Councils using aggressive enforcement and bailiffs, says debt charity

Councils are taking court action and using bailiffs to recover people’s debts, rather than helping arrange affordable payment options, a debt charity has said.

Enforcement action “appears to be the norm, not a last resort”, said StepChange, after a survey of its clients found that even after speaking to their council about their debts, 62% had been threatened with court action and 51% had been threatened with bailiffs.

However, Rochdale Council says it does not record this information and is therefore "unable to comment".

A spokesperson did say: "We will always try to make an affordable payment arrangement with residents, rather than take court action. Unfortunately, many residents only choose to make contact once a summons has been issued, or even later in the enforcement process. Residents are encouraged to contact us at the earliest opportunity if they are struggling to pay their council tax, this is mentioned on all council tax correspondence issued to residents and occasional press releases. Early contact prevents the addition of court costs and enforcement agent fees to the council tax charge."

StepChange said councils were under pressure to collect tax, and were named and shamed based on these rates, but a fall in collection rates in 2013-14 suggested tough enforcement action was not working.

In Rochdale, the total council tax arrears outstanding on 31 March 2010 was £7,524,260.27. By 31 March 2014 this had increased to £12,410,404.52.

StepChange is calling for changes to the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 to force councils to provide evidence that they have tried to pursue an affordable repayment plan, and for consumers to get protection against enforcement of unaffordable repayments if they are seeking help with their debts.