equita letters

[swantop]

hi in a spot of bother here 3 days ago i received 3 letters from equita (notice of enforcement) 3 days later another 3 saying they are preparing action, each of the first 3 have different amounts and the next 3 refer to the first 3 (non payment of council tax).

i live in a bedsit of a house that is split into 3 dwellings 2 flats and me in basement its one large room that has a bathroom in the room.
am a carer for a lady whom i help financially i work part time and quite frankly struggle every month to keep my head above water (like most) and the council tax is one thing i have bother with paying i have an attachment of earnings already in place for previous arrears i know you can have up to 2 attachments, and know i must pay should i ask them to make an attachment, is this the best way to go. because I ve had these letters does this mean the council wont help me now? when i had this before i was told to deal with the bailiff and not them that is why i let it go to ate, because they would not let me explain the situation so its making me a bit nervous about making the phone call and who i call first. help please

[PAWS]

Re: equita letters

Hi Swantop.
Try not to worry; someone will be along shortly to give you some sound advice.:okay:

[Guest]

Re: equita letters

What is important here, is to contact Equita asap to stop them visiting which will cost you another £235.

I would put it in writing, copying the council in. I would state that as far as you are aware, you only owe 1 lot of CT. You are currently paying off an older years tax via an AOE. You will be happy to add this other set of arrears to the AOE or you will pay the minimum weekly amount (£3.65), whatever Equita prefer. You will also be writing to the council separately to discover why you are being chased for 3 separate accounts. Make it clear that at this stage, you only accept liability for one of the 3 accounts.

You then need to write to the council, asking what these accounts relate to, or better still, give them a call and see whats going on.

You will have needed to have had notices and summonses for these accounts, ask the council to confirm that these were sent to you.

[swantop]

Re: equita letters

many thanks for your excellent advice I have done exactly that, although equita say they want £300 a month which was what they said the council would only agree to, but when i spoke to the council they said they had not set an amount and i should only pay what i can afford. and in actual fact considering that i have previous arrears, they were really helpful, even suggesting i should apply for benefit help, because i work part time, low and behold i did a check a found i can get about £50 a week towards my CT and rent. and could have had this help 3 years ago. That's what you get for behaving like an Ostrich!! i now am producing a statement of finances to send to both parties.once again THANK YOU

[enaid]

Re: equita letters

I would check with your council too, as you may be able to back date your claim.

[bluebottle]

Re: equita letters

many thanks for your excellent advice I have done exactly that, although equita say they want £300 a month which was what they said the council would only agree to, but when i spoke to the council they said they had not set an amount and i should only pay what i can afford. and in actual fact considering that i have previous arrears, they were really helpful, even suggesting i shouldapply for benefit help, because i work part time, low and behold i did a check a found i can get about £50 a week towards my CT and rent. and could have had this help 3 years ago. That's what you get for behaving like an Ostrich!! i now am producing a statement of finances to send to both parties.once again THANK YOU

Then the Head of Revenues at the council needs to call in Equita's senior management and kick their backsides around the town hall car park a few times. Better still, the council could and should serve Equita and its parent company Capita with a notice warning them that if they continue to engage in practices that bring the council into disrepute or expose it to litigation or other legal proceedings, their contract will be terminated. Some councils have a strict policy on malpractice by contractors and will only allow as few as two such instances before resorting to termination of the contract. Check with your ward councillors to see what the council's policy is on malpractice by contractors.