Should I Pay Equita Bailiffs Debt or Can I Appeal?

Are you wondering, ‘Should I pay Equita Bailiffs debt or can I appeal’ because you get a letter from them? Maybe you’re not sure how to deal with things because you’re too stressed out!

I explain who Equita Limited is and how they operate in my post. I then go on to explain how you should cope with the situation for a more positive outcome.

Do you have to pay Equita Bailiffs Debt?

You might not have to pay Equita Bailiffs Debt.

If you genuinely can’t afford your debt repayments then looking into whether you could have your written off might be just what you need. 

If you want to find out whether you qualify for having debt written off or payments lowered then fill out the short form below.

Who is Equita Limited?

Equita Limited is part of the Capita Group and a legitimate business that operates out of Northampton. Their business model is to collect debts on behalf of their clients and they’re a member of the Credit Services Association(CSA).

They operate across Wales and England providing collection and enforcement services for their clients. Unlike many others, Equita works to collect debts and to enforce payment as Enforcement Agents.

The business prides itself on using the latest technology to recover outstanding debts. They also claim to provide advice and assistance to debtors which involve setting up affordable payment plans!

What sort of debt does Equita collect?

Equita Limited recovers debts for both local and central government as well as solicitors and utility companies. They also collect commercial rent arrears, unpaid business rates, CCJs, other High Court Judgements, child support/maintenance and unpaid parking fines.

So, if you’ve fallen behind with your council tax or missed paying electricity or gas bills, Equita could be handed your details!

Once Equita gets involved, you no longer have the chance to deal with the original creditor!

Can you lower your repayments?

If you’re struggling to pay back your debt, then you might qualify for a debt solution.

Some solutions lower your monthly payments while others write off a portion of your debt. 

To find out whether they could work in your situation, hit the button below.

Get Started

What should you do when Equita Limited contacts you?

If Equita contacts you about an alleged debt you should take notice. You shouldn’t dismiss a debt collector or bailiff! First, you need to find out whether they are chasing the right person.

Second, you may find the debt is too old to enforce, or that you already settled the outstanding amount with the creditor!

As such, you should respond to Equita Ltd within 7 days of receiving the Notification of Enforcement to prevent the matter from escalating.

It also means that enforcement agents won’t show up at your door if you stay in touch with them.

Are Equita Limited Enforcement Agents?

Yes. Equita is a member of the Civil Enforcement Association (CIVEA). Therefore, they can operate as bailiffs (now called enforcement agents).

Their enforcement agents have a certificate which is granted by a judge that allows them to carry out debt enforcement. It’s worth noting that enforcement agents are regulated by the Ministry of Justice.

If you’ve received a Notice of Enforcement from Equita Ltd, they are working as bailiffs rather than debt collectors. In short, they have more power when they act as enforcement agents!

Equita bailiffs have the power to ‘take control of your goods’ if you don’t pay the amount owed. They then sell the seized items to recover the amount owed.

What is a Notice of Enforcement?

You’d get a Notice of Enforcement from Equita Limited once a court issues an order to pay. The Notice must be sent to you 7 days before an Equita enforcement agent shows up at your door.

Once you get the Notice, you should try to pay the debt if you can. Failing that, stay in touch with Equita and see if they are willing to set up a repayment plan for you which they claim they’re willing to do.

It’s always a good idea to seek debt advice from one of the leading charities if you’re struggling to keep on top of your finances. Their advice could help you decide how to deal with Equita when they get in touch with you.

However, don’t wait too long before seeking advice from a charity because you must respond to the Notice within 7 days of receiving it! Otherwise, Equita could take the matter further.

If you haven’t received a Notice of Enforcement from Equita, an agent cannot visit your home!

What should you do if a bailiff visits your home?

It’s important not to panic when a bailiff shows up at your home. Maybe you didn’t respond in time to the Notice of Enforcement they sent you. Or maybe you ignored it, which is never a good idea.

Even if any of the above applies, you still have rights! But so does a bailiff. That said, you don’t have to open your door to an enforcement officer. Moreover, they are not allowed to:

• Force entry into your home
• Enter the premises when only children or vulnerable people are in the home
• Visit your home between the hours of 9 pm and 6 am
• Enter your property through a window or other opening such as a patio

That said, some bailiffs and debt collectors are known to use questionable tactics which could be seen as harassing or threatening behaviour.

If an Equita bailiff acts in this way, you have the right to file a complaint with their head office. You can then take the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if Equita Limited fails to deal with your complaint appropriately.

What legal powers do bailiffs have?

Enforcement agents have certain legal powers once a court issues an order to pay. Although in certain cases, enforcement agents (bailiffs) can act without one. For example when you owe money on unpaid taxes, unpaid Stamp Duty and unpaid criminal fines!

Otherwise, bailiffs can act on the following:

• High Court Judgements
• County Court Judgements (CCJs)
• Family Court Judgements

When you ignore any correspondence from a bailiff, they have the power to enforce recovery.

There are four types of bailiffs which are:

• Certified enforcement agents are sometimes called ‘Civil Enforcement Agents’
• High court enforcement officers
• County court and family court enforcement agents
• Civil enforcement officers or Approved Enforcement Agents who enforce warrants for arrest and magistrate court fines

That said, enforcement agents can visit you for other reasons. An example could be to serve you with court documents.

It’s also well worth noting that Approved Enforcement Agents have the power to arrest people when there’s a warrant issued for breaking a community penalty order!

What’s the process used by Equita Bailiffs to recover debts?

Equita’s enforcement agents first obtain an order from a Judge to recover the amount you owe. They then send you a Notice of Enforcement asking you to settle the debt.

The Notice also informs you of their intended visit to your home in seven days.

If you don’t respond to the Notice before the seven days are up, an Equita enforcement agent will turn up on your doorstep. They will ask you to pay the amount owed on their first visit!

Can you stop Equita Bailiffs from contacting you?

No. Once a court issues an order and bailiffs get involved in the recovery of an unpaid debt, there’s no way of stopping the process that follows.

The only way to prevent the matter from escalating to a bailiff’s visit is to contact Equita and settle the amount you owe.

It’s not an option that many people can afford these days. Especially if they are already struggling with their finances.

If you can’t pay the amount owed in full, speak to Equita. They claim on their website to work with you to come up with an affordable repayment plan that also ‘suits’ them!

However, you should contact one of the leading UK charities first to get free debt advice first. There are debt solutions available, but you need to choose the one that suits your unique needs.

If you choose the wrong debt solution, it could make your financial situation even worse and therefore, harder to resolve.

Can an Equita bailiff just show up at your home?

No. As previously mentioned, enforcement agents can’t visit you without prior warning. Unless they are collecting specific debts such as unpaid taxes, Stamp Duty and Criminal fines!

In short, Equita must send you a Notice of Enforcement at least seven days before their intended visit.

The seven days warning allows you the time to either pay or contact the bailiffs to set up a repayment plan. If the debt is yours, that is!

What can’t an Equita bailiff do?

All bailiffs must abide by a Code of Practice which stipulates how they must act, what they can do, and what they are not allowed to do.

For example, an Equita bailiff cannot:

• Contact you at unreasonable hours of the day or night
• Contact you where you work when you told them not to
• Harass or bully you
• Confuse you with legal jargon
• Refuse to leave your house when you asked them to (harassment)
• Force entry into your property although in some cases bailiffs can force entry but only with the help of a qualified locksmith
• Seize certain items which include your pets!

What if Equita bailiffs are chasing the wrong person?

It happens. Maybe the real debtor’s name is very similar to yours. Or maybe it was the last person who lived at your address who owed the money!

There are several reasons why Equita bailiffs may be chasing the wrong person. It could just be a clerical error which needs to be addressed.

The only way to correct the wrong information is to prove to Equita that you’re not the person who owes the money!

Equita Limited must put everything on hold until they’ve established you are not the debtor.

Did you already settle the debt with the original creditor?

You may have already settled the debt with the original creditor and therefore there’s no outstanding money to pay.

Again, you’d have to prove to the bailiff that the money was paid and that the original creditor received the funds!

Can Equita Bailiffs make you pay a debt that’s not yours?

No. If the debt isn’t yours, Equita bailiffs can’t make you pay it. If an enforcement agent pressures you into paying, you can file a complaint (Link to Youtube) against them for harassing behaviour.

Youtube link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L-npiufsFPw

You could seek an injunction against the bailiff. You could even be entitled to compensation for the stress they caused you! 

Check out what happened to an unfortunate couple who were contacted by Equita over unpaid tickets that weren’t theirs!

Source: Moneysavingexpert

Can you appeal an Equita bailiffs debt?

No. As soon as enforcement agents are charged with recovering a debt, the right to file an appeal is long past. In short, you have two options once you get a Notice of Enforcement which are:

• To pay the debt at the earliest possibility
• Ask to set up a repayment plan to clear the amount you owe

How should you deal with an Equita Bailiff visit?

You don’t have to let an Equita enforcement officer into your home. They could insist that you let them in, but you should NEVER let them in!

Instead, ask the bailiffs to provide you with all the relevant court-issued documents along with their official IDs. You should ask them to push these through your letterbox or under the door!

If they can’t provide you with all the right documentation and IDs, ask them to leave which they must do! Then call their head office straight away and if you think the agents aren’t genuine, call the Police!

What sort of ID should an Equita Bailiff produce?

The sort of ID an enforcement agent from Equita should produce when asked could include:

• Badges or ID card proving they’re from Equita Limited
• A detailed breakdown of the alleged debt you owe
• The Warrant of Recovery or other relevant documents authorising them to visit or enter your home

Enforcement agents can’t break down your door to gain entry, but in some cases, they can ask a qualified locksmith to open a locked door. The cost of this service is added to the amount you owe!

What can you do if Equita seize some of your possessions?

If Equita bailiffs seize some of your possessions, their intentions are to sell them to recover what’s owed. However, you could settle the debt and recover the items they took.

You could also opt to purchase the items yourself which is another way of retrieving your seized possessions.

That said, you could have grounds to insist the items are returned if you can show that Equita enforcement agents didn’t follow the right procedure to enter your home.

What happens when you ignore Equita Bailiffs?

Things get more expensive and harder to settle when you ignore Equita Bailiffs. As with all enforcement agents and debt collectors, they are incredibly persistent!

In short, Equita Limited will not give up and will take the matter further when you ignore them.

More importantly, by ignoring correspondence and notices from enforcement agents you could miss out on determining important things.

This includes:

• Discovering the debt is not yours
• The debt has already been settled
• It’s too old to enforce because it’s statute barred which is covered by the Limitations Act

So, in short, even when you know the debt isn’t yours, you should never ignore a Notice of Enforcement from Equita bailiffs!

If the debt is yours and you ignore things, it’ll be that much harder to settle. Plus, the amount you owe will increase because bailiffs add their costs to the debt.

You’d end up paying the following on top of what you already owe:

• A fee for sending you the Enforcement Notice which is a whopping £75 (Compliance)
• A fee for visiting you at your home address which is another £235 (Enforcement)
• A fee for seizing and selling your possessions to recover the amount owed which is £110 or 7.5% of an amount over £1,500

When happens if a debt is too old to enforce?

A debt becomes statute barred when it’s 6 years or more old! Under the Limitations Act, you can’t be forced to pay a debt when it’s statute barred.

But for this to be the case, the following must apply:

• You had no contact with the credit or admit owing the money in 6 years
• No County Court Judgement exists against you relating to the debt

Should you pay Equita Bailiffs?

If the debt is yours and it’s not too old to enforce, and if you can afford it, you should settle the debt straight away.

It will get rid of Equita bailiffs and save you a whole lot of stress and anxious moments!

If you pay the debt in full, make sure Equita provides you with an official receipt as proof the debt is settled.

You may not be able to settle the debt in full, but Equita states on their website that they work with debtors to sort out a repayment plan. So, contact them and ask them to set one up for you!

If they agree to a repayment plan, make sure you keep up with the payments. If you don’t, the agreed repayment plan could be cancelled and you’d have to pay the total amount owed.

Is there any free debt advice in the UK?

Nobody likes to struggle with debt so when bailiffs get involved the stress factor is bound to rise. Luckily, there is free debt advice which is provided by several leading UK charities.

Alternatively, debt management companies provide debt advice that you pay for.

Learning how to get out of debt offers you the chance to lead a debt-free and much happier, less stressful life.

I’ve listed a few of the UK charities that provide free debt advice in the table below:

What debt solutions are available?

There are several debt solutions available to people who can’t cope with the money they owe. But choosing the right debt solution takes a bit of time and effort.

That said, you should always seek advice from a debt expert before deciding on which solution best suits your specific situation.

I’ve listed some debt solutions here:

• An IVA. If you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, you might want to consider an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA). Entering into an IVA means all your debts are lumped together. You pay one affordable payment every month with some of the wiped eventually being wiped off

• Debt management may be an option to get you back on track with your finances. But it depends on your situation. It means all your loans are consolidated and where necessary, you could declare bankruptcy

As with all debt solutions, it can’t be stressed enough that seeking advice from a debt expert is vital when choosing which is best for you!

If you enter into the wrong one, your situation could be made that much worse!

Can you file a complaint against Equita Bailiffs?

Yes. If Equita bailiffs act unlawfully, you have the right to file a complaint with their head office. Give them time to make things right but if they don’t, you can opt to take the matter further.

You can file an official complaint with their trade association. In most instances, an enforcement officer will refer the complaint to an original creditor. That said, you could take the matter further and appeal a court’s decision.

As members of CIVEA, Equita must respond to complaints within 10 working days. If you’re not satisfied with their actions or response, you can escalate things to CIVEA.

If the matter involves high court enforcement, you can file a complaint to the High Court Enforcement Officers Association (HCEOA).

How do you contact Equita Limited Bailiffs?

I’ve listed ways you can contact Equita Limited Bailiffs in the table below:

Should you pay Equita Bailiffs debt or should you appeal?

Once a debt is passed to bailiffs, it’s no longer possible to file an appeal. The best you can do is file a complaint if enforcement agents don’t follow the strict Code of Practice that governs them.

The same applies if enforcement agents seize any of your possessions without following the Code of Practice.

Staying on top of the situation and responding quickly to a Notice of Enforcement will help resolve the problem without too much stress. Ignoring things will just make things harder to settle.

Plus it will be more expensive because bailiffs add more fees and costs to the amount you owe.

It’s always a good idea to familiarise yourself with your rights and those of enforcement agents. Like this, you’ll be well prepared when an Equita bailiff sends you a Notice of Enforcement.

You should seek advice from one of the leading debt charities if you’re not sure how to deal with the situation. Their advice is free and could be invaluable when it comes to settling things if you can pay a debt in full.

Are you worried about other debt collectors contacting you?

If other debt collection agencies have contacted you, chances are you’re worried about how to deal with the situation. If so, why not check out my other posts which cover three of the leading debt collectors in the UK:

• Do I pay PRA Group Ltd or not?
• Should you pay Lowell Portfolio or not?
• Do you have to pay Cabot debt collection?

Thanks for reading this post! I hope you found the information helpful in dealing with Equita Limited bailiffs so the experience is less stressful and the outcome more positive!

“It will only get worse” 😩

It’s cliché to say, but with debt it’s true; the longer you leave it, the worse the problem gets. 

There are straightforward and effective ways to deal with debt, but you have to know your options. 

Fill out the short form to find out about the debt solutions that could reduce your monthly payments or even write off some of your debt.

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