Bailiffs and vulnerable people

What the regulations say

• An enforcement agent may not enter premises, or take control of goods, where “a child or vulnerable person (whether more than one or a combination of both) is the only person present”. A child means a person under 16.
• An agent may not enter into a controlled goods agreement with someone who appears not to understand its effect.
• Where the debtor is a vulnerable person, the enforcement stage fee and related costs “are not recoverable unless the enforcement agent has, before proceeding to remove goods which have been taken into control, given the debtor an adequate opportunity to get assistance and advice”.
• Anything reasonably required for medical care, or to care for a disabled or older person, is exempt and cannot be taken.

Who may be vulnerable

The regulations do not define “vulnerable person”. The National Standards that enforcement agents are expected to follow list groups who may be vulnerable. The House of Commons Library summarises them as:

• older people,
• people with a disability,
• people who are seriously ill,
• people who have recently been bereaved,
• single parent families,
• pregnant women,
• unemployed people, and
• people who have obvious difficulty understanding, speaking or reading English.

The list is a prompt for the agent, not a set of boxes. The standards expect agents and creditors to recognise vulnerability and respond to it.

What firms are expected to do

The Enforcement Conduct Board, which oversees the sector, expects firms to take vulnerability into account, and says extra time or other support can be given where someone is vulnerable. Its figures for January to June 2025 record 177,618 cases where firms identified vulnerability. Support was provided in 43% of them and 8% were returned to the creditor.

The Board published separate Vulnerability and Ability to Pay Standards in March 2026. They take effect in January 2027.

Returning a case to the creditor is a decision for the firm and the creditor. Councils and other creditors can also take a debt back themselves.

Evidence

Firms generally ask for something in writing. Citizens Advice suggests a doctor’s note about an illness or disability, or a benefits letter from the Department for Work and Pensions or social services.

More time under the 2026 rules

Since 1 May 2026 a debt advice provider can ask for the notice period to run to 28 clear days. An adviser can also consider Breathing Space. Where someone is receiving mental health crisis treatment there is a separate form of Breathing Space that lasts for the length of the treatment plus 30 days.

If the protections are ignored

A complaint can be made to the enforcement firm and to the creditor, and then to the Enforcement Conduct Board if the firm is accredited. How to complain about a bailiff