Three times as many people seek online help about bailiffs

In April 2013, the number of people seeking online advice on how to deal with bailiffs almost trebled, rising to over 20,000 from just under 7,000 in April last year.
 
Over 37,000 people sought online advice about council tax in April 2013 - 87% higher than the same month in 2012.
 
From April 2012 to March 2013, Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) in England and Wales helped with 60,652 problems with bailiffs, a third of which were for council tax debts.  During the same time period we helped with 161,564 problems with Council Tax arrears.
 
There has been a 38% increase in problems with private bailiffs in the last five years (data from 07/08 to 11/12).
 
Almost 9 in 10 problems with bailiffs relate to private bailiffs who are responsible for collecting debts including council tax debts and unpaid parking penalties
 
In August 2012, analysis of 400 bailiff¹ problems which people brought to CAB found:

2 in 5 (39%) threatened the use of force to get in

16% said they would call the police to gain entry

1 in 4 threatened to take items that are banned from removal by bailiffs (such as clothing or work tools)

29% threatened to seize goods that belonged to someone else.

In almost 4 out of 5 (78%) of the cases bailiff action has brought on stress and anxiety

In 35% bailiff action has exacerbated clients mental or physical health problems (23% and 12% respectively).
 
Citizens Advice Chief Executive Gillian Guy said: "A third of the bailiff problems we help with each year are for council tax debt. We see cases where bailiffs overstate their powers, act aggressively and bump up debts by levying excessive fees and charges. Local authorities must protect people from bailiffs who flout the law by helping people early on who are struggling to pay their council tax.  We urge councils to sign up to our protocol for dealing with council tax debt."