CM December DECEMBER 2018

Bailiff research ridiculed as
‘mathematical gymnastics’ by
enforcement leader
A
senior business leader has
slammed research from Citizens
Advice into the use and actions of
bailiffs as ‘clever, mathematical
gymnastics’ after the charity reported a
24 percent rise in bailiff complaints since
2014 and cited more than half a million
examples of where bailiffs have breached
current rules.
Russell Hamblin-Boone, Chief Executive
Officer of the Civil Enforcement Association
(CIVEA), took the charity to task: “Citizens
Advice has used clever, mathematical
gymnastics to come to the figure of a rule
broken by bailiffs every minute,” he says.
“Bailiffs collected 12 million debts over
the years quoted in the report, so it is
wrong to make those sweeping judgement
about bailiffs who operate against tight
regulations.”
The research took the form of a poll by
YouGov involving 277 people. It suggested
that bailiffs are flouting the laws in a
number of cases, by refusing to accept
affordable payments, misrepresenting their
rights of entry, and taking control of goods
inappropriately. The purpose of the report
was to show that 2014 reforms haven't
worked, and new regulation was required.
Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens
Advice, says too often bailiffs, and the firms
they work for, are a law unto themselves:
“This is inflicting widespread harm on
people and their families and it has to stop.
“The 2014 reforms were well intentioned
but sadly have had little effect on
improving the behaviour of some bailiffs,”
Mrs Guys adds. “Faced with the evidence
we’ve put in front of them, the Ministry of
Justice has no other option but to establish
an independent bailiff regulator.”
Phil Andrew, StepChange Debt Charity
Chief Executive, agrees: “This is completely
unacceptable, especially as the people
on the receiving end are often distressed,
vulnerable and unempowered. Across the
debt advice sector, we are united in the
view that it’s now time for regulation to be
more robust, and for the rules to be properly
enforced. Even some bailiff firms seem
to be realising that the days of informal
regulation need to end.”
But Russell takes a very different stance:
“Some of the things that Citizen’s Advice
are saying is happening are illegal, so why
aren’t they being reported to the Police? We
record our bailiffs – they have video badges
on their jackets and that is reviewed on a
daily basis to make sure they are following
the rules appropriately.
“A visit by an enforcement agent is
always the last resort. In order to receive a
visit you must have ignored final demands,
emails, phone calls and texts. Of course,
agents need to be assertive when chasing
down people who refuse to pay their
council tax or court fines. But if there
is any genuine evidence that agents are
acting illegally then we will investigate
and take the necessary action. But if we
are to continue working together to drive
up industry standards, we must avoid an
emotionally-charged debate and instead
focus on robust facts and strong evidence.”
Citizens Advice has used
clever, mathematical
gymnastics to come to the
figure of a rule broken by
bailiffs every minute.
>NEWS
IN BRIEF
FECMA APPOINTMENT
CHIEF Executive of the CICM, Philip King,
has been elected as Vice President of
Federation of European Credit Managers
(FECMA) during the meeting of its council
in Budapest. He will be serving a second
term as one of the two Vice Presidents.
fecma.eu
Unsustainable
SOME eight in ten organisations are
struggling to include sustainability in their
supply chain management, according to
research by State of Flux. The annual report
surveyed more than 300 organisations
and found only five percent of these can
be classed as ‘leaders’ in supply chain
sustainability. The report also revealed that
47 percent of organisations do very little
or no joint work with suppliers to manage
sustainability. stateofflux.co.uk
Flashing the cash
UK Finance data shows that consumers
spent £10.7 billion using credit cards in
September – the highest monthly total
since records began in 1997. This came
in a month where the amount of money
placed into savings accounts climbed by
0.9 percent, the smallest increase since
2007. Contrastingly, growth in consumer
credit has slowed to its lowest level in
more than three years. Bank of England
data showed that personal borrowing via
loans and credit cards was up 7.7 percent
on an annualised basis in September, the
lowest rate since June 2015. It is also well
below the peak of 10.9 percent recorded in
November 2016. ukfinance.org.uk
Self-employed exhibit debt dilemma
A growing number of small business
owners and self-employed people are
facing high levels of debt as they struggle
to keep their businesses afloat, according
to research from Business Debtline.
Findings show that half (49 percent)
of the people contacting the service last
year had debt totaling £10,000 or more,
with nearly a quarter (23 percent) owing
more than £30,000.
Issues such as late payments, low
and variable incomes and a lack of
essential business management skills are
identified as some of the key challenges
that can lead to financial difficulty and
in some cases business failure. Both
business and personal debts are common
amongst the people helped via Business
Debtline, with the two often intermixed,
further complicating their situation.
While the people helped by Business
Debtline had a wide income range, 39
percent had gross business annual
turnover below £25,000. Low and irregular
income were major challenges and often
prevented small business owners from
saving, investing in the business and
having the financial resilience to deal
with changes in circumstances such
as ill health. More than six in 10 callers
surveyed (61 percent) said they had used
personal credit at some point to pay for
business costs in the past two years.
Nearly half (45 percent) of callers
to Business Debtline surveyed said
they experienced problems with late
payments, where they are uncertain
when the money they have earned
will be paid. The issue was common for
both sole traders and company directors.
Before starting trading, most felt
confident completing a budget (80
percent) but they were less confident
constructing a business plan (59 percent)
and completing tax and VAT returns
(47 percent). After seeking advice from
Business Debtline, 82 percent of callers
reported that they felt more in control
of their finances, with 86 percent saying
they were less likely to find themselves
in a similar situation again.
A significant proportion (69 percent)
considered themselves to be in a
vulnerable situation. Financial difficulty
was the main reason given, with
depression, anxiety and stress commonly
cited. For many, being in a vulnerable
situation caused them to struggle to
trade, further impacting their income.
businessdebtline.org
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / December 2018 / PAGE 11