Help needed please - Council Tax Baliff charges for not visiting

[Wisingup]

Hello there,

 

I will try and give as much info as possible, we fell behind with our council tax and was taken to court by Birmingham City Council, anyway the long and short of it is that we entered into an agreement for £70 per month for 8 months with the last payment being due in February 2011. We tried to make the Dec payment towards the end of the month and hey presto Equita's office was closed for Christmas, and didnt re-open until yesterday. Hubby called first thing yesterday morning to make the payment of £70 and they refused to take the payment stating that it had been passed to their bailiff for collection and we had to contact him. So we called the bailiff (yesterday) who said that he didnt have the paperwork and we would have to call him today which after several hours of trying to get through to him managed to eventually speak to him. Our total amount outstanding was £140 and he said that we had to pay him £306 or he was coming to collect goods, my husband was in shock, when he spoke to this guy earlier he said that he may be able to waiver his fee and that hubby was to call him back at 4pm to see what he could do, but that was the outcome. Hubby asked him to justify his charges and the reply he received was that if my husband continue to speak to him like that then he would be round in the morning. He demanded a holding fee of £100 and we could pay the rest (i.e. £206) at the end of the month, so hubby paid the £100, he called Equita to complain and was fobbed off basically. I told hubby to call this Bailff and pay the £206 as I am as nervous as hell that this guy will be camped on the door step tomorrow morning with the police, so hubby called him, so as of now a bill that was £140 has INCREASED TO £306.

 

I would like to add that there was no visit, no phonecall, no nothing from this guy, this phonecall cost us £156 all because we were a few days late making a payment and their offices were closed for Christmas.

 

Happy bl**dy new year.

 

What can we do?

 

anything or is that the end of it?

 

[Wisingup]

can anyone please help, only I have spoken to the bailff to ask him name and ID number and have been threatened by him

 

if anyone can offer any advice I would be grateful.

 

[ploddertom]

Birmingham City Council appear to use a back office provider for most of their admin work. This is administered by a Company called Capita who in turn own a firm of Bailiffs called Equita - do you see the route we are going. Do you know any of the following:

1 - how much the Liability Order was for

2 - how much the Bailiff has charged you to date

3 - how much you have actually paid the Bailiff

 

Tomorrow morning you should ring the Council and ask:

1 - how much the Liability Order was for

2 - how much is still outstanding - if you know how much you have paid the Bailiff the difference may be revealing

3 - what period of time the LO covers

4 - the date they passed it to the Bailiff

 

For the Bailiff you need to know how much they have charged so far by asking for a breakdown of charges. Here's an example of what to use, adapt as you see fit and send by both email & post using Signed For.

 

"From:

My Name

My Address

 

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

 

Ref: Account No: 123456

 

Dear Sir

 

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the 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"

 

There is no law that says you have to deal with or speak to a Bailiff. You may instead pay direct to the Council using their website or automated phone service. The Bailiff will no doubt get upset and may threaten all manner of things. You have to be strong and keep him at bay. Has he been in your home and levied on any goods, if so could you list them here. If it turns out you have overpaid then you will be due reimbursement, you have 6 years to do this and if the Bailiffs remain stroppy you ask the Council as they are 100% responsible.

 

PT

[ploddertom]

can anyone please help, only I have spoken to the bailff to ask him name and ID number and have been threatened by him

 

if anyone can offer any advice I would be grateful.

 

 

Only speak on the phone if you can record the call - did you do so on this occasion.

 

PT

[Wisingup]

hi there i can answer allof your questions;

 

1 - how much the Liability Order was for £849

2 - how much the Bailiff has charged you to date £157

3 - how much you have actually paid the Bailiff £306.23

 

1 - how much the Liability Order was for £849

2 - how much is still outstanding - if you know how much you have paid the Bailiff the difference may be revealing £0 paid the bailiff an extra £157

3 - what period of time the LO covers Feb 2009 - Feb 2010

4 - the date they passed it to the Bailiff 4 Jan 2011

 

there were 2 payments left of £70 and he charged us £157 for taking the payments over phone. we are so sooooo cross, no he has not visited and no he had not levied goods, my husband made calls to him as the account was passed too him the minute Equita's office opened yesterday morning. i am considering making a complaint to the courts. we got nothing to lose and as he was agessive and threatening why shouldnt we?

Edited January 5, 2011 by Wisingup

[ploddertom]

hi there i can answer allof your questions;

 

1 - how much the Liability Order was for £849 - is this the figure the Council gave

2 - how much the Bailiff has charged you to date £157 - which breakdown to what

3 - how much you have actually paid the Bailiff £306.23 - see below

 

there were 2 payments left of £70 and he charged us £157 for taking the payments over phone. we are so sooooo cross, no he has not visited and no he had not levied goods, my husband made calls to him as the account was passed too him the minute Equita's office opened yesterday morning. i am considering making a complaint to the courts. we got nothing to lose and as he was agessive and threatening why shouldnt we?

 

If you LO was for £849 & Bailiff charges are £157 that totals £1006. You also say that you have paid £306-23 to them - that appears to still leave best part of £700 outstanding. Unless I've picked it up wrong. Make sure you send off for the breakdown of charges.

 

PT

[Wisingup]

sorry my mistake, we made alll of our monthly payments and the outstanding balance at end of Dec was £149 which we had no choice but to pay to the bailiff today, he refused to give a breakdon of his costs saying that if that is a route we want to go down that he be around the house tomorrow.

 

£849 was the figure from BCC, we have no idea what he had charged us for, none at all

[ploddertom]

The good thing is that you are now paid up to date and there is no longer the fear of the knock on the door. Sending off for the breakdown of charges should reveal all you need to know. When you get your reply come back here and we'll make comment about the charges and if there are overpayments there can help you claim these all back. For now enjoy a large latte.

 

Postal Address to send breakdown to:

Equita Limited

42-44 Henry Street

Northampton

NN1 4BZ

email: info@equita.co.uk

 

PT

[Wisingup]

PT thanks for youradvice, I will do that today.

 

and guess what surprise surprise, the bailiff was outside the front of the house this morning at 6.56am, taking a good look at our cars! no notice put in the front door though so will wait and see waht happens today.

 

Wisingup

[Wisingup]

can anyone tell me if this bailff is allowed to charge me what he has for doing nothing? not even a visit? he only took a phonecall?

[jimbo45]

PLEASE PEOPLE when dealing with late Council Tax demands

 

-- NEVER EVER DEAL WITH A BAILIFF. You DON'T HAVE TO. NEVER EVER LET THEM IN EITHER EVEN TO USE THE LOO.

 

The only amounts that can be charged are for TWO VISITS irrespective of the number of times they attempt to call. The total amount is around 40 GBP for the two visits.

 

The Council CAN add these charges to their bill.

 

Also always demand to see the Liability order -- you will be surprised in the difference generally between what the Council SAY you owe and what the Bailiff is demanding.

 

Eventually the Council will have to take the debt back. Just come to some arrangement with them. If they don't want to do this keep copies of all letters (Never use the phone in these situations) you will be in a really strong position if it goes back to Court again.

 

If everybody with Council Tax arrears stood up to the ILLEGAL charges and bullying tactics of these thugs the whole use of Bailiff's would swiftly die out.

 

Using "Mafia" and strong arm tactics in a 12 th century method of Tax collection is NOT on in the 21 st.

 

Incidentally if they've charged extra fees / Van fees / waiting time etc these ARE NOT ALLOWED.

 

BUT DO NOT EVER EVER EVER LET THEM IN -- you don't even have to speak to them even through the letterbox and if they won't go away call the POLICE to have them removed.

 

Incidentally even if the Council refuse your offer of payment you can usuually make some type of payment via the online system.

 

Their Web designers aren't usually that good so your payment won't be blocked.

 

The Bailiff will eventually in any case return the debt to the council if he can't collect. the Nr 1 Rule is NEVER LET THEM IN, LOCK ALL DOORS / WINDOWS and hide vehicles.

 

Cheers

jimbo

Edited January 6, 2011 by jimbo45

[Surfer01]

It looks as if this bailiff has overstepped their mark and is guilty of fraud which si why they are threatening you with other action if you ask for a breakdown. All the more reason to get a breakdown. Probably find that they owe you money and not the other way around!. What does the council say you still owe?

[Wisingup]

when we called Equita they confirmed that the payments of £149.23 we made cleared the accoun - so thank fully we owe nothing.

[brassnecked]

when we called Equita they confirmed that the payments of £149.23 we made cleared the accoun - so thank fully we owe nothing.

 

If the bailiffs return, and try it on for phantom fees, come back and I'm sure the correct advice will be forthcoming.

[fork-it]

Capture everying on video using your mobile.

[Wisingup]

Having checked my bank statement it appears that they have charged us £2 for taking our payments over the phone.

[fork-it]

There if no legislation enabling bailiffs to charge £2 to take payment by phone.

 

If you did not agree to the transaction then you need to contact your bank and reclaim it. The bank might require you to get a crime number. The offence is defined in Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.

[Wisingup]

hello there fork-it, the card charges are included in the payments he took, my husband was not informed that there would be an additional charge to make the payment by phone, how do we claim back from the bank that part of the payment? Do we have to go to the police and made a complaint?

[Wisingup]

Jimbo, thanks for your reply, what is irking us at the minute is the fact that this toe-rag did nothing but talk to my husband on the phone, when we tried to talk to the staff at the equita office they wernt interested in the slightest, wouldnt take a payment from us - nothing. they kept saying that we had to speak to a guy called ***** and simply transferred the call, we had no idea who this guy was except he wasnt going away. when speaking to my husband he said that he had people fleeing the country to get away from him and if necessary he would enter the house to take goods, he said all sots to my husband to frighten us and it worked. that was the easiest £157 he must have made ever. when I called hm to ask his surname he then threatendto come to the house to see me and to bring the police as he had the 'Right'.

 

Does Birmingham Ciy Council know how their bailiffs are thretening people who owe council tax - or do they just not care?

[ploddertom]

Have you sent off for the breakdown of charges yet?

 

PT

[Wisingup]

hi there pt

 

yes it went on thursday, so now i wait.

[Wisingup]

still nooooo news......

[Wisingup]

Update

 

grrrrrr Equita have written in response to my letter and asked for £10 to release the information that we have asked for, what a nerve..... do I have to pay it?

 

any help on this would be appreciated.

[night-watchman]

If you have requested a breakdown they cannot charge for it. If you requested a SAR then it will cost you £10.

[hallowitch]

send a formal complaint to CEO of your council include a copy of the letter you sent Equita and there reply

 

send an e-mail to Equita and remind them of there obligation under the national standards for enforcement agents

 

http://www.dca.gov.uk/enforcement/agents02.htm

If a written request is made an itemised account of fees will be provided.

 

it wont do any harm to get your MP involved also