UK bailiff law 'worst in world'

Rising debt levels means more work for bailiffs

British bailiff law is "probably the worst in the world", according to an independent body which advises ministers on debt collection.

Chairman of the Law Enforcement Reform Group, Philip Evans, was speaking as part of a File On 4 investigation into private firms who collect public debt.

One company threatened an elderly woman with jail for a debt she did not owe.

"I'm begining to feel that the ministers are seeing this as an old initiative,"said Mr Evans.

"I think they're seeing it as something left over that their predecessor started and can just be left to wither on the vine.

Proper regulation was essential, he added, because bailiffs had strong powers of entry into people's homes to seize their possessions.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs said a new bill was being drafted which would cover the procedure and code for enforcement by seizing goods and selling them to recover money.

A statement said the bill would also "clarify the law for the agent taking the goods and the debtor whose goods are being taken regardless of on whose behalf the debt is being enforced."

However, regulation of bailiffs will not be included in the bill and there is no indication of when parliamentary time will be made available.

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File On 4: BBC Radio 4, Tuesday 21 March, 2006 at 2000 GMT and repeated on Sunday 26 March, 2005 at 1700 GMT. Or listen online - see links on the right hand side of this page.