Bailiffs are agents who collect debts, repossess goods that are then sold to pay off your debts, or repossess homes. They can do this by calling at your home, place of work or another property and removing your money, belongings, and / or evicting you.
Some bailiffs are also allowed to execute certain warrants of arrest.
What kinds of debts do bailiffs collect?
All kinds of debts, including debts owed under County and High Court Orders, child support arrears, fines (including parking fines), unpaid income tax, council tax, poll tax, business rates, national insurance and VAT.
What can I do to stop the bailiff calling?
County Court or High Court debts
You can apply to the court to suspend the bailiff’s warrant. If your application is successful, the bailiff will not be allowed to take your goods.
If the bailiff is collecting a County Court debt you need to fill in form N245: Application for suspension of a warrant and / or variation of an instalment order. You can either collect the form from your local County Court, or download form N245: Application for suspension of a warrant and / or variation of an order (external website / pdf document), from the Court Service website.
There is a fee for making this application but not everyone has to pay it. Please contact your local County Court for more information.
If you do not have to pay the fee you will need to fill in
form EX160: Application for a fee exemption or remission (external website / pdf document).
These forms are also available from your local court.
Form N245 will ask you to make an offer of payment. Make sure you only offer an amount you can afford to pay. If you are not sure how much to offer, get advice. Once you have lodged the application with the court, you can ring the bailiffs and ask them to hold action until the court has made a decision. In Manchester, they are often willing to do this.
If the sheriff (high court bailiff) is collecting a High Court debt, you should get advice immediately.
Other debts
You can contact the creditor (the person who has asked the bailiff to call) and ask them to withdraw the bailiff. The creditor is only likely to do this if you offer to pay back the debt. You should not offer to repay the debt at a rate you cannot afford.
How do I know that the person who calls is a bailiff?
In many cases you don’t, unless they tell you. But, some bailiffs should have paperwork with them:
- Bailiffs acting for the Magistrates’ Court with warrants of distress or arrest have to carry identity cards and should have the warrant with them. You are entitled to ask to see both of these. The bailiffs currently collecting for Manchester City Council, council tax, are Rossendales, Equita, Jacobs and Drakes.
- Private bailiffs, who generally deal with non payment of rent (but not evictions) and non payment of road traffic penalties, should show you their bailiffs certificate.
- A bailiff collecting a local tax debt such as council tax should carry written authority from your local council.
- County Court bailiffs are always used to carry out evictions or to try and recover rent arrears owed after an eviction has taken place. If you are being evicted you can ask to see the warrant although the bailiff does not legally have to carry it.
Do I have to let the bailiff into my home or place of work?
In most cases no (but see paragraphs below for exceptions). You have the right to refuse to open the door to the bailiff. The bailiff cannot push you aside to get in. If a bailiff does try to push past you, you can use reasonable force to resist. However, a bailiff could get in if you leave the door or a window open.
Can a bailiff ever force entry into my home or place of work?
Bailiffs collecting income tax for the Inland Revenue can force entry without having got in before. From July 2005, bailiffs enforcing magistrates court fines have the power to force entry to levy and remove goods when it is 'reasonably required'. This applies even when they have not been allowed in voluntarily to begin with. Most other bailiffs can only force entry if they have already been in your property or place of work (but see below Bailiffs and evictions).
Bailiffs and evictions
If you are being evicted from your home for rent arrears or some other breach of the tenancy agreement, the eviction can only be carried out by a County Court bailiff. Also, in this situation, the bailiff is allowed to force entry. However, an eviction can only be carried out after the landlord has got a warrant of possession / eviction from the Court.
What if I am asked to sign something on the doorstep?
Consider before you sign. By signing what is called ‘a walking possession agreement’ you are agreeing that the bailiff may enter your home to remove the goods listed on the form. The bailiff might have looked through your windows to put together a list of goods to take.
What if the bailiff enters my home or place of work?
The bailiff can seize goods to pay the debt. In practice the bailiff gives you a list of goods and will ask you to sign a ‘walking possession agreement’. If you do sign they will usually be able to charge you an extra fee. But if you don’t sign, the bailiff may remove the goods straight away. By signing you will be able to keep the goods for a period (at least 5 days) and you can use this time to sort something out.
What goods can the bailiff seize?
They can generally seize any goods except: enough clothing, bedding, furniture and household equipment to meet the basic needs of you and your family. They are also not allowed to take tools, books, vehicles and other equipment needed for your work.
A car will generally be viewed as needed for work only if you couldn’t do your job without it and there is no reasonable alternative. Bailiffs are allowed to take cars parked outside but cannot break into a garage.
Can they take goods that don’t belong to me?
No, they can only take goods that belong to the debtor. Bailiffs cannot take goods that belong to other people in your home such as your children. They cannot take rented goods. They cannot take goods that are still subject to Hire Purchase or Conditional Sale Agreement, as these are owned by the finance company until you have made the last payment. They can take goods owned jointly by the debtor and another person but they must pay the other person their share of the money from any sale.
The bailiff will probably ask you to prove that the goods belong to someone else. You could do this, for example, by asking the other person to show the bailiff a credit agreement in their name, their credit card statement, their cheque book stub etc. Unless you can prove that the goods belong to someone else, the bailiff may not accept your word.
Only bailiffs recovering rent arrears on behalf of a landlord can take goods from the rented home that do not belong to the debtor.
What if the bailiff threatens me with arrest or imprisonment?
Bailiffs recovering debts do not have the power to order your arrest or imprisonment. If they threaten you with arrest or imprisonment, this is harassment and you should complain.
Courts do use bailiffs to serve arrest warrants to appear in court where people have not turned up in court. If a bailiff says they have an arrest warrant, you should ask to see it. A bailiff enforcing an arrest warrant cannot also take goods to repay a debt.
What if the bailiff threatens to call the police?
Some bailiffs may threaten to ‘get the police’, hoping that this will pressurise you into letting them into your home or place of work. The police should only be asked to attend if there is likely to be a breach of the peace. The police are never there to assist the bailiff or to help the bailiff to gain entry to your home.
Information on other websites
Court Service
Has a pdf leaflet on bailiffs
CLS Direct
Information about bailiffs in its dealing with debt leaflet
National Debtline
Has a
Bailiffs and Council Tax factsheet
The Department for Constitutional Affairs
Has produced a paper called: National Standards for Enforcement Agents. This contains a lot of detail about how bailiffs should behave.
Need more help? Live in Manchester? Send us an email
Information Provider:
Manchester Advice
Date Written:
21 April 2005
Date Reviewed:
17 November 2008
This information is for guidance only and is not an authoritative statement on the law. Please read our Terms and Conditions.
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