Putting bailiffs on the spot

11:56am Monday 14th May 2007

Citizens Advice Bureaux have been reporting the problems experienced by clients as a result of bailiff action for many years. Certainly at Citizens Advice Trafford we have seen many cases of bad practice and sometimes unlawful practice by bailiffs.

The widespread use of bailiffs by local authorities since the introduction of the community charge and its successor the council tax has added to a weight of evidence pointing to the need for a complete reform of bailiff law.

The government has now published a Draft Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill, which aims to introduce a single procedure for taking control of goods. This is good news and a great opportunity to make much needed changes and reforms.

Unfortunately, the government has dropped from the draft Bill any plans to regulate the activities of bailiffs even though the legislation, if enacted, will give them added powers.

We think this is unacceptable, given the outrageous practices by some bailiff firms reported in the evidence sent in by bureaux.

For example, bailiffs acting for Trafford Council have on several occasions seized the same goods for different council tax debts. While this practice is not illegal, it is a pointless exercise. You cannot seize goods to pay for one debt and then try to seize them to pay for another, you can't sell the same goods twice! The only result is that the bailiffs charge two levy fees and two walking possession fees, which increase the amount the client has to pay before any money is passed on to the council.

This campaign seeks to raise awareness of the problems experienced by CAB clients when bailiffs are used to collect unpaid council tax, improve local authority practice in this area and lobby MPs on the need for a regulatory framework to be included in the Draft Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill.

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