MARTIN LEWIS: ‘Genuine step forward’ as bailiffs forced to answer to a watchdog

Martin Lewis says most people who get a bailiff knocking at their door are vulnerable. Now, for the first time, the people doing the knocking will have to answer to an independent watchdog.

The MoneySavingExpert founder, speaking as chair of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute he set up, called the change “a genuine step forward” after what he described as a long campaign for mandatory regulation of the industry.

You are over three times more likely to be in debt crisis if you have a mental health problem, he said, which is why so many of the people bailiffs visit are vulnerable in the first place.

“Many bailiffs behave fairly,” he said, “but some have got away with acting with impunity due to the lack of mandatory independent regulation. We’ve long campaigned for that to change as aggressive debt collection can and does destroy lives.

“So we’re delighted the government has listened and made today’s bailiffs announcement. Bailiffs will have to comply with the rules or lose their licence.”

And because the regulation is mandatory rather than opt-in, he said, it should be easier in future to bring in “faster, more ambitious compassionate rules”.

What actually changes at the door

Under the new rules, private bailiffs in England and Wales will have to be accredited by the Enforcement Conduct Board, or work for a firm that is, to get or renew the certificate that lets them operate.

Anyone facing enforcement action will also get access to an independent complaints process, which the UK Government says will strengthen the rights of the most vulnerable.

At the moment, ministers say, families are sometimes pressured into repayments that leave them unable to afford the essentials of day-to-day life while they pay off what they owe.

Courts minister Sarah Sackman said bailiffs had an important job to do, “but with that responsibility must come high standards”.

“When someone is already struggling with debt, the last thing they should face is intimidating behaviour, unfair treatment or being pushed into excessive repayment arrangements they cannot afford,” she said.

Citizens Advice, whose Cymru arm has long ranked council tax arrears among the most common debt problems it sees in Wales, also welcomed the package. Peter Grigg, its executive director of partnerships and advocacy, said people left out of pocket often felt they had “nowhere to turn”.

The bailiff measures arrived in the same announcement as a clampdown on cowboy builders, both billed by the Prime Minister as “everyday fixes” on the cost of living.

The changes will not land overnight, and until they do the advice for anyone facing enforcement action stays the same: free, independent help is available through Citizens Advice before agreeing to any repayment arrangement.