Can you go to prison for an unpaid court fine?

A magistrates’ court fine is a criminal penalty, not an ordinary civil debt, and the courts have more tools to pursue it than a creditor chasing an unpaid bill. That said, the steps before prison are substantial, and a court can also reduce or cancel a fine where circumstances have genuinely changed.

The legal test before prison is possible

Under section 82 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, a court cannot commit someone to prison for an unpaid fine unless two conditions are met. First, the court must inquire into the person’s means. Second, it must be satisfied that the default is due to wilful refusal or culpable neglect. The court must also be satisfied that it has considered or tried all other methods of enforcing payment. GOV.UK summarises the risk plainly: “You might be arrested if you do not pay criminal debts, such as fines or penalty notices.”

What the court tries before prison

Schedule 5 to the Courts Act 2003 sets out the further steps a fines officer can take against someone who has not paid. Prison comes at the end of that list, not the beginning.

1. Warrant of control

   The court issues a warrant authorising an enforcement agent to take control of goods. Three private firms are approved to carry this out for HM Courts and Tribunals Service. For most debts the £79 compliance fee is added when the Notice of Enforcement is sent and the £247 enforcement stage fee on the first visit, before anything is taken.

2. Attachment of earnings or benefit deductions

   The court can order that money is deducted from the person’s wages or from certain benefits before it reaches them.

3. Clamping order

   The court can order that a vehicle registered in the person’s name is clamped.

4. Registration on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines

   The fine can be registered, affecting the person’s credit record.

5. Enforcement through the county court or High Court

   The fine can be transferred to a civil court for enforcement by other means.

6. Means inquiry and, where the test is met, committal

   Only after the court has considered or tried the above methods, and found wilful refusal or culpable neglect at a means inquiry, can it consider committing the person to prison.

What an enforcement agent can do while the fine is unpaid

Before any means inquiry takes place, the most common step is sending an enforcement agent. Unlike agents collecting most other debts, those enforcing a magistrates’ court fine can use reasonable force to enter a home where it is needed — in practice a locksmith. GOV.UK describes this as a last resort. The full rules on what court fine bailiffs can and cannot do are set out on the magistrates’ court fine bailiffs page.

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. What happens far more often, with a car or without one, is cost. Of the cases that ended in payment in that period, 64% were paid at the enforcement stage or later, after an agent’s first visit had added the larger fee. The average fee collected on a case paid in full was £201, on the lower fees then in force.

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The power to remit a fine

Section 85 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 gives a magistrates’ court the power to remit all or part of a fine. It can only do so where it thinks that is just, and only because of a change in the person’s circumstances since they were convicted. This is not a general hardship application: the change must have happened after the fine was imposed. A court that remits part of a fine reduces what is owed; it does not write off the original conviction.

There is no time limit after which a magistrates’ court fine can no longer be enforced. A fine does not become statute-barred in the way some civil debts can.

What does not pause a court fine

Court fines are excluded debts under the Debt Respite Scheme, so a Breathing Space moratorium does not stop enforcement. GOV.UK also warns that once enforcement has started the court might reject a payment made directly, meaning payment may have to go through the enforcement firm, with its fees added. The fines payment lines are 0300 790 9901 in England and 0300 790 9980 in Wales.

Key figures

Compliance fee (Notice of Enforcement)

£79Added when the notice is sent

Enforcement stage fee

£247Added on the first visit whether or not anyone answers

Sale fee

£116Added only if goods are removed for sale

Cases where goods were removed

2,624Out of almost 3.7 million cases, January to June 2025