Barking and Dagenham Council Tax Bailiffs: The Four Collectors It Names

Four collectors, including one local name

Barking and Dagenham's own non-payment page lists four providers it uses to collect unpaid council tax: Becontree Collection Services, Marston Holdings, CDER Group, which the council notes was formerly JBW Group, and Whyte & Co. Three of those are national enforcement firms with track records you can read about; Becontree Collection Services is a name that appears on the council's list without a wider public footprint, so if a letter arrives under that name, treat the council's page as your confirmation that it is a genuine Barking and Dagenham collector and verify any payment details with the council before paying. The old JBW branding matters too: a CDER letter about a debt that JBW once chased is the same contract, not a new debt.

The council itemises £123 of court costs

Barking and Dagenham publishes both halves of its court costs. Its page states that £63.00 is added to your bill when the summons is issued, and a further £60.00 in costs is added when the liability order is granted, £123 in total. It then quotes the enforcement fees on top: an initial fee of £79.00 when a case is passed to the agents, and additional fees of £247.00 or more if a personal visit is made. Those last two figures match the national scale in force for instructions from May 2026, so the council's numbers are current, and a demand can be checked against them line by line. The full stage-by-stage breakdown is in our council tax bailiffs guide.

Where to pay, and who to pay

Before referral, the council takes direct debit and online payments and sets up payment plans through its My B&D account service. After referral its instruction is blunt: once the agents are instructed, residents must call them directly, whether that is Becontree Collection Services, Marston, CDER or Whyte & Co. The practical takeaway is timing. A plan agreed through My B&D before the account leaves the council costs £123 at worst; the same plan agreed with an agent after a visit costs £449 or more once the summons, order, compliance and enforcement fees have all landed.

Support if you cannot pay

The same section of the council's site links a page for residents struggling to pay their council tax, which is the starting point for reductions and support before recovery hardens. If a case has been mishandled, a complaint about the council runs through its corporate procedure and then the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, while the conduct of any of the four collectors can be challenged with the firm and referred to the Enforcement Conduct Board. Our get help page covers what to do when council tax is only part of the problem.