URGENT ADVICE PLEASE - Dart Charge, Equita & Bailiff

[dwc3108]

Hi, I received two PCNs in April for journeys across river in either direction at the same weekend.

At the time I'd attempted to make payments after I returned home following the second crossing but my card had been declined - I was in the middle of a four month period of unemployment and turned out to have less than £5 in my account, despite thinking otherwise at the time.

Inevitably I got the PCN notices through, but I was living off of help from friends and family day by day (literally , so just wasn't able to deal with the escalating charges at the time and ended up putting it on the backburner thinking I'd have to swallow the insane charges when I was working again and pay the lot off (objectively the fees escalate quickly to relatively ridiculous amounts - if the bailiff attends tomorrow a missed £2.50 charge at the start of April has shot up to £425 by the end of July, that said, it is what it is and that's not really the issue).

I finally got a new job in June. I'm temping but I've been through a lot in the past 4/5 years - severe depression, marital breakdown, several periods without a job, working for a massive cut in wages last year, etc and this is finally getting me back to a place where I can sort things out, such as this Dart Charge.

Over the period from April on, I'd received letters from Dart Charge and Equita, that stated different amounts, different deadlines and I was never really sure which of them was dealing with it, how much I had to pay and when I had to pay it by.

After starting the new job I called Equita (this would have been late June/early July) and asked if I could agree a payment plan with them to sort the arrears out. They told me that they wouldn't discuss anything with me without an immediate payment. At this point I'd only started work and hadn't been paid, so I couldn't do that. I asked if they could make a note that I'd call back in July when I got paid, but they said it would be too late and bailiffs would have been instructed. I said something along the lines of "I'll see if I can find some way of sorting this out".

A couple of days later I had another Dart Charge letter giving me until 27/7/18 to pay £190.50. This fitted in with finally being paid so my plan had been to call up tomorrow, pay an initial amount and then agree a plan to sort this out in over a couple of months.

On Monday I received a text message from a "D Watson" stating a reference, a balance of £190.50 due by 9pm on Monday to "prevent my attendance as arranged by 6am tomorrow." (I was at work in London so assumed the "attendance as arranged" was going to be a card through my door or something. I got home and there's been nothing through the letterbox at all from them.) I called up, was told they were collecting on behalf of Dart Charge and I' had to pay £190.50 immediately or he'd attend, remove things (Lord knows what - presumably the car, which is parked on the road a few streets away (it's a busy area with limited local parking)) and charge me an extra £235 for the privilege.

I told him that the letter had given me until 27/7/18 to pay and that I'd previously tried to arrange a payment plan. I asked him if I could make a payment arrangement to clear the debt over a period but he refused to discuss any payment plan, telling me he'd accept full payment by 27/7/18 but nothing else. The best I could say was that I'd tried and sort some funds from somewhere, but I won't have a spare £190.50 at all tomorrow on my own wages (I'd tried since and not been able to find someone able to help me out either).

After we spoke I sent him a text to confirm the payment amount and he replied it was £190.50 .

Having looked about the place I found the advice on TE7 and TE9 forms, completed both for each PCN today, along with what I've said above on the TE7. I sent it on, copying Equita and a solicitor friend/former colleague - asking them to confirm the full amount I owe, stating that this wasn't a "refusal to pay" as the bailiff had stated it was. but an inability to pay the balance and a willingness to sort something out.

The one thing I didn't do was choose a particular grounds on the TE9 form as none of them fit my situation - I tried to pay and had problems doing so, remained willing but unable to pay, then tried to agree payment with them but was fobbed off. The result is that the TEC replied to reject my forms on the grounds I hadn't stated a reason.

As it stands I've a bailiff turning up tomorrow to presumably seize my car, and no grounds to send in a TE9 (that I can see).

Would someone be able to advise me on the options that I have please?

I don't believe I've received any Warrant of Execution (unless the PCN covers this base) and certainly have had no written notice from the bailiff at all - merely text messages and a phone call, where they provided no substantial indication that they were instructed (beyond quoting the name of Equita and a PCN).

At this stage, I'm happy to swallow the amount I owe, providing I can pay it off in agreed instalments. If I have any grounds to challenge the amounts though, then I'd obviously be delighted to do that too of course.

In short, help! Please.

(Sorry for the prolonged message but I was trying to cover as much as possible.)

[zeke]

Hi, I received two PCNs in April for journeys across river in either direction at the same weekend.

At the time I'd attempted to make payments after I returned home following the second crossing but my card had been declined - I was in the middle of a four month period of unemployment and turned out to have less than £5 in my account, despite thinking otherwise at the time.

Inevitably I got the PCN notices through, but I was living off of help from friends and family day by day (literally , so just wasn't able to deal with the escalating charges at the time and ended up putting it on the backburner thinking I'd have to swallow the insane charges when I was working again and pay the lot off (objectively the fees escalate quickly to relatively ridiculous amounts - if the bailiff attends tomorrow a missed £2.50 charge at the start of April has shot up to £425 by the end of July, that said, it is what it is and that's not really the issue).

I finally got a new job in June. I'm temping but I've been through a lot in the past 4/5 years - severe depression, marital breakdown, several periods without a job, working for a massive cut in wages last year, etc and this is finally getting me back to a place where I can sort things out, such as this Dart Charge.

Over the period from April on, I'd received letters from Dart Charge and Equita, that stated different amounts, different deadlines and I was never really sure which of them was dealing with it, how much I had to pay and when I had to pay it by.

After starting the new job I called Equita (this would have been late June/early July) and asked if I could agree a payment plan with them to sort the arrears out. They told me that they wouldn't discuss anything with me without an immediate payment.

Don't even go there. The bailiff company will mess you about. THey want the money as quickly and cheaply as possible.

At this point I'd only started work and hadn't been paid, so I couldn't do that. I asked if they could make a note that I'd call back in July when I got paid, but they said it would be too late and bailiffs would have been instructed. I said something along the lines of "I'll see if I can find some way of sorting this out".

A couple of days later I had another Dart Charge letter giving me until 27/7/18 to pay £190.50. This fitted in with finally being paid so my plan had been to call up tomorrow, pay an initial amount and then agree a plan to sort this out in over a couple of months.

On Monday I received a text message from a "D Watson" stating a reference, a balance of £190.50 due by 9pm on Monday to "prevent my attendance as arranged by 6am tomorrow."

It looks like the bailiff doesn't know your address, or he has already been round and discovered there is no car he can take.

If the text messages continue, then hand them into the ICO through their online complaints system: http://nationalbailiffadvice.uk/Spam-Te ... liffs.html

(I was at work in London so assumed the "attendance as arranged" was going to be a card through my door or something. I got home and there's been nothing through the letterbox at all from them.)

Bailiffs are classroom trained as rookies never to turn up when they threaten to. Its measure to prevent TV program makers on rogue bailiffs ambushing them with a film crew, and the policy was introduced when bailiffs were being YouTubed and people start to gather and provoke or antangonise the bailiff on camera to make a video.

I called up, was told they were collecting on behalf of Dart Charge and I' had to pay £190.50 immediately or he'd attend, remove things (Lord knows what - presumably the car, which is parked on the road a few streets away (it's a busy area with limited local parking)) and charge me an extra £235 for the privilege.

If your car a few streets away is the same car incurring the Dart charge, the bailiff WILL see it. They always make a drive around to look for the car and the first you learn is they have clamped or removed it and they know they have got you. You have to park it on a neighbors driveway or other non-highway that is not where you live or carry on a business.

In short, your car is in peril. You must make it disappear, even if that means removing number plates and putting it on a trailer.

I told him that the letter had given me until 27/7/18 to pay and that I'd previously tried to arrange a payment plan. I asked him if I could make a payment arrangement to clear the debt over a period but he refused to discuss any payment plan, telling me he'd accept full payment by 27/7/18 but nothing else. The best I could say was that I'd tried and sort some funds from somewhere, but I won't have a spare £190.50 at all tomorrow on my own wages (I'd tried since and not been able to find someone able to help me out either).

After we spoke I sent him a text to confirm the payment amount and he replied it was £190.50 .

Equita is going to mess you about. STOP calling them. If communication is essential, then do it by email and record the time they were sent and received: Here is more: http://nationalbailiffadvice.uk/Communi ... liffs.html

Having looked about the place I found the advice on TE7 and TE9 forms, completed both for each PCN today, along with what I've said above on the TE7.

That suspends the enforcement: Paragraph 8.1 of Practice Direction 75.

You now have a 4-week grace, but the TEC does not tell you the outcome of the TE9 if the application is unsuccessful. The bailiff will turn up again in ambush. So do something about your car because its a sitting duck.

I sent it on, copying Equita

DO NOT copy a bailiff company with your TE9 or TE7.

and a solicitor friend

It's pointless, a solicitor cannot do anything because traffic debt enforcement follows prescribed regulations which are not negotiable or discretionary.

/former colleague - asking them to confirm the full amount I owe, stating that this wasn't a "refusal to pay" as the bailiff had stated it was. but an inability to pay the balance and a willingness to sort something out.

The one thing I didn't do was choose a particular grounds on the TE9 form as none of them fit my situation

If you are using a different address from the one that is on the warrant and the vehicle registration document, then your grounds are that you were not given a Notice to Owner (NTO) and your appeal will be allowed. Attach a document with the new address on it. The law removes court discretion on whether the NTO was given, section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978.

- I tried to pay and had problems doing so, remained willing but unable to pay, then tried to agree payment with them but was fobbed off. The result is that the TEC replied to reject my forms on the grounds I hadn't stated a reason.

They will reject them. You MUST state a reason. The mnost common is a change of address of the driver or keeper.

As it stands I've a bailiff turning up tomorrow to presumably seize my car, and no grounds to send in a TE9 (that I can see).

Would someone be able to advise me on the options that I have please?

Do a TE9 with the keeper not being a NTO and give evidence of your new address. Ditto for the TE7 if you are late filing the TE9.

I don't believe I've received any Warrant of Execution (unless the PCN covers this base)

No it doesn't.

and certainly have had no written notice from the bailiff at all

That's an instant fail. The bailiff must give a notice of enforcement. Without one, the bailiff loses his right to charge fees. Here is why: http://nationalbailiffadvice.uk/Notice- ... ement.html

- merely text messages and a phone call,

That is not sufficient because the law states what the notice must contain, the format of the notice and how it can be given to the debtor. Paragraph 7.1 and 7.3 of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.

where they provided no substantial indication that they were instructed (beyond quoting the name of Equita and a PCN).

At this stage, I'm happy to swallow the amount I owe, providing I can pay it off in agreed instalments.

The bailiff will not give it to you. When a car has been remopved, the bailiff company has total discretion on whether to release the car on part payment and making a controlled Goods agreement: Regulation 30(2)(v) of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013

If I have any grounds to challenge the amounts though, then I'd obviously be delighted to do that too of course.

I have not seen the documentation, so its hard to comment, but have a look to see if you have any grounds: http://nationalbailiffadvice.uk/Stop-Pa ... s-PCN.html

In short, help! Please.

(Sorry for the prolonged message but I was trying to cover as much as possible.)

[dwc3108]

Thank you so much. You’re an absolute star. I’m going to drop the car over to my ex-wife and daughter’s home home (it’ll be off the road and 20 mins away) and get to work on arranging this all properly ASAP.

Thanks for your help.