Andrew James: what a letter means and what to do

If you have a notice of enforcement from Andrew James, the council has already passed your debt to the firm and the compliance fee has been added. You have a short window before an agent can visit, and a visit adds at least £247 to what you owe. Use that time to check the debt, contact the council, offer a payment you can afford and get free advice. This guide covers England and Wales, with notes on the Welsh rules where they differ.

Who are Andrew James Enforcement?

Andrew James Enforcement is registered at Companies House as ANDREW JAMES ENFORCEMENT LIMITED, company number 04869085. It is an active private limited company, incorporated on 18 August 2003, with its registered office in Swansea. Its two directors have been in post since it was incorporated. Its person with significant control is an individual whose details are not shown on the public register, and Companies House shows no parent company or group.

The firm’s website, which is available in English and Welsh, describes it as providing an ethical and efficient enforcement service.

Is Andrew James regulated?

Andrew James Enforcement Limited has been accredited by the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) since October 2023. It is a corporate member of CIVEA, the Civil Enforcement Association. The ECB is independent but voluntary and industry-funded, and CIVEA is a trade association: there is no statutory regulator for bailiffs yet.

Bailiff work is not regulated by the FCA, and we found no FCA register entry for the firm. We found no High Court enforcement officers listed with Andrew James in the High Court Enforcement Officers Association directory, and the firm does not list High Court work among its services.

Why are Andrew James contacting you?

The firm lists council tax enforcement, business rates enforcement, commercial rent arrears recovery, sundry debt collection and decriminalised parking enforcement, and describes its clients as local authorities. Swansea Council, for example, names Andrew James Enforcement as one of the enforcement firms it passes council tax debts to.

Each type of debt has its own legal route to a bailiff:

• Council tax and business rates: the council gets a liability order from the magistrates’ court, and can then instruct enforcement agents without going back to court. Swansea Council explains that by this stage you will have been sent a bill, at least one reminder and a summons. Our guide to council tax bailiffs covers this stage in detail.
• Parking penalties issued by a council (decriminalised parking enforcement): after an order for recovery, you have 21 days to pay or challenge it. If you do neither, bailiffs can be sent under a warrant of control.
• Commercial rent arrears: a landlord can use commercial rent arrears recovery (CRAR) against a business tenant without a court order. It only applies to commercial premises, never to a home.
• Sundry council debts: if there is no liability order, court judgment or warrant behind the letter, the firm is collecting on the council’s behalf and has no power to take your goods.

Council tax in Wales

Wales has its own rules. Welsh councils have not been able to ask for someone to be sent to prison for council tax since 1 April 2019, and since 1 April 2026 a Welsh council must send a final notice giving 21 days to pay before it can apply for a liability order. Welsh councils also follow the Council Tax Protocol for Wales. If you are struggling, ask the council whether it will take the account back from the enforcement firm and agree an affordable plan. See council tax arrears for your wider options.

Is the debt yours, and is it right?

Check the name, address, council, reference number and amount. If anything is wrong, contact the council using the details on its official website, and tell Andrew James in writing that you dispute it. Only the council or other creditor can cancel the enforcement or confirm what the order covers.

• For council tax, the council can tell you which years and amounts the liability order covers.
• For a parking penalty, you can only challenge the order for recovery on limited grounds, such as never receiving the penalty notice.
• If the letter is for someone who does not live with you, tell the firm and the council, with proof of when you moved in.

What can Andrew James do, and what can they not do?

Andrew James’ agents follow the same law as every bailiff in England and Wales. The main rules are below; our guide to what bailiffs can and cannot do has more detail.

Notice

You must get a notice of enforcement at least 14 clear days before an agent can take control of your goods. If a debt adviser asks on your behalf before those days run out, this extends to at least 28 clear days. For cases that started before 1 May 2026, the old 7-day notice period still applies.

Fees

The fees are set by law, not by the firm, and are added to what you owe.

The old scale applies to cases started before 1 May 2026, because the 2026 regulations do not affect enforcement action taken before that date. On small debts the fees can soon outgrow the debt. For example, on an unpaid parking penalty of £300 in a new case, the compliance fee takes the total to £379, and a visit adds £247, making £626.

Swansea Council warns that delay in contacting the firm could mean more fees. When you pay, apart from any auctioneer’s costs, the compliance fee is taken first and the rest is shared proportionately between the debt and the remaining fees. Ask for a statement showing how your payments were split.

Entry

You usually do not have to open the door or let a bailiff in. They cannot come in by pushing past you, when only children under 16 or vulnerable people are present, between 9pm and 6am, or through anything except a door. They can only force entry to a home to collect criminal fines, Income Tax or Stamp Duty, and only as a last resort. Council tax, business rates and parking penalties are not on that list.

Your car and your belongings

If you let them in, they can take control of goods you own that are not protected. They cannot take clothes, beds and bedding, a cooker or fridge, a washing machine, basic heating and lighting, items needed to care for children, disabled or older people, pets, work tools and equipment together worth less than £1,350, or anything belonging to someone else. An agent who clamps a car must leave a written notice with the date and time, the reason, a reference and a 24-hour contact number.

Vulnerable people

The firm’s website has a section for debtors pointing to organisations that can help. Tell the firm and the council about illness, disability, mental health problems, a recent bereavement or anything else that makes things harder, with evidence if you have it. The Ministry of Justice’s national standards say creditors should be prepared to take control of a case at any time if the debtor is identified as vulnerable. Only the council can do that, so contact it directly too.

What should you do at each stage?

When the notice of enforcement arrives

Note the date and work out when the notice period ends (Sundays, bank holidays, Good Friday and Christmas Day do not count). Paying in full before a visit avoids the enforcement fee. If you cannot, offer an amount you can keep up, to the firm and to the council, backed by a simple budget. A debt adviser can ask for the longer 28-day notice period while you work out a plan.

If an agent visits

Ask to see identification before you do anything else, and check whether the person is a certificated enforcement agent on the official register. You do not have to let them in for council tax, business rates or a parking penalty, but they could clamp or take a car you own from outside.

If you sign a controlled goods agreement

A controlled goods agreement lets you keep your goods while you pay, but you agree not to sell or get rid of them. Only agree to payments you can keep up. If you break it, the agent must give you at least 2 clear days of written notice before coming back to inspect or remove the goods. Contact the firm before you miss a payment.

If you are in Wales and need emergency help

If paying the bailiff leaves you without money for food or heating, the Discretionary Assistance Fund gives non-repayable grants to people living in Wales, including emergency payments for food, energy and travel.

Is this letter or visit really from Andrew James?

• Use the contact details on your own paperwork, or on the council’s or the firm’s official website. The council can confirm whether it has passed your account to Andrew James. This page deliberately does not list the firm’s contact details.
• Do not rely on a number from a search result, or one given in an unexpected text, email or call.
• Ask for identification at the door and check the certificated enforcement agent register.
• Be wary of pressure to pay at once into an account you do not recognise.

How do debt solutions affect Andrew James?

Council tax arrears are a priority debt, because the consequences of not paying are serious, so they usually need dealing with before debts such as credit cards.

• Breathing Space pauses enforcement action on included debts for up to 60 days. Council tax is only covered once arrears have built up.
• A debt management plan is informal. Creditors can still take action even if you keep up the payments.
• An IVA is a legally binding agreement under the Insolvency Act 1986. Creditors bound by it cannot take further action to recover the debts included in it; secured debts, and debts that cannot be included, are outside it. See does an IVA stop debt collectors and bailiffs?
• During a debt relief order, a creditor owed a listed debt has no remedy for it without the court’s permission. DROs are free, for people with debts under £50,000, less than £75 a month spare, assets under £2,000 and a vehicle worth less than £4,000.
• After a bankruptcy order, creditors owed debts in the bankruptcy have no remedy against your property or you personally for those debts. Bankruptcy costs £680 to apply for.

None of these covers council tax for the current year, which you must keep paying. Each has costs, conditions and long-term effects on your credit file. The debt solutions comparison sets them side by side.

How do you complain about Andrew James Enforcement?

1. Complain to the firm first. Its website says it will try to resolve a complaint over the phone if you are happy for it to do so, or you can complain in writing by email or post. Give your reference number, the dates of any visits and what you want to happen, and keep a copy.
2. The Enforcement Conduct Board: because the firm is accredited, the ECB can review a complaint about events from 1 January 2025 once you have been through the firm’s process. Complain within 3 months of becoming aware of the problem, or within 1 month of the firm’s final response.
3. The council: complain to the council as well, because the firm acts on its behalf. If you are unhappy with its final response, you can go to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales for a Welsh council, or the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman for a council in England.
4. The court: for serious misconduct by a certificated enforcement agent, you can complain to the court on form EAC2. GOV.UK explains how to complain about a bailiff.

Our guide to dealing with debt collectors covers complaints about collection agencies, which follow a different route.

What to do next

1. Do not ignore the letter. Work out when the notice period ends and act before then.
2. Contact the firm and the council, using official contact details, with an offer you can afford. Keep a note of every call and a copy of every letter.
3. Get free, impartial debt advice from MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice or National Debtline. An adviser can ask for more time and look at all your debts together. See where to get free debt advice.