Equita baliff turing up after full payment of Council tax debt.

[eeenigma]

An Equita baliff turned up last week (22-11-2010) and posted a removal notice through my door for collection of a debt to the local council, regarding council tax, which had already been paid (8-11-2010) to the local authority.

 

 

Am I liable for any charges regarding this and anything after the 8-11-2010?

 

I contacted the baliff on the notice and he said that he would look into it and took details of the payments I had made directly to the council to discharge the debt and told me he would call back.

I am going to write to equita and ask for a breakdown of charges, is there anything else I should ask about ( I'll be using the letter posted elsewhere on this site.)

 

 

 

Tia

eeeni

[hallowitch]

find out from your council the date of the liability order and the date it was passed to Equia

 

 

your council should have sent you a letter informing you that they have a liability order and asking you pay the debt within 14 days or they will pass the debt over to the bailiffs to collect this letter must be sent before any bailiff action commences thats why the dates are important

 

the bailiff will be looking for 1st&2nd visit fees total £42.50

 

most councils don't administrate there council tax they outsource the work some councils use a firm called Capita this firm owns Equita

[eeenigma]

find out from your council the date of the liability order and the date it was passed to Equia

 

 

your council should have sent you a letter informing you that they have a liability order and asking you pay the debt within 14 days or they will pass the debt over to the bailiffs to collect this letter must be sent before any bailiff action commences thats why the dates are important

yes I received a council tax 14 day notice on the 14/09/2010 for the full amount of council tax for the year even though I was claiming council tax benefit.

 

I paid what I thought I owed for the time I was not claiming, but forgot the £95 costs.

which I paid as soon as I was able.

the bailiff will be looking for 1st&2nd visit fees total £42.50

so even though I had paid the debt to the council before the first visit by a bailiff, I am/would still be liable for their visit?

 

most councils don't administrate there council tax they outsource the work some councils use a firm called Capita this firm owns Equita

Capita would make sense as it's a London Borough. No wonder the whole thing is was mess from the beginning.

 

 

 

He has written the registration of a vehicle of which I am the registered keeper (though not the owner) and a sum of £319.40 of which there is no breakdown, on a bailiff removal notice, can I ignore this sum and offer him £42.50 to clear the debt to Equita or should I try and get the charges dropped?

[hallowitch]

yes I received a council tax 14 day notice on the 14/09/2010 for the full amount of council tax for the year even though I was claiming council tax benefit.

 

I paid what I thought I owed for the time I was not claiming, but forgot the £95 costs.

which I paid as soon as I was able.

 

didn't the council give you an adjusted balance to pay after you ct rebate was worked out including the £95 costs

 

so even though I had paid the debt to the council before the first visit by a bailiff, I am/would still be liable for their visit?

 

no you the debt before there were any bailiff visits

He has written the registration of a vehicle of which I am the registered keeper (though not the owner) and a sum of £319.40 of which there is no Breakdown, on a bailiff removal notice, can I ignore this sum and offer him £42.50 to clear the debt to Equita or should I try and get the charges dropped?

 

how much was the debt

 

 

until this is sorted out the bailiff will continue to peruse this as far as he will be concerned you owe the money phoning the bailiff/Equita/council will be no good you would be advised to put everything in writing by e-mail and recorded delivery letter

 

a good place to start is to get the breakdown of fees from Equita if you can proof the car does not belong to you send this also

anything you send Eqita send a copy to the council (head of revenues) and vise versa

[eeenigma]

thank you very much for the quick replies. It is most appreciated.

 

yes the council sent me a revised council tax bill dated 29/9/2010 received 02 or 05 oct for £433.85.

I paid £341.45 on the 29/09/2010 which is what I calculated to be the amount owing leaving an outstanding balance of 92.40

and £111 on 08/11/2010 after my JSA had come through (couldn't find the paperwork when I paid this so I erred on overpayment)

 

so my best course of action is to send a letter asking for a breakdown of charges from Equita ( and a copy to the local council ) via registered letter and take it from there?

[hallowitch]

send a letter to the revenues department informing them that you have had a bailiff levy on goods for a debt that is paid give a breakdown of

Letter received 14 day notice received 14/09 paid £xxx received revised amount letter (date) paid remainder (date) Ect also inform them that you have sent for a breakdown of charges (include a copy of the breakdown letter) and you want to know what he is going to do to resolve the situation as all debts were paid before any visit therefore there was no need for the bailiffs visit on(date ) to levy goods

 

send by e-mail and recorded deliver letter

 

send the template that is on here

 

"From:

My Name

My Address

 

To:

Acme bailiff Co

Bailiff House

 

Ref: Account No: 123456

 

Dear Sir

 

With reference to the above account,

 

Bailiff Mr xxx levied goods on the (date) for council tax arrears this debt was paid in full on 8/11/210 as there was no debt to pay i believe these fees should not have been charged i have sent a letter to the revenues department to look into why this visit took place and goods were levied for a debt that was paid before any bailiff visit to levy distress however for my records i require the following information

A copy of your complaints procedure

A breakdown of charges.

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were certificated at.

e - the date of the Certification.

 

This is not a Subject access request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

 

I require this information within 14 days.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Ripped off customer"

 

PT

 

[eeenigma]

thank you once again.

 

have written and printed the letters and will send them first thing monday morning via registered post.

I'll let you know what is happening when I have a response from one or the other.

 

kind regards

eeeni

[Tingy]

I would also be tempted to e-mail the CEO of your council expplaining what has happened, reminding him/her the council are vicariously liable and ask for this levy to be removed immediately.

[seanamarts]

If any visits were made after you had paid the council then you owe the bailiff nothing. Be very careful though as he may well end up telling you he visited before you had paid anything, so follow what hallowitch has said and get a full breakdown of charges and when visits were made.