Advertisement
Become a member of the Big Issue community
JOIN
Housing

Rule-breaking bailiffs need to be held to account say debt charities

Experts say bailiffs' behaviour is part of a wider problem that is leaving millions of families in arrears on household bills

Debt charities are demanding an independent regulator be set up to protect people from harmful behaviour by bailiffs, causing stress and exasperating existing money problems.

According to research commissioned for the campaign, more than eight in 10 people in England and Wales think bailiffs should be subject to independent regulation – the equivalent of 39 million people.

Nearly nine in 10 (86 per cent) also want an independent system for complaints about bailiffs.

The fresh calls are part of the Taking Control campaign, launched in 2017 by a group of 11 organisations including Citizens Advice, the Money & Mental Health Policy Institute and The Children’s Society.

Rule breaking

Citizens Advice, who reported a 24 per cent rise in bailiff problems since 2014, said more than one in three people visited by bailiffs in in the past two years saw a bailiff break the rules.

Phil Andrew, chief executive of debt charity StepChange, said only 15 per cent of their clients who felt they had been treated badly by bailiffs made a complaint, and that bailiff firms only uphold around one in 10 complaints.

Advertisement
Advertisement

He added: “That’s shocking but unsurprising, as the industry’s complaints mechanism is fragmented, opaque and can’t be trusted. Industry protectionism and self-interest are causing detriment and harm to some people who have legitimate cause for complaint about bailiffs.

“Only formal regulation can solve the problems in the bailiff sector. Complaints provide a case in point, where the complaints mechanism involves the bailiff industry’s own trade body acting as adjudicator.”

UK households have an estimated £19bn in arrears on bills like council tax and utilities – a wider problem made worse by bailiffs’ conduct, Citizens Advice said.

The campaign’s figures are being submitted to the Ministry of Justice’s call for evidence of the need for bailiff reform.

In 2016-17, bailiffs collected debts from people in England and Wales 2.3 million times. The practice disproportionately affects people with disabilities or health problems, who accounted for 40 per cent of those visited by bailiffs.

National Debtline said 83 per cent of people who had debts collected by bailiffs said the experience was detrimental to their wellbeing.

Image: iStock

Advertisement

Become a Big Issue member

3.8 million people in the UK live in extreme poverty. Turn your anger into action - become a Big Issue member and give us the power to take poverty to zero.

Recommended for you

View all
Cost of building homes higher than house prices in one in five areas after 'years of inflation'
Stock image of British houses
Housing

Cost of building homes higher than house prices in one in five areas after 'years of inflation'

Homelessness facts and statistics: The numbers you need to know in 2024
Homelessness

Homelessness facts and statistics: The numbers you need to know in 2024

Homelessness soars in England due to sky-high rents and asylum backlog crackdown
A child and her mother who are experiencing homelessness
Homelessness

Homelessness soars in England due to sky-high rents and asylum backlog crackdown

Renters should be compensated if they're forced out of their home, campaigners say
Renters' rights

Renters should be compensated if they're forced out of their home, campaigners say

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know