24 Hour Bailiffs: Evictions and Writs of Control

Who runs 24 Hour Bailiffs

24 Hour Bailiffs Limited is registered at Companies House under company number 07725135, incorporated on 2 August 2011, with its registered office at Waterham Business Park, Highstreet Road, Hernhill, Faversham, Kent, ME13 9EJ, matching the address the High Court Enforcement Officers Association's own directory gives for the firm. Companies House shows a single family running it: Gary Sean Goy has been a director since March 2015, with Daniel, Geraldine and Stephanie Goy having held earlier director roles between 2011 and 2015. The HCEOA directory names Gary Goy as the firm's authorised High Court Enforcement Officer.

Checked separately against the Enforcement Conduct Board's accredited firms register and CIVEA's published member list, 24 Hour Bailiffs does not appear on either. That does not affect the fixed statutory fees below, which are set by regulation rather than by any trade body, but it does change where an unresolved complaint can go, covered further down.

The work this firm takes on

Its own site describes work concentrated on property recovery rather than routine debt collection: commercial rent recovery, lease forfeiture, residential and commercial evictions, removal of unauthorised occupiers and trespassers, and clearing traveller encampments. Alongside that sits a narrower, unusual list: horse removal, and clearing caravans or abandoned vehicles from land. Straightforward debt recovery and asset seizure under a court judgment is also listed, but it sits alongside, not instead of, the property work.

Enforcement agent, or something else?

Where a judgment debt is being enforced against goods, "enforcement agent" is the correct term, working under Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. An eviction or a trespasser removal is a different legal process again, resting on a possession order or a landowner's own right to exclude people from land, not on the taking-control-of-goods rules that apply to an ordinary debt.

Evictions and removing occupiers

A residential or commercial eviction, or clearing a traveller encampment, is carried out under a writ or warrant of possession. Under Civil Procedure Rules rule 83.8A, a notice of eviction usually has to reach the property at least 14 days before the eviction, or 7 days ahead of a repeat attempt. That notice requirement does not apply to a trespasser who entered without any right to be there in the first place, which is the more likely scenario for the encampment and land-clearance side of this firm's work rather than for a former tenant.

The fixed fees for a writ of control

Where a case is enforced as a High Court writ of control, the fee scale is fixed and separate from council tax or parking enforcement rates.

This applies to instructions taken on from 1 May 2026. Regulation 11 of the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 allows a separate £79 compliance fee per enforcement power, but the first enforcement stage fee and the sale fee are usually charged once only, where the debts can reasonably be dealt with on the same visit. None of this scale applies to a possession, eviction, or land-clearance instruction, which is not a fee this page can quote a figure for.

When force is actually allowed

Where a debt is being enforced against goods, entry into a home must be peaceable, through a door voluntarily opened, on a first visit. Paragraph 18A of Schedule 12 allows reasonable force onto business premises where a trade is carried on there, the underlying sum is not a traffic debt, and a writ or warrant already exists. Paragraph 19A allows forced re-entry once a signed controlled goods agreement has been broken. A trespasser removal or an eviction under a possession order operates under an entirely separate legal footing, not this Schedule 12 framework.

County Court or High Court: the £600 line

Under article 8 of the High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order 1991, a judgment below £600 stays in the County Court, one of £5,000 or more goes to the High Court, and a judgment on a regulated Consumer Credit Act agreement stays in the County Court whatever the amount.

Goods that are off limits

Where goods enforcement applies, only property genuinely belonging to the debtor is available. Regulation 4 of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 protects everyday clothing and bedding, equipment the household needs to function, items for medical or child care, pets, assistance dogs, and a vehicle carrying a valid disabled badge, plus work tools up to a combined £1,350. A horse or caravan being removed under a landowner's instruction to clear land is a different question again, resting on ownership of the land rather than these exemptions.

Settling up, or disputing the debt

For a goods-enforcement case, a controlled goods agreement lets listed items stay in use while agreed payments continue, though everything on the list should be checked as genuinely the debtor's and exempt items should never appear on it. Dispute the underlying debt or rent figure with the creditor or landlord, not with the enforcement firm directly, since it cannot rewrite either. Anyone facing an eviction or a land-clearance instruction should get advice specific to possession proceedings rather than debt enforcement, since the two processes and the defences available differ substantially.

Telling them about a vulnerability

Raise a genuine vulnerability in writing, as early as possible, with whoever instructed the case. Illness, disability, bereavement, age-related difficulty, language barriers and a household crisis have all been treated as relevant in other cases, often in combination. None of it removes a debt that is genuinely owed, though it can change the pace and manner of enforcement.

Is the letter or visit genuine?

Confirm details independently, through the court reference on the paperwork or the party who instructed the case, rather than a phone number that only appears on the letter itself. 24 Hour Bailiffs' registered office and its HCEOA-listed trading address match, which is at least consistent with the letter being genuine, though it is not proof on its own.

How to escalate a complaint

Begin with the firm's own complaints process, quoting the case reference and setting out exactly what happened. Checked directly, 24 Hour Bailiffs does not appear on the ECB's accredited firms register or CIVEA's member list, so those two routes are not available here. It does appear on the HCEOA directory, so a complaint about Gary Goy's conduct as the authorised High Court Enforcement Officer can be taken there once the firm's own process is finished. A breach of the Schedule 12 rules, or enforcement under a defective instrument, is separately something the debtor can raise with the court under paragraph 66 of Schedule 12.

Six things to check straight away

1. Work out whether this is a goods-enforcement case, a possession or eviction, or a land-clearance instruction, since each follows different rules.
2. For goods enforcement, check fees against the table above.
3. For an eviction, check whether a 14-day notice of eviction should have reached the property first.
4. Dispute a wrong underlying debt or rent figure with the creditor or landlord, not the firm.
5. Put any vulnerability in writing now.
6. Get possession-specific advice quickly if the case is an eviction rather than a debt.