New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

[julia305]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

Thank you. I have found an email address for them as I'd really like to put it all in writing so gonna try emailing Equita in a moment. If I dont hear back from them i'll call them. Thanks again everyone

[Kati]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

Personally, I would contact the bailiffs saying you are in contact with the council (as per The Starving Taxpayer's post)

contact Equita, advising that you have emailed the council requesting that the debt is taken back and that you ask for recovery action to be suspended whilst awaiting a decision.

and then get back in touch with the council asking again that they recall the debt quoting

section 4.5 of the Guidance of Enforcement of Council Tax Arrears states "Local Authorities should remain prepared to deal directly with individuals at any point. It is perfectly within their gift to call action back from the bailiffs at any time and where there is a case to do so they should consider such action"

It may not work (and most council's will say they cannot now do anything as "the matter is now with the bailiffs") but the fact remains that EA action for council tax is contracted by the council, so the bailiffs are employees of the council in this respect. The council's own guidelines are there for a reason, and julia305 has a right to request they are followed :tinysmile_grin_t:

[ploddertom]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

One thing you should know is that if Equita are involved then the chances are your Council has outsourced its back office procedures to a company called Capita. They in turn own 2 Enforcement Co's one of which just so happens to be Equita. There is therefore a good chance if you ring the Council you will end up speaking to a Capita employee and they have form for not being very cooperative. If this happens ask to speak to someone further up the tree.

[julia305]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

Ohhh ok. Well i've emailed again and emailed Equita - i'm at work at the moment and obviously cant make any personal calls. I've not heard anything back from anybody!! Surprise surprise. I guess the worst that can happen is that they refuse my offer and send the bailiff round in which case I'll not answer the door and keep paying the council. Do you have any idea how many times the bailiff will try knocking before he gives up and hands it back to the council? Obviously i'd prefer this not to happen due to the fees. I've made a point of saying in both emails that i wish to avoid incurring further unnessary costs not that this will make much difference I suppose.

[ploddertom]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

The Notice of Enforcement you received:
When was it dated?
When did you receive it?
How was it delivered?
What date & time have they given for reply.?

I've asked the above as Equita had form for not complying with the 7 clear days Notice in which case it is possible to argue the fee charged.

[ploddertom]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

There has been a lot said all over the place that regardless of contact and payment proposals that there are some who refuse outright only accepting payment in full. Doing this allows them to then move to the next Enforcement stage & charge £235 - it does now appear that the MoJ is wise to this & possible action may follow.

[julia305]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

I received it on Saturday in the post. Its dated 27 August and i have until 4 September 17.30hrs to contact them. I think it was delivered first class post but to be honest I cant say for definite. Pretty sure it had a post mark on it though. What would you recommend if they outright refuse my offer? Should I just say OK then and let them keep knocking? How many times do they usually try?

[ploddertom]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

The offer you have made is more than generous in my view. If they do turn it down then get straight on to your local Councillor(s) and ask they help intervene - best initial contact is by phone. From the dates you have given the Notice of Enforcement appears to be defective in that they have given insufficient time - a letter dated 27/8 sould give a date about 8 September to comply - again this enough to argue their £75 fee.

[julia305]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

Really? That's interesting. I wonder do you know of any legislation i can quote to them to argue my point lol? I'm dreading ringing them - have never been in this situation before its awful.

[Kati]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

The notice of enforcement must:

• contain all the information and the wording shown in the example below
• be signed by the bailiff
• give you at least seven days' notice before bailiff action starts, not including the day the notice is issued, the day of the visit, Sundays, bank holidays, Good Friday or Christmas Day, unless the bailiff has a court order allowing them to give you less notice. For example, if the notice of enforcement is issued on a Tuesday, the earliest the bailiff can visit is the Thursday of the following week
• be sent to you in writing by post or hand delivery to your home or business, by fax or email, by fixing the notice prominently to your premises if you don't have a letterbox, or by being given to you in person.

If the notice of enforcement doesn't keep to these rules, you can complain to the bailiff firm and ask them to put their action on hold while they issue a new notice.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/englan...bailiffs_e.htm

:tinysmile_grin_t:

[julia305]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

Nope its not signed i just double checked. Is dated 27 August so i got something like 4 or 5 clear days notice. Well i'll put my offer to them - they still havent responded to my email - and if they refuse my offer then I'll tell them the notice is defective and see what they say. What if they just railroad me and say they are coming anyway? I have no idea of my rightws here

[Kati]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

They cannot enforce on a defective notice :tinysmile_twink_t2: - I'm sure there are those that will disagree with me (I'm told complaints aren't always the best way), but I would jump in now and put in a complaint about it. If the notice is wrong, they have to send you out a new one before being able to enforce it

[julia305]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

That's good news! I've emailed them again (i'm doing everything to avoid speaking to them lol). I think i'll see if they have a fax i can send a letter to.

[ploddertom]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

Really? That's interesting. I wonder do you know of any legislation i can quote to them to argue my point lol? I'm dreading ringing them - have never been in this situation before its awful.

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...tutory-Notices also look up The Taking of Goods Regulations

[Kati]

Re: New member - Council tax arrears Equitas

this: