Bailiff Fees and Notice Periods Changed on 1 May 2026: What It Means If You Are Enforcing a Judgment
If you won a judgment and are choosing between county court bailiffs and High Court enforcement, the fee tables changed on 1 May 2026 and the debtor now gets 14 days' notice instead of seven. Here is what the new regulations say and what it means for your decision.
What Changed on 1 May 2026
The Taking Control of Goods (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/366) came into force on 1 May 2026. They do two things that matter to anyone enforcing a County Court Judgment.
First, they replace the fee tables that enforcement agents (bailiffs) and High Court Enforcement Officers can charge at each stage of taking control of goods. Second, they extend the minimum notice of enforcement from seven clear days to 14 clear days, extendable to 28 clear days where a debt advice provider asks for it on a non-business debt.
The changes apply to enforcement that starts on or after 1 May 2026. Enforcement already under way on that date continued on the old fees.
The New Fee Tables
These are the fees the enforcement agent adds to the debt and recovers from the debtor. They are separate from the court fee you pay to issue the warrant or writ.
County court enforcement (warrant of control) and other non-High Court debts
| Stage | Fixed fee | Percentage fee |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance (notice sent) | £79 | None |
| Enforcement (visit) | £247 | 7.5% of the sum recovered above £1,900 |
| Sale or disposal | £116 | 7.5% of the sum recovered above £1,900 |
High Court enforcement (writ of control)
| Stage | Fixed fee | Percentage fee |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance | £79 | None |
| First enforcement stage | £200 | 7.5% of the sum recovered above £1,200 |
| Second enforcement stage | £520 | None |
| Sale or disposal | £550 | 7.5% of the sum recovered above £1,200 |
The compliance fee is the one that matters most to creditors in practice. Under High Court enforcement, if the debtor does not pay at the compliance stage, the creditor is usually liable for that £79 compliance fee plus VAT. That is the "abortive fee" that High Court enforcement firms warn about, and it is worth knowing before you transfer up a judgment against a debtor who has nothing.
Why the 14-Day Notice Period Cuts Both Ways
Doubling the notice period gives the debtor a fortnight, and potentially four weeks, between receiving the notice and any visit. For creditors that is a longer wait and a longer window in which a determined debtor can move goods or vehicles.
The flip side is that the notice itself does a lot of the work. A significant share of debts are paid at the compliance stage, before any visit happens, because the notice makes clear that the next step is a bailiff at the door with a further £247 added to the bill. A longer notice period gives more debtors the chance to pay before that.
If your debtor is a business with stock or vehicles that could realistically vanish, the longer notice is a point in favour of a different method, such as a third party debt order against a bank account, which the debtor does not get warned about in advance.
What Else Is Coming
The Enforcement Conduct Board, the voluntary regulator set up in 2022, now has published standards that most firms have signed up to, and the Civil Justice Council recommended in April 2025 that it be given statutory powers. The government has said it will legislate for that. Body-worn cameras for certificated enforcement agents are also expected to become mandatory.
None of that changes what a creditor has to do today. It does mean that complaints about bailiff conduct now have a route beyond the firm itself, which matters if you are the creditor being blamed for an agent's behaviour.
The county court bailiff service remains slow. In 2025 the median wait between a possession claim and bailiff repossession was 27 weeks. For money judgments the picture is better but still measured in months in busy areas, which is why High Court enforcement, with its faster turnaround, remains popular for judgments over £600 despite the higher fees.
Choosing an Enforcement Method After the Changes
The decision framework in our guide to enforcing a judgment still holds. The new fees shift it slightly:
- Debtor has a job: attachment of earnings is unaffected by these regulations and remains the cheapest reliable method.
- Debtor has money in the bank: a third party debt order avoids the notice period entirely.
- Debtor has goods and the judgment is under £600: a county court warrant of control, with the new £79 / £247 / £116 stages added to what the debtor owes.
- Judgment over £600 and the debtor has goods: High Court enforcement is faster, but budget for the £79 compliance fee plus VAT if it fails.
- Debtor has nothing: do not spend money on any of them. Use an order to obtain information first if you are unsure.
The CourtPilot enforcement toolkit prepares the forms for each route and asks the five questions about the debtor that decide which one is worth paying for.
Frequently asked questions
Do I pay the bailiff's fees or does the debtor?
Does the 14-day notice apply to county court bailiffs as well as High Court officers?
Did the court fee for a warrant of control change?
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