because the letter was addressed to him. My husband even phoned DWP and asked them to confirm with the bailiff that I was on the claim, Bailiff stated you could have phoned anyone, told him that he could dial the number himself hubby would talk to them and give permission for DWP to give him the information he refused to do this. I finally fond a letter from DWP stating the amount we received because I as classed as a carer (to my son not hubby at the moment) He finally left after telling us we had to pay £100 a month there i no way on earth we can afford that. I also asked to see the 'warrant' and ID was told no to both they didn't have to show either which I know is wrong. I did a Google search for that Bailiff and found a blog about him one entry wasn't very nice at all not sure if i am allowed to link it here, The blog entry has a image of his 'General Certificate' however the photo does not look anything like the man who was at my address, I think although cannot be 100% sure they are not the same person. But the Name is the same and the area he was certified at is within the area that I live if this makes sense? The Blog post fees etc are almost identical to what we have been given on breakdown of fees etc Many thanks again in advance for any advice or help. Nic

Hi all, Unfortunaly I was unable to contact the TEC due to major issues with my son. We received a visit from the bailiffs on 12th Dec and were able to send them away after more than an hour of arguing about weather I was a part of my husbands ESA claim because I am not named on the letter they sent to say he was in reciept of ESA we now have proof of this from the Job Center. The debt has gone up to £844.24 I sent off for a breakdown of their charges and this afternoon received this Debt £172.00 14th November Letter Fee £11.20 + Vat £2.24 14th November Closeing Fee £5.00 + Vat £1.00 14th November ATL Fee £52.00 + Vat £10.40 28th November ATR Fee £175 = Vat £35.00 28th November ATL Fee £59.00 =Vat £11.80 5th December Levy Fee £63.00 + Vat £12.60 12th December Apprassal fee £20.00 + Vat £4.00 12th December ATR Fee £175 + Vat £35.00 12th December They have given me the times of these visits and I can say with 100% certancy that we were in the house car on the drive yet no actual physical contact with anyone until the 12th. I also asked fr the names of the bailiffs who visited and have 3 names the letter I received from JBW has told me if i want further information in regards to their certification the to visit a web address which I have and search fr these 3 people and none of them come up at all it states 'Nothing found to display' I've search JBW and JBW group as an employer and again nothing. I understand that some of these fees are wrong which ones? the figures just don't add p either from their own attendance notice on 28th that was pushed through the door to the breakdown hey have sent me, i.e the original debt on the breakdown is £172 but on the notice is more the attendance fees are diffrent as well. what do I do next? Many thanks in advance for any help you can give Nick