Debt collections agency after old council tax debt
Discussion
I have just been contacted via mobile phone by "Equita" who are chasing a debt that relates to council tax on a flat I own.
I did not realise that Council Tax still accrues even if no one is living in the property and this resulted in a circa £1k liability building up over a year.
I settled this with Equita some months ago, but I refused to pay £150 for them sensding me two letters. They are now on my case again.
I have no intention of witholding a penny from the Council, but I do not want to pay Equit £150 for sending me a few letters.
What is the legality here? I understand that there is tight regulation of fees for bailiffs.
I did not realise that Council Tax still accrues even if no one is living in the property and this resulted in a circa £1k liability building up over a year.
I settled this with Equita some months ago, but I refused to pay £150 for them sensding me two letters. They are now on my case again.
I have no intention of witholding a penny from the Council, but I do not want to pay Equit £150 for sending me a few letters.
What is the legality here? I understand that there is tight regulation of fees for bailiffs.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/a...
Says there £75 per letter is the accepted fee. I'd pay up if I were you.
Says there £75 per letter is the accepted fee. I'd pay up if I were you.
Write a very very very nice letter to the council explaining the debt has been cleared at the earliest opportunity and ask if they can close this case as a gesture of goodwill.
The bailiffs will just keep chasing you and will only stop when they council tell them to back off.
If you are very nice, and you catch the recipient of that letter on a good day, they will tell the bailiffs to back off.
It's purely down to their discretion and it is certainly worht a try, so good luck.
The bailiffs will just keep chasing you and will only stop when they council tell them to back off.
If you are very nice, and you catch the recipient of that letter on a good day, they will tell the bailiffs to back off.
It's purely down to their discretion and it is certainly worht a try, so good luck.
They might be 'entitled' to it, but they certainly do not deserve it, nor have they earned it.
You must fight this. if they persist, contact the council again as it seems this was through no fault of your won, was unintentional and the debt has been cleared at the earlisest opportunity
I had a very similar situation not long ago and the council closed the matter and also instructed the bailiffs to do so.
You must fight this. if they persist, contact the council again as it seems this was through no fault of your won, was unintentional and the debt has been cleared at the earlisest opportunity
I had a very similar situation not long ago and the council closed the matter and also instructed the bailiffs to do so.
nitrodave said:
They might be 'entitled' to it, but they certainly do not deserve it, nor have they earned it.
You must fight this. if they persist, contact the council again as it seems this was through no fault of your won, was unintentional and the debt has been cleared at the earlisest opportunity
I had a very similar situation not long ago and the council closed the matter and also instructed the bailiffs to do so.
Who paid the debt then? Other Council Tax Payers?You must fight this. if they persist, contact the council again as it seems this was through no fault of your won, was unintentional and the debt has been cleared at the earlisest opportunity
I had a very similar situation not long ago and the council closed the matter and also instructed the bailiffs to do so.
nitrodave said:
They might be 'entitled' to it, but they certainly do not deserve it, nor have they earned it.
You must fight this. if they persist, contact the council again as it seems this was through no fault of your won, was unintentional and the debt has been cleared at the earlisest opportunity
I had a very similar situation not long ago and the council closed the matter and also instructed the bailiffs to do so.
I don't agree with all of this.You must fight this. if they persist, contact the council again as it seems this was through no fault of your won, was unintentional and the debt has been cleared at the earlisest opportunity
I had a very similar situation not long ago and the council closed the matter and also instructed the bailiffs to do so.
The debt recovery agency have bought the debt and sent two letters. I am not sure they deserve it but I do think they have earned it.
Also, whilst I agree this was unintentional, it was not through no fault of the OP (sorry OP). Ignorance of the law is no defence. If your property is empty it should be an obvious item to check, much like all utilities and Insurance cover. I am sure Google would give the answer.
PurpleMoonlight said:
I should check your credit records.
I might be wrong, but I think the Council needs to get a Court Order against you before they can instruct bailiffs to collect the debt.
If they bailiffs have been correctly appointed you have to pay their fees.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I do not think sending a couple of letters justifies £150 charge.I might be wrong, but I think the Council needs to get a Court Order against you before they can instruct bailiffs to collect the debt.
If they bailiffs have been correctly appointed you have to pay their fees.
The OP said he cleared the debt owed to the council. I did the same, cleared the debt the moment I was made aware of it.
In my case the charges from the bailiffs for the letters they sent were voided on request of the council and that was it.
Some people might want to just pay up and move on, but something like this is worth a bit of effort to clear.
As for credit history, council tax has no effect on it, even if a court judgement takes place.
In my case, I was away for a long time and unaware the direct debit to the council had stopped. When I returned there were a few months outstanding, it went to court, then debt collectors, all whilst I was away.
I called the council, explained the situation, they were extremely understanding, I cleared the debt immediately, had to provide proof that I was out the country and the bailiffs were notified of this and closed the case with no payment due.
It has had no effect on my credit history.
There are new laws introduced since 2014 which set the price of a 'compliance letter'
IF they have complied and written the letter correctly (search the company and letter wording thoroughly) they are likely to continue to chase it. But I thought they could only charge once, not £150 as you state.
I would be very careful about ignoring it..
IF they have complied and written the letter correctly (search the company and letter wording thoroughly) they are likely to continue to chase it. But I thought they could only charge once, not £150 as you state.
I would be very careful about ignoring it..
Civil Enforcement Agents (Bailiffs) are tightly regulated and it would appear you have a £75 bill which is for the letter they will have sent and then £75 for there further contact. In theory before Equita got involved a demand will have been issued, followed by 2 reminders, a summons and a liability order. How did the OP miss all these?
The prices charged by bailiffs are set in law and they all charge the same, this was following stories about excessive charges raised by bailiffs. Quite nice of the council to take your money after Equita have done the job of persuading you to pay them.
I wouldnt be surprised if Equita keep chasing you, after all they need their fees paid to as won't get anything from the Council.
The prices charged by bailiffs are set in law and they all charge the same, this was following stories about excessive charges raised by bailiffs. Quite nice of the council to take your money after Equita have done the job of persuading you to pay them.
I wouldnt be surprised if Equita keep chasing you, after all they need their fees paid to as won't get anything from the Council.
As per TankRizzo, still not clear if these are just pre-court chancers, or whether the OP has got a CCJ he didn't know about.
http://equita.co.uk/
http://equita.co.uk/
I missed them all because I wasn't living at the flat, it was for sale and fell through 3 times. This all took pretty much a year.
I should have visited the flat more frequently and maybe I would have spotted the letters. It was my fault for not knowing that Council Tax (as of a couple of years ago when the law changed) is payable even if they property is empty and no services are being used.
I have cleared the entire balance with the council of £150, this is the same amount that Equita were demanding off me by phone yesterday. The council have said they will send a memo to Equita to let them know the entire outstanding balance is cleared. Since Equita had already levied fees and the law says they can only levy fees once for each stage of action taken, no matter how many letters they write or visits they make (google "statutory regulation of bailiffs fees citizens advice"), I trust this will be the end of the matter.
There had been a "liability order" made. Whether this affects my credit record I'm not sure. I hope not.
Many thanks to all who responded, it was very helpful in shaping my attitude to sorting this out.
I should have visited the flat more frequently and maybe I would have spotted the letters. It was my fault for not knowing that Council Tax (as of a couple of years ago when the law changed) is payable even if they property is empty and no services are being used.
I have cleared the entire balance with the council of £150, this is the same amount that Equita were demanding off me by phone yesterday. The council have said they will send a memo to Equita to let them know the entire outstanding balance is cleared. Since Equita had already levied fees and the law says they can only levy fees once for each stage of action taken, no matter how many letters they write or visits they make (google "statutory regulation of bailiffs fees citizens advice"), I trust this will be the end of the matter.
There had been a "liability order" made. Whether this affects my credit record I'm not sure. I hope not.
Many thanks to all who responded, it was very helpful in shaping my attitude to sorting this out.
barchetta_boy said:
I missed them all because I wasn't living at the flat, it was for sale and fell through 3 times. This all took pretty much a year.
Plenty of time to set up a mail redirection?I can understand the annoyance, but ultimately it does seem to stem from ignorance and/or inaction on your behalf rather than any sort of council ineptitude. Personally, I'd take it on the chin and make a note to pay more attention next time, as this just feels like you're kicking up a fuss to avoid admitting to yourself you got it wrong. Unlikely to be a popular opinion, I know...
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