The UK government has been accused of moving too slowly on plans to introduce mandatory regulation for bailiffs, amid ongoing concerns about harmful practices in an industry that collects over £1 billion annually from indebted Britons.
More than 7 million enforcement cases are processed each year, affecting millions of people. The sector primarily deals with unpaid parking and traffic fines, as well as council tax arrears.
A year after the Ministry of Justice announced it would legislate to make independent regulation mandatory, the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB), which currently oversees the industry, has criticised the lack of "visible progress".
Chris Nichols, ECB chief executive, said: "Government has rightly committed to act but a year on from announcing this, there is still no clear plan. Every year hundreds of thousands of people are receiving enforcement action from unregulated providers. This is not fair and government should now address this."
Current Regulation Gaps
It is not currently a statutory requirement for enforcement firms to be authorised by the ECB, and some companies have refused to sign up to its standards or oversight. This has led to calls from consumer groups for tighter regulation amid concerns about poor practices, including aggressive behaviour on the doorstep, overcharging, clamping vehicles used by disabled people, and threatening to remove exempt possessions.
Last summer, the Guardian revealed that Britain's biggest bailiff company, Marston Holdings, had overcharged people it was pursuing for unpaid debts and had been forced to launch a refunds programme.
Government Promises and Delays
On 9 June 2025, the government outlined a package of measures designed "to deliver a fairer system of debt enforcement" and launched a consultation on mandatory regulation. A year on, those eagerly awaiting the changes fear the policy has stalled.
Nichols added: "Regulation of enforcement services must be mandatory so that everyone who experiences enforcement has the same protections. It cannot be right for companies to simply refuse to comply with our standards for fair enforcement. Statutory regulation is supported by the public, debt charities and the majority of the enforcement industry itself."
Last week, Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, said on his podcast it was "outrageous that we still don't have a proper independent regulator". He noted seeing "far too many cases of distress, upset, bullying, bad treatment … That's not to say all bailiffs are bad, but it is to say that there are too many cases of bad behaviour from bailiffs".
Government Response
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the government "remains committed to strengthening the regulation of the bailiff sector and fully supports the ECB's work. Following our consultation about statutory independent regulation of the sector, we are developing proposals to ensure fair treatment for people in debt. We will announce next steps soon."
