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The new laws include a ban on bailiffs entering homes at night and from using physical force against debtors. Bailiffs will also be prevented from entering homes when only children are present, and from taking household essentials such as washing machines.
Citizens' Advice Bureau said the rules needed to go further, and called for greater accountability in the industry.
Mandatory training
Bailiffs are estimated to collect four million debts a year in the UK. The new changes will come into effect on 6 April and follow the Ministry of Justice consultation on the debt collection industry last year. They are part of a wider package of reforms to the Tribunals, Courts & Enforcement Act 2007.
The new rules will also:
- Ban landlords from using bailiffs to seize property for residential rent debts without going to court first
- Introduce mandatory training and certification for bailiffs
- Ensure vulnerable people get assistance and that bailiffs are trained to recognise them
- Introduce clearer rules detailing when a bailiff can enter a property and what goods they can take
- Bring in restrictions on when bailiffs can sell goods
- Require bailiffs to tell the court the likely means of entry, goods involved and amount of force required before a warrant is granted to force entry, as well as provide details of how the premises will be left in a secure state afterwards
- Force bailiffs to give seven days' notice before taking possessions, unless they have specific permission from a court
- Introduce fixed fees, ending the ability of bailiffs to add excessive charges to the amount debtors had to pay
'More professionalism'
Karen Dyson from the Citizens' Advice Bureau told the BBC: "Citizens' advice bureaus across the country deal with over a thousand inquiries about bailiff problems every a week. "Obviously this is not the majority of bailiffs, but it is a significant minority. "We are really pleased to see these new rules. It's a real chance for bailiff companies to review the way their staff are operating." She added that the Citizens' Advice Bureau would ideally like the rules to go further and see a "licensing system" introduced, which would see firms struck off, if bailiffs break the rules.....Read more here