Who pays bailiff fees, and the three fee stages

Short answer

Enforcement fees are recoverable from the debtor. Regulation 4(1) of the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 allows the enforcement agent to recover the fees indicated in the Schedule to those Regulations from the debtor, and regulation 4(2) allows them to be recovered out of proceeds. The fees are charged by stage, so the amount depends on how far enforcement runs. Where the enforcement power has ceased to be exercisable, regulation 17 stops the agent recovering fees for work done after that point from the debtor.

The law

Regulation 4 is headed "Recovery of fees for enforcement-related services from the debtor". Under regulation 4(1) the enforcement agent may recover from the debtor the fees indicated in the Schedule and, where the creditor is not VAT-registered, "the sum equivalent to VAT on those fees", by reference to the stage, or stages, of enforcement for which enforcement-related services have been supplied. Regulation 4(6) states that the Schedule fees are exclusive of VAT.

The Schedule, headed "Fees recoverable under regulation 4", contains two tables. Table 1 applies to enforcement other than under a High Court writ and sets a compliance stage, an enforcement stage, and a sale or disposal stage. Table 2 applies to enforcement under a High Court writ and splits the middle stage: it sets a compliance stage, a first enforcement stage, a second enforcement stage, and a sale or disposal stage.

Regulation 4(5) governs that split. Where the agent is acting under an enforcement power conferred by a High Court writ and the debtor pays in full, or the agent and the debtor enter into a repayment arrangement or a controlled goods agreement which the debtor does not breach, only the first enforcement stage fee may be recovered. Where the arrangement or agreement is breached, or where none is entered into, both the first and the second enforcement stage fees may be recovered, and the first stage fee is recoverable in the second of those cases even though the first enforcement stage did not apply. Regulation 4(5)(aa) adds that where no initial contact is established during the first attendance at the premises, the agent will not proceed to the second enforcement stage until the debtor has been given another opportunity to pay in full or to enter into a repayment arrangement or a controlled goods agreement. Regulation 4(5)(ab) preserves recovery of the first enforcement stage fee in that case, and allows the move to the second stage if no contact is established on a later visit, or if contact is made but the debtor does neither of those things.

Timing within a stage matters. Regulation 4(3) allows the agent to recover the whole fee provided in the Schedule for a stage, and the sum equivalent to VAT on it, where the amount outstanding is paid after the commencement but before the completion of that stage.

Regulation 17 is headed "Fees and disbursements not recoverable where enforcement process ceases". Regulation 17(1) provides that the agent may not recover fees or disbursements from the debtor in relation to any stage of enforcement undertaken at a time when the relevant enforcement power has ceased to be exercisable. Regulation 17(2) disapplies that where the power ceased to be exercisable because the debtor paid the amount outstanding, or because that amount was recovered from proceeds or otherwise.

The costs

Under Table 1 the stages are £79 at the compliance stage, £247 at the enforcement stage, and £116 at the sale or disposal stage.

Under Table 2, for enforcement under a High Court writ, the stages are £79 at the compliance stage, £200 at the first enforcement stage, £520 at the second enforcement stage, and £550 at the sale or disposal stage.

A percentage fee is charged on larger debts. Regulation 7 calculates it by multiplying the sum to be recovered that exceeds the threshold in the relevant table by the percentage given in that table. The threshold is £1,900 for Table 1 and £1,200 for Table 2. The percentage is 7.5%, and the Schedule applies it to the enforcement and sale stages under Table 1, and to the first enforcement stage and the sale stage under Table 2. The compliance stage carries no percentage fee under either table, and nor does the second enforcement stage under Table 2.

Where the creditor is not registered for VAT, regulation 4(1)(b) allows a sum equivalent to VAT on those fees, at 20%, to be recovered from the debtor as well.

The fee calculator works a stage and a debt figure through these tables, and enforcement fees sets out the structure in more detail.

What happens next

For a debtor, the fee follows the stage. Paying before enforcement begins limits the charge to the compliance stage, and regulation 4(3) means part of a stage is not charged at a part fee. Under a High Court writ, keeping to a repayment arrangement or a controlled goods agreement keeps the charge at the first enforcement stage fee rather than adding the second.

For a creditor, the Regulations set what the enforcement agent may recover from the debtor. They do not set the commercial terms between a creditor and an enforcement firm, so what a creditor pays where nothing is recovered is a matter for those terms. Regulation 17 is the provision to watch: once the enforcement power has ceased to be exercisable, fees and disbursements for stages undertaken after that point are not recoverable from the debtor, unless the power ceased because the amount outstanding was paid or recovered.

Where to get help

A debtor who cannot pay can get free advice from National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 or from Citizens Advice. Complaints about the conduct of an enforcement agent can be taken to the Enforcement Conduct Board. A creditor weighing an instruction, or anyone disputing how fees have been applied, should take advice from a solicitor. This page is educational information, not advice on an individual case.