Bailiffs and vulnerable situations: extra protection and the fee bar

If you are dealing with enforcement while also dealing with mental health problems, serious illness, bereavement or another vulnerability, the law gives you real, enforceable protections — not just sympathy. This page explains the two that matter most and how to use them.

Protection 1: time to get help

Enforcement agents are required to give vulnerable people an adequate opportunity to get help and advice before removing goods. The government's guidance confirms you "may be able to get extra time to make a payment or get debt advice if you're a vulnerable person (for example, you have mental health problems or are seriously ill)". That is a right to breathing room, and it applies from the moment the firm knows — or should know — about the vulnerability.

Protection 2: regulation 12, the fee bar

This is the provision most debtors never hear about. Regulation 12 of the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 — checked at source on 2026-10-09 — provides that where an enforcement agent takes control of goods when the debtor is a vulnerable debtor and has not been given an adequate opportunity to get help and advice, the fees for the enforcement stage and the sale stage are not recoverable.

In plain terms: if they enforce against you while ignoring your vulnerability, they may lose the right to charge the £110 enforcement fee and the sale-stage fee. That converts a courtesy into a consequence — and it is why telling the firm about vulnerability in writing, early is so important.

How to use these protections

1. Say it in writing, once, clearly. Letter or email to the enforcement firm: "There is a vulnerability issue on this account" — describe it briefly (you do not have to over-share), and ask for enforcement to be paused while you seek advice. Keep proof of sending.
2. Copy in your creditor (the council, the court, the original creditor). The firm works for them; a creditor who knows about vulnerability and continues aggressive enforcement is exposed.
3. Get an adviser involved. National Debtline, StepChange and Citizens Advice deal with this weekly. A breathing space application is often the right tool — the main guide covers it.
4. If the rules were broken: use the firm's complaints process first, then the enforcement agent certification route via the county court. The official complaints page sets out the escalation. Keep the fee bar in mind when you ask for fees to be written off — name regulation 12.

A note on the £75 compliance fee

The compliance-stage fee (£75) is charged when the notice of enforcement is sent — before a visit, before any vulnerability issue can arise on a doorstep. Regulation 12 protects against the later stages. That is exactly why raising vulnerability during the notice period, before enforcement happens, is worth more than arguing about it after a visit.

This page is general information, not legal or medical advice. If your situation involves a mental health crisis, tell the debt adviser that first — the mental health crisis breathing space exists for exactly that.

⚖ Source-checked 2026-10-09 at legislation.gov.uk · Independent information — not legal advice.