What can bailiffs take?

The basic rule

An enforcement agent “may take control of goods only if they are goods of the debtor”, and may take any of them that are not exempt. Goods owned jointly with someone else count. Goods that belong entirely to another person do not.

An agent also should not take goods worth more than the debt and the likely costs, unless there is nothing of lower value available.

What the regulations protect

Regulation 4 of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 lists the exempt goods. They fall into three groups.

Things needed for work or study

“Items or equipment (for example, tools, books, telephones, computer equipment and vehicles) which are necessary for use personally by the debtor” in their job, business, trade, profession, study or education, up to a total value of £1,350.

That limit is a combined figure for everything claimed under this heading, not a limit for each item. This protection does not apply at all where the debt is business rates or a tax debt owed to HMRC.

Things needed for basic domestic life

Clothing, bedding, furniture, household equipment and provisions “reasonably required to satisfy the basic domestic needs of the debtor and every member of the debtor’s household”. The regulations give examples:

• A cooker or microwave.
• A refrigerator.
• A washing machine.
• A dining table and enough chairs for everyone in the household.
• Beds and bedding for everyone in the household.
• One landline phone, or a mobile or internet phone if there is no landline.
• Anything reasonably required for medical care, for safety in the home, or for the security of the home, such as an alarm.
• Enough lamps, stoves or other appliances for basic heating and lighting.
• Anything reasonably required to care for a person under 18, a disabled person or an older person.

The list is not closed. The test is whether an item is reasonably required for basic domestic needs.

Animals and certain vehicles

• Assistance dogs, including guide dogs and hearing dogs, sheep dogs, guard dogs and domestic pets.
• A vehicle displaying a valid disabled person’s badge that is used to carry a disabled person.
• Vehicles used for police, fire or ambulance purposes, and vehicles displaying a valid health emergency badge.

A home that is also “goods”, such as a caravan or houseboat someone lives in as their only or main home, is exempt too.

What is not protected

Anything of the debtor’s outside those categories can be taken into control. GOV.UK gives a TV or games console as examples of non-essential items. Jewellery, a second television, a car that is not exempt and cash are all within reach.

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Things that belong to someone else

GOV.UK says bailiffs cannot take “someone else’s belongings, such as your partner’s computer”, and adds: “You’ll have to prove that someone else’s goods do not belong to you.”

Receipts, bank statements and finance agreements are the usual evidence. Items bought on hire purchase or conditional sale generally still belong to the finance company until the last payment is made.

Where an agent has taken something that belongs to another person, that person can make a claim to the agent and, if it is not accepted, apply to the court. The agent must not sell the goods once they have notice of a court application unless the court allows it.

Listed is not the same as removed

Most visits that end with goods being “taken into control” end with a list and a signed controlled goods agreement, with everything staying where it is. Goods that are removed cannot be sold until at least 7 clear days have passed, and the agent must give at least 7 clear days’ notice of the sale. Paying the full amount before the sale means the goods must be made available for collection.

A signed agreement is not the end of it. The fees up to that point are on the debt, the listed goods cannot be sold or given away, and if the payments in the agreement are missed the agent can come back after 2 clear days’ written notice, using reasonable force to get in, and take what was listed.

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.

Common questions