Enforcement agents (bailiffs)
This fact sheet is aimed primarily at anyone who is experiencing problems with a bailiff employed by a council or other enforcing authority and may be considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman.
Enforcement agents are what were more commonly known as bailiffs.
I have a complaint against an enforcement agent. Can the Ombudsman help me?
In some cases, yes.
If your complaint concerns the enforcement agent’s actions in collecting council tax, business rates or traffic enforcement penalties then we can normally investigate your complaint. This is because the enforcement agent is acting on behalf of the council. However, we cannot investigate complaints about the actions of bailiffs in recovering other debt because the enforcement agent is acting directly for the courts.
If your complaint concerns an enfrcement agent who is evicting you from your home, we also cannot investigate this. The enforcement agent will be acting for the court and complaints about eviction by a council or housing association are considered by the Housing Ombudsman Service.
In some cases you could take the matter to court and we might expect you to do so. The courts can decide whether a enforcement agent's costs or actions are either excessive or unreasonable (such as the removal of too many goods, or making undue threats). Only the courts can resolve disputes about the ownership of goods the bailiff has removed. However, if you have not begun legal action on the specific issue, we may choose to investigate.
How do I complain?
You should normally complain to the council first. Councils often have more than one stage in their complaints procedure and you will usually have to complete all stages before we will look at your complaint. The council may ask the enforcement agent to consider your complaint first to see if they can resolve it. If you are still dissatified, the council should respond to your complaint instead. You can complain to us once you have finished the enforcement agent’s complaint procedure. We may accept complaints where the council or bailiff have taken too long to respond. We think twelve weeks for a response is reasonable.
Usually, you should complain to us within 12 months of when you first knew about the problem. If you leave it any later, we may not be able to help.
For more information on how to complain, please read our step by step process.
If you consider my complaint what will the Ombudsman look for?
We evaluate each complaint on its merits. We consider if the enforcement agent did something wrong (as the enforcement agents act on the council’s behalf); and whether the council did something wrong in the way it used the enforcement agent. We then consider if this caused you problems. Some issues we could look at are whether:
- there was an unreasonable delay in the council taking action
- the enforcement agent followed the proper procedure
- the enforcement agentused ‘threatening behaviour’ . We will take account of the fact that the arrival of anyone to take your goods can be seen as threatening, no matter how polite they may be
- the enforcement agentproperly responded to a potentially vulnerable person
- the enforcement agentcharged the correct costs and fees.
What happens if the Ombudsman finds the council was at fault?
It depends on what went wrong and how that affected you. We aim to put you back in the position you have been had the fault not happened.
- Where we find fault we often ask the council to make a meaningful apology. We may also ask the council to pay you a symbolic financial remedy for the injustice caused by the fault or for the time and trouble you were put to in making your complaint.
- Where we find fault with the council’s procedures we will often recommend the council introduces changes so the same problem will not happen again. Similarly, if we find flaws in the enforcement agents’ procedures, we may ask the council to work with the enforcement agents to prevent the fault occurring again.
Examples of some complaints we have considered
Mr X complained that enforcement agents failed to follow correct procedures when visiting his home to enforce a warrant for an unpaid penalty charge The Authority issued Mr X with a Penalty Charge Notice. As it was not paid it asked enforcement agents to recover the debt. An agent visited Mr X’s home and clamped Mr X’s car. The Agent was unable to take the car away the car and removed the clamp. Mr X then contacted the Authority and said he and his wife were vulnerable because of their mental health. After a failed appeal the Agent visited and again clamped the car. Mr X said he had appealed; the agent refused to remove the clamp until Mr X had paid in full which he did.
Mr X said the car was worth much more than the debt and should not have been clamped. We found the Agents could clamp it as they had to consider any future storage and sale costs. Mr X also claimed the agent should not have told him a removal vehicle was on the way until a two-hour deadline had elapsed. We found the agent had not tried to remove the vehicle inside the deadline. The Council agreed at the first visit the agent had sworn; it took appropriate action to remedy the injustice caused to Mr X. The second visit was not recorded on body worn video camera; this was fault. The agents also did not show how they considered Mr X’s claim he and his wife were vulnerable, which was also fault. The Authority agreed to apologise to Mr X. It also reminded the agents they should wear fully functioning body worn video and keep it turned on when making an enforcement visit.
Mr X complained the council’s enforcement agent’s behaviour was unreasonable and did not consider his vulnerability. Mr X complained the council’s enforcement agent acted unlawfully by parking in front of a no parking sign and his behaviour was unreasonable and did not consider Mr X’s vulnerability. He said he lives in fear of the enforcement agent pursuing him for further fees.
The council issued Mr X with a Penalty Charge Notice. As it was not paid it asked enforcement agents to recover the debt. The Agent visited Mr X’s property. According to Mr X the agent pressured him into paying £200 a month, even though he was unemployed. He also said the agent had added illegitimate fees, and did not give him enough time to contact the council and resolve the matter. The body worn video camera footage showed the agent explained who he was. He gave Mr X an opportunity to pay before explaining he could clamp Mr X’s car. After Mr X said he was unemployed the Agent decided not to clamp his car. He agreed to a payment plan of £100 a month; Mr X later spoke to the agent’s office and agreed to pay £200 a month. The fees charged were in accordance with the law. It was clear the agent had acted correctly, considered Mr X’s possible vulnerability and not pressured him into making an unsuitable arrangement. We did not find fault in how the council’s agent had acted.
Other sources of information
- The Enforcement Conduct Board sets standards for enforcement agents, which we expect them to follow. You can find the standards on their website www.enforcementconductboard.org/standards/
- You can also obtain free advice from Citizens Advice - you can find the nearest branch by using its website at www.citizensadvice.org.uk
The National Debtline services include a helpline that provides free, confidential and independent advice on your rights and how to deal with debt problems, including information about bailiffs and council tax collection. You can contact the National Debtline free on: 0808 808 4000, Monday - Friday 9am - 8pm and Saturday 9.30am - 1pm, and obtain further information from its website www.nationaldebtline.org
- If you need to contact the Housing Ombudsman Service on 0300 111 3000 or see their website at www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk
Our fact sheets give some general information about the most common type of complaints we receive but they cannot cover every situation. If you are not sure whether we can look into your complaint, please phone 0300 061 0614.
July 2025