In our experience, we find that most people facing bailiffs for the collection of Council rent arrears, council tax debts, parking charge debts etc etc are already in some financial difficulty. Whilst there may be no charge to the council for using bailiffs there are certainly extra charges to those already in debt...HUGE extra charges. Logic says that if they are struggling to find monies for the initial charges then it is highly unlikely they will be able to afford the extra court fees and bailiff costs on top. It is self-defeating for a council to use bailiffs. It is far better to engage with a debtor at an earlier stage to help them come to some arrangements to make smaller manageable payments to catch up with any arrears. If there is a commission paid to the collection company this still means that the majority of the owed monies gets paid into the councils coffers to go towards much needed services. It would be great if the collection company worked for free...but they are not charities. The success of bailiff use (or rather the lack of success) is one reason why a number of national charities and those who work in this sector are lobbying LA's to stop using Bailiffs. It is THE most unsuccessful, least cost-effective way of collection and the most costly (and unmanageable) to the debtor. Better to work WITH the debtor...who may have very genuine reasons for struggling. "Can't pay" is different from "won't pay". The monies will come in, albeit eventually.