Hambury Tilmond: what a letter means and what to do

A notice of enforcement from Hambury Tilmond gives you 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.

Who are Hambury Tilmond?

Hambury Tilmond is registered at Companies House as HAMBURY TILMOND LTD, company number 08102055. It is an active private limited company, incorporated on 12 June 2012, with its registered office in Southend-on-Sea. It is owned by individuals rather than a larger enforcement group: Companies House lists two people, each with more than 25% of the shares, since October 2019.

The firm says it has more than 40 years’ experience providing civil enforcement, debt collection and legal services to the public and private sectors, that its enforcement agents wear body-worn cameras, and that it is an organisational member of the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation. Its website carries testimonials from Southend-on-Sea, Thurrock and Rochford councils in Essex.

Is Hambury Tilmond regulated?

Hambury Tilmond Limited has been accredited by the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) since October 2023, and 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. We found no FCA register entry for Hambury Tilmond.

It is not listed in the High Court Enforcement Officers Association directory, so it is unlikely to be enforcing a High Court writ against you.

Why are Hambury Tilmond contacting you?

A creditor has passed a debt to Hambury Tilmond for enforcement. Its website lists council tax and business rates, road traffic debt recovery, commercial rent arrears recovery, commercial lease forfeiture, sundry debt recovery, removal of travellers and process serving. The legal route depends on the debt:

• Council tax and business rates: the council must first get a liability order from the magistrates’ court, and can then instruct enforcement agents. Our guide to council tax bailiffs covers this in detail, including asking the council to take the debt back.
• Parking and traffic penalties: 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: a business landlord can use commercial rent arrears recovery (CRAR) against a business tenant without a court judgment, if the lease is in writing and at least 7 days’ rent is unpaid. It cannot be used where any part of the premises is let or lived in as a home.
• Sundry debts, such as housing benefit overpayments: unless a court judgment or other legal authority is behind the debt, the firm is only collecting and has no power to take your goods.

A process server delivering court papers is not enforcing a debt. Read the papers carefully, because court deadlines may apply.

Is the debt yours, and is it right?

Check the name, address, creditor, reference number and amount. If anything is wrong, contact the council or creditor using the details on its official website, and tell Hambury Tilmond in writing that you dispute it. Only the creditor can cancel 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 person named has no connection to you, Hambury Tilmond asks you to contact it. Bailiffs cannot take goods that belong to someone else.

What can Hambury Tilmond do, and what can they not do?

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

Notice

For cases started from 1 May 2026, 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, although that extension does not apply to some business debts. Cases started before 1 May 2026 stay on the old 7-day notice period.

Hambury Tilmond’s fees page, when we checked, said it gives 7 days for business rates. The 2026 regulations set the 14 clear day minimum for new cases without an exception for business rates, so if your notice for a case started from 1 May 2026 gives less, ask the firm and the council why.

Fees

The fees are set by law, not by Hambury Tilmond, and are added to what you owe.

Hambury Tilmond’s own fees page sets out the same scale and says the compliance fee is charged per account, so two liability orders passed over at once mean two compliance fees, while one enforcement fee covers debts in the same name enforced at the same visit. For example, on business rates arrears of £3,000 in a new case, the compliance fee takes the total to £3,079. A visit adds £247 plus 7.5% of £1,100 (£82.50), so £329.50, making £3,408.50.

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. Different rules apply to business premises.

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. Hambury Tilmond says its agents use number plate recognition cameras for road traffic debts. A car you own parked on the road can be taken into control unless it is exempt, such as a vehicle displaying a valid Blue Badge and used to carry the badge holder.

Vulnerable people

Hambury Tilmond says it follows BS 18477, the British Standard on consumer vulnerability, will usually ask for evidence of the vulnerability, and can set up longer payment arrangements or talk to the council for you. Tell the firm and the council about illness, disability, mental health problems, a recent bereavement or anything else that makes things harder. Only the council can take the case back.

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, Hambury Tilmond says it may consider a payment plan if you send an income and expenditure form with recent bank statements, payslips and proof of benefits. A debt adviser can help you fill it in and ask for the longer 28-day notice period.

If an agent visits

Ask to see identification and check the agent on the certificated enforcement agent register. You do not have to let them in, 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. If you break it, the agent must give you at least 2 clear days of written notice before coming back, and may be able to use reasonable force to get in. Contact the firm before you miss a payment.

If goods or your car are about to be removed

Contact Hambury Tilmond and the council straight away, and get debt advice the same day if you can. The sale stage adds at least another £116. Always get a receipt.

Is this letter or visit really from Hambury Tilmond?

• Use the contact details on your own paperwork, or on the council’s official website. The council can confirm whether it has passed your case to Hambury Tilmond.
• Do not rely on a phone number from a search result, or one given in an unexpected text, email or call. This page deliberately does not list the firm’s contact details.
• Ask to see the agent’s certificate and check it against the register.
• Be wary of anyone pushing you to pay at once into an account you do not recognise. If in doubt, contact the council on a number you trust before you pay.

How do debt solutions affect Hambury Tilmond?

Council tax and business rates arrears are priority debts, 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 whether an IVA stops 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.

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 Hambury Tilmond?

1. Complain to Hambury Tilmond first. It says you can raise concerns with it directly and that a copy of its formal complaints procedure is available on request. Put your complaint in writing, with dates and your reference.
2. Complain to the council as well. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman treats the bailiff as acting for the council, so you must complain to the council first; in Wales, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.
3. Because Hambury Tilmond is accredited by the Enforcement Conduct Board, the ECB can review a complaint about something that happened on or after 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.
4. For serious misconduct by a certificated enforcement agent, you can complain to the court on form EAC2. It is free, but you may have to pay costs if the court decides there were no reasonable grounds.

GOV.UK explains how to complain about a bailiff.

What to do next

1. Do not ignore the letter. Work out when the notice period ends and act before then.
2. Contact Hambury Tilmond 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.
4. For your wider rights with bailiffs and collectors, see dealing with debt collectors.