Bailiff advice

In short

• For council tax, bailiffs cannot force their way into your home. Keep the door closed.
• Their fees are fixed by law and are added in stages. Acting at the first letter stops the biggest one.
• Since 1 May 2026 you get at least 14 clear days' notice before a visit, or 28 if a debt adviser asks.
• Your council can take the debt back from the bailiffs at any time. Asking it to is often the most useful thing you can do.

“Bailiff” is the word everybody uses. The legal term for someone collecting council tax debt is enforcement agent. Since 2014 they have worked under the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013, and since 2025 most firms have also been overseen by the Enforcement Conduct Board.

Those rules ended the worst of the old practices and replaced them with fixed fees. The fees add a lot to the debt at each stage, which is exactly why acting early matters so much.

• £79 added when the firm gets your case
• £247 added at the first visit, plus 7.5% above £1,900
• 14 days minimum clear days' notice before a visit
• 6am to 9pm the only hours they can come

The three golden rules

• 1. Do not let them in

  For council tax you do not have to open your door, and we advise that you do not. Once inside, they can list your belongings. Keep doors locked and talk through a closed door or window.

• 2. Offer only what you can afford

  Put a realistic offer in writing and keep a copy. Never agree to a figure you cannot keep up. A broken arrangement costs you more than a refused offer.

• 3. Get advice before you sign anything

  If your offer is refused, or you genuinely cannot pay, stop there and get advice before you sign or hand over any money.

How enforcement works

This is the whole process at a glance, for cases passed to a firm from 1 May 2026. Each step is explained in the guides below.

England and Wales. Cases passed to a firm before 1 May 2026 use the old fees and a 7 clear day notice.

1. 1

   Before any bailiff

   Liability order

   The magistrates’ court confirms the council tax is owed. Without one, bailiffs have no powers.

2. 2

   Passed to the firm

   Notice of enforcement

   The firm’s first letter. This is the compliance stage: nobody has visited yet.

   Compliance fee added: £79

3. 3

   At least 14 clear days

   The cheapest time to act

   No visit is allowed until this has passed. Sundays and bank holidays do not count. A debt adviser can ask for 28 clear days.

4. 4

   First visit

   Enforcement stage

   An agent comes to your home, between 6am and 9pm.

   Enforcement fee added: £247, plus 7.5% of anything owed above £1,900

5. 5

   At the visit

   Taking control of goods

   Usually by a controlled goods agreement, or by clamping a vehicle.

6. 6

   At least 7 clear days after removal

   Sale at public auction

   Only if goods have been removed and the debt is still not paid.

   Sale fee added: £116, plus 7.5% above £1,900, plus auction costs

What changed on 1 May 2026

The Taking Control of Goods (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026 made three changes that matter if you owe council tax.

• The fees went up. The compliance fee is now £79, the enforcement fee £247 and the sale fee £116, with 7.5% of anything owed above £1,900 added at the last two. Cases a firm received before 1 May 2026 stay on the old fees of £75, £235 and £110. See bailiff fees explained.
• The notice period doubled. A notice of enforcement must now give you at least 14 clear days before a first visit, up from 7. If a debt adviser asks on your behalf, it must be extended to 28 clear days.
• The notice must mention free debt advice, and how to get it.

What they can and cannot do

• Force their way into your home on a first visit? No
• Walk in through an unlocked door? Yes
• Visit between 9pm and 6am? No
• Come in if only children under 16 are at home? No
• Clamp a car that belongs to you? Yes
• Take your cooker, fridge, washing machine or beds? No
• Use force to come back in? Only after a broken controlled goods agreement and 2 clear days' notice Sometimes
• Arrest you? No

The detail is in bailiff rights and powers, what bailiffs can and cannot take and taking control of goods, which also explains the law itself.

Where are you now?

Choose the one that fits best and an adviser will look at your situation. Free, confidential, and no obligation.

• I have had a reminder or a final notice A letter from the council, but no court involvement yet
• I have had a court summons A hearing date at the magistrates court
• A liability order has been made The court has granted the council recovery powers
• Enforcement agents have contacted me A letter or a visit from a bailiff firm
• Money is being taken from my wages or benefits An attachment of earnings or a benefit deduction
• I am not sure, or something else

Takes about 3 minutes.

Questions people ask about bailiffs

• A bailiff is at the door. What should I do?
• Bailiffs and vulnerable people
• Can bailiffs force entry?
• Can bailiffs refuse a payment plan?
• Can bailiffs take my car?
• Can bailiffs take things that are not mine?
• How many times can a bailiff visit?
• How to stop bailiffs for council tax
• Notice of enforcement: what the letter means and what to do
• What happens if bailiffs have nothing to take?
• What is a bailiff? Enforcement agents explained
• What stops bailiffs? Debt Relief Orders, IVAs and Breathing Space
• What time can bailiffs come, and do they work weekends?
• When do bailiffs get involved, and do they need a court order?

Which firm has contacted you?

The rules and the fees are the same whichever firm is involved. If you want advice about the firm named on your letter, we have a page for each enforcement firm that collects council tax, including who they are, who owns them, and how to deal with them.

Find your enforcement company

The single most useful thing you can do

Ask your council to take the account back. This is called a recall.

Enforcement agents act for your council. The debt belongs to the council, and it can take it back from the firm at any time. Councils do this more often than people expect, especially where there is vulnerability, where the account was passed over by mistake, or where a realistic offer is put to them directly, in writing.

Dealing with the enforcement firm alone rarely achieves this. Dealing with the council sometimes does.

If someone in your home is vulnerable

This changes things a great deal. Where you are vulnerable, the enforcement fee cannot be recovered unless the agent gave you a proper chance to get help and advice first. Agents must also not enter your home if the only people there are vulnerable.

Vulnerability is deliberately not defined in a closed list. It generally includes serious or long-term illness, disability, mental health problems, recent bereavement, pregnancy, and being a single parent of very young children.

Say so in writing, to the firm and to your council, as early as you can.

If something has gone wrong

If an agent has broken the rules, charged fees they should not have, or treated you unfairly, complain to the firm first, and tell your council. You can then take it to the Enforcement Conduct Board, the independent body that oversees accredited firms. It is free. See bailiff rights and powers for the steps and time limits.

Before you agree to pay anything

It is worth ten minutes checking that the council tax itself is right:

• Are you liable for the whole period being claimed?
• Is your home in the correct band?
• Have you had every discount, disregard or exemption you are entitled to? Some can be backdated by years, and a successful claim can clear the debt altogether.

A debt that turns out to be wrong is a far better outcome than a payment plan on a debt you never owed.