The bailiff and your rights

The bailiff and your rights

Business rates fact sheet

Why are bailiffs involved in collecting business rates?  
By law, we must send a bill for collecting business rates to a responsible person at every property. If you do not pay us, we will send you a reminder notice. If you still don’t pay, we will apply to the magistrates’ court for a summons to be issued. At the court hearing, we will ask the magistrate to grant a liability order against you for the amount you owe us, including costs. 

The liability order gives us the legal authority to get back the money you owe. We can use bailiffs, take insolvency action, or apply for you to go to prison. We will use bailiffs to begin with if you do not agree a payment arrangement. This will add more costs to the amount you have to pay. 

What do the bailiffs do?
The bailiffs collect the debt you owe by taking and selling your goods. They will normally send you a letter asking you to pay the money you owe immediately. If you do not reply to their letter, they will visit your property to take your goods. They can take goods up to the value of the money you owe, including their costs. The goods will then be sold at public auction. If you ask, the bailiffs must give you a receipt for all the goods you give them.

Can the bailiffs force entry?  
The bailiffs have the right to come into your property to remove goods as long as they do not use force to get in. The bailiffs are not allowed to break open a door but may go in if a door is open, or closed and can be opened without using force. They can also go in through an open window. Once the bailiffs have got into a property, they can force doors inside that are locked.

What goods can the bailiffs take?  
The bailiffs can take any goods that you own - apart from the tools of your trade.  If you pay your debt, including all costs, before any goods are taken or sold, the seizure or sale will be stopped.

Taking goods
You can keep your goods in your property if you do one of the following things: 

• sign an agreement for the bailiff to stay in the property until you have paid your debt or the goods are removed to be sold.
• sign an agreement that holds the goods, so the bailiff can leave and return at a later date if you do not pay the debt as agreed. If the bailiff does return to remove the goods, you do not have to be there.
• before you make a payment arrangement, bailiffs will normally hold the goods and ask you to sign an agreement to hand over the goods if you do not pay.     

What happens to goods that are taken?  
Bailiffs will come to your business premises with a removal van and remove any of your furniture or belongings (these can include cars and bikes). They will put them in secure storage before they are sold at a public auction. 

What happens if the bailiff cannot collect the business rates?  
If the bailiff cannot collect the business rates and there are not enough goods to remove, the liability order is returned to us so that we can start insolvency proceedings or commence proceedings for your committal to prison. 

What do I do if I want to make a complaint?  
If you don’t think that the bailiffs have followed the process set out above, you should contact us.

Ways to contact us about business rates