Britain's Biggest Bailiff Firm Forced to Set Up Refunds Scheme After Overcharging

Britain's biggest bailiff company overcharged people it was pursuing for unpaid debts and has been forced to launch a refunds programme, the Guardian can reveal.

- Rupert Jones

Marston Holdings, which is used by companies and state-funded bodies including Transport for London to recover debts and fines, has apologised to consumers after overcharging "enforcement fees" related to unpaid road traffic penalties it was pursuing.

The body that oversees the bailiff sector in England and Wales said the company's behaviour was unacceptable and had breached regulations designed to protect the public from overcharging.

In England and Wales, when a bailiff - or "enforcement agent" - visits someone's home, a fixed fee of £235 is added to the debt.

Sources said thousands of individuals may have been overcharged after the company added multiple enforcement fees to their debts. Marston did not say how many people may be affected but said less than 0.3% of its debtor caseload had been affected.

The minutes of a trade body meeting last month - seen by the Guardian - stated that Marston was alerted to this issue in April, and that an investigation by an industry oversight body "revealed breaches in multiple cases where more than one (£235) enforcement fee had been charged instead of the cases being linked under one fee".