The bailiff process, stage by stage

Interactive walkthrough

The five stages in full

This is the same sequence written out for a council tax debt, the most common kind. The interactive version above shows where other debts differ.

1. Day 0

   The letter: a Notice of Enforcement arrives

   • Nothing can be taken until this notice has been given in writing.
   • It has to give at least 14 clear days before any visit. Sundays, bank holidays, Good Friday and Christmas Day are not counted.
   • The £79 compliance fee is added to the debt at this point.
   • The authority behind it is a liability order made by the magistrates’ court.
2. 14 clear days, or 28

   The wait: the notice period runs

   • Payment in full during this period ends enforcement, with only the compliance fee added.
   • An arrangement to pay by instalments can be agreed with the enforcement firm. If it is kept to, no visit takes place.
   • If a debt advice provider asks before the period runs out, it becomes 28 clear days.
   • The council can take the case back from the firm, for example where someone is vulnerable.
   • Breathing Space, arranged through a debt adviser, pauses enforcement of council tax arrears for people who qualify.
3. 6am to 9pm, any day of the week

   The knock: an enforcement agent visits

   • There is no power to force entry to a home on a first visit. An agent can come in only through an unlocked door, or if someone lets them in.
   • The agent has to show identification and their authority when asked. That can be done through a letterbox or at a window.
   • They cannot come in if the only person present is a child under 16 or a vulnerable person.
   • The £247 enforcement fee is added from the first attendance, whether or not anyone answers.
4. At the visit, or after it

   Taking control: goods are taken into control

   • Taking control means listing goods so they can be sold later if the debt is not paid. Most often they stay where they are, under a controlled goods agreement.
   • A vehicle on the drive or the road can be clamped. It has to stay in place for at least 2 hours before it can be removed.
   • Protected: a cooker, fridge, washing machine, beds, heating, a phone, anything needed for a child or for medical care, pets, and work equipment worth up to £1,350 in total.
   • Goods that belong to someone else cannot be taken.
   • Signing a controlled goods agreement inside the home gives the agent a right to come back, using force if the agreement is later broken.
5. The last stage

   Removal: goods are removed and sold

   • If an agreement is broken, the agent has to give 2 clear days’ written notice before coming back in.
   • The sale or disposal fee is £116, plus 7.5% of any debt over £1,900. Storage and auction costs can be added.
   • Goods cannot be sold until at least 7 clear days after they were removed, and 7 clear days’ notice of the sale has to be given.
   • If the amount outstanding is paid before the sale, no further step can be taken and removed goods must be made available for collection.
   • Goods are taken away in a small share of cases: 2,624 of almost 3.7 million in January to June 2025, most often a clamped vehicle. The fees at the earlier stages are added whether or not anything is ever removed.

Where the debts differ

• Council tax bailiffs
• Parking fine bailiffs
• Magistrates’ court fine bailiffs
• County court bailiffs
• High Court enforcement officers
• HMRC tax debts

Common questions