Enforcement company
Chandlers: Council Tax, Court Fines and Fees
Chandlers is one of the smallest firms whose name appears on council enforcement letters, and small names usually attract scam suspicion. It is a real company, named by Wandsworth and Slough on their own websites, except that it appears on neither of the two main industry registers.
- Where Chandlers sits on the registers
- The councils that name Chandlers
- Why court fines follow different rules
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What are Chandlers contacting you about?
May not be suitable in all circumstances. Our initial advice is free, but fees may apply and your credit rating may be affected if you opt for a debt solution.
Company details
| Type | Enforcement company |
|---|---|
| Registered name | Chandlers |
Key facts
- Company number
- 03292455, incorporated 1996
- Registers
- Not on ECB or CIVEA lists, Aug 2026
- Named by
- Wandsworth and Slough, own pages
- Forced entry
- Not for council tax on a first visit
On this page 8 sections
That absence changes little about its powers and fees, and a lot about where a complaint ends up.
Who are Chandlers?
Chandlers Limited is registered at Companies House under company number 03292455, incorporated on 16 December 1996, with its registered office at Office 7, 35-37 Ludgate Hill, London, EC4M 7JN. The firm's own site carries the same company number, describes an in-house team of agents carrying photographic identification and county court certification, and gives 020 8290 0866 as its office line.
Two councils currently name Chandlers on their own council tax pages: Wandsworth, which lists it as one of four firms enforcing its council tax (alongside Bristow & Sutor, Dukes and Marston), with 0208 290 5055 for Wandsworth cases (wandsworth.gov.uk/council-tax-enforcement-agents, checked 22 Aug 2026), and Slough, which records "an agreement with four enforcement agent companies: Newlyn, Chandlers, Stanford and Green, Jacobs" (slough.gov.uk/council-tax/enforcement-agents/5, checked 22 Aug 2026).
The register question
Checked against the registers themselves in August 2026, Chandlers is not on the Enforcement Conduct Board's accredited firms register and not on CIVEA's published member list. Both are voluntary, and staying off them does not make a firm illegitimate: enforcement powers come from the creditor's instruction and each agent's individual county court certificate, not from a trade body, the statutory fee scale binds every certificated agent equally, and the Ministry of Justice's national standards apply to the work either way. What the absence does change is the top rung of the complaints ladder: with Chandlers there is no ECB stage, so the instructing council, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the certificating county court carry the weight instead.
What Chandlers is instructed to collect
| Debt type | Authority behind it | Who instructs them |
|---|---|---|
| Council tax and business rates | Liability order from the magistrates' court | Local council |
| Parking and traffic penalties | Warrant of control via the Traffic Enforcement Centre | Local council |
| Magistrates' court fines | Warrant of control under a collection order | HM Courts and Tribunals Service |
| Commercial rent arrears (CRAR) | Statutory CRAR notice procedure | Commercial landlord |
| Housing benefit overpayments, former tenant arrears, sundry debts | Varies by debt | Local council |
Chandlers' own services page lists court fines and work for magistrates' courts among its services (chandlers.ltd.uk/our-services/, checked 22 Aug 2026); unlike the Wandsworth and Slough council relationships above, we have not found an HMCTS-published confirmation naming Chandlers specifically, so treat the court-fines row as the firm's own description of its service line rather than an independently confirmed appointment. Its services page adds business improvement district levies, statutory demand service and arrest warrant work for the courts.
Council debts: orders, warrants and forms
Council tax or business rates only reach Chandlers once the magistrates' court has granted the council a liability order confirming the sum; under regulation 34(3) of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 the council had six years from the due date to apply for it. See council tax bailiffs. Road traffic debt means warrants issued through the Traffic Enforcement Centre for unpaid penalty charge notices. If the original PCN never reached you, or an appeal had already succeeded, the centre may provide a route back. For an ordinary council parking penalty anywhere in England, or a council bus-lane or moving-traffic penalty outside London, the usual route is a witness statement on form TE9, with TE7 if it is late. For a TfL Congestion Charge, LEZ or ULEZ penalty, the statutory-declaration route uses PE3, with PE2 if late. London-borough or TfL bus-lane and moving-traffic cases sit under separate London legislation, so check the form enclosed with the order rather than assuming either route. See the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
For all of these council debts, first-visit entry to a home must be peaceable, through a door you open or one already unlocked; an agent can still act on an accessible vehicle outside, and a signed then broken controlled goods agreement opens the paragraph 19A re-entry power. See when bailiffs can force entry.
Court fines sit under different rules
An unpaid magistrates' court fine is managed under a collection order, and among the further steps Schedule 5 to the Courts Act 2003 gives the fines officer is issuing a warrant of control. Two things shift once the debt is a fine. The creditor is the court rather than a council, which takes the Ombudsman route off the table. And paragraph 18 of Schedule 12 to the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 lets an agent from an approved enforcement agency use reasonable force to enter premises on a section 76(1) warrant for a sum adjudged to be paid by a conviction. Conditioned and rarely used, but the reassurance that fits council tax visits does not carry across.
Fees on a Chandlers case
The scale is fixed by regulation and identical whichever firm holds the case: £79 at the compliance stage, £247 once an agent attends or takes steps to take control of goods, plus 7.5% of any sum above £1,900, and £116 at the sale stage. Those figures apply to instructions received on or after 1 May 2026; an older instruction stays on the previous scale, where the enforcement stage was £235.
Where Chandlers holds several debts of yours, regulation 11 of the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 allows a £79 compliance fee per enforcement power, but the £247 and £116 stages only once across debts reasonably dealt with together. Before any visit, a Notice of Enforcement must give at least 14 clear days, extendable to 28 where a recognised debt advice provider requests it unless the debt is a non-eligible business debt.
Vulnerability, welfare and complaints
Chandlers' site says its staff are trained to welfare officer standards and publishes a vulnerability self-declaration form. Use it, and tell the creditor as well, in writing, if illness, disability, bereavement, pregnancy or a household crisis affects how enforcement should proceed.
For a complaint, start with the firm's own procedure, citing dates, the agent's name, the reference and the specific rule or error involved. If that fails, go to whoever instructed it: a council can recall a case or correct an account the firm cannot touch. For council tax, business rates or a traffic penalty, an unresolved complaint can then reach the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman once the council's procedure is exhausted, because the agent acts on the council's behalf. Fines complaints go through HM Courts and Tribunals Service instead, and misconduct by an individual agent can be raised with the county court that issued their certificate.
What to check first
- Work out who the creditor is: a council, a court, or a commercial landlord. The rules above differ accordingly, and that creditor can confirm the instruction is real.
- Check every fee against the scale, including which side of 1 May 2026 the instruction falls.
- If the debt is wrong, dispute it with the creditor in writing and copy Chandlers in; if it is right but unaffordable, offer figures, and use the welfare route where it applies.
- Nobody has to be let inside in order to be paid; payment should produce a reference and a receipt.
How a Chandlers debt could reach bailiffs
A debt collector cannot send bailiffs. Only a court can, and only after a judgment. These are the stages in between, and each one is easier to deal with than the one after it.
-
A collector asks you to pay
No court is involved yet. A debt collection agency has no enforcement powers at all, it cannot enter your home, take goods or add enforcement fees. This stage can last a long time.
-
A County Court claim is issued
The creditor, or the company that bought the debt, asks the court to decide you owe the money. This is the stage where the deadlines start to matter, and where a defence such as limitation has to be raised.
-
Judgment is entered (a CCJ)
If you do not respond in time, judgment is entered by default, without anyone examining whether the debt was correct. A CCJ stays on your credit file for six years.
-
A warrant or writ of control is issued
An unpaid judgment can be enforced. This is the document that authorises enforcement agents to attend, and the point at which a debt collection matter becomes a bailiff matter.
-
Enforcement agents can attend you are here
Now there are real powers: peaceable entry, taking control of goods, and statutory fees of £79, £247 and £116 at defined stages. This is the stage the earlier ones exist to avoid.
Which bailiffs would actually attend
That depends on the amount and on what kind of debt it is, and the rule is set by article 8 of the High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order 1991 rather than by the creditor's preference.
- Under £600, the judgment can only be enforced in the county court, so county court bailiffs attend under a warrant of control.
- £5,000 or more, and not a regulated credit agreement, it can only be enforced in the High Court, so High Court enforcement officers attend under a writ of control. They charge on a different and higher fee scale.
- Anything else, including a regulated credit agreement of any size, may be enforced in either court.
Whether your agreement is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 changes which court can enforce it. Credit cards, loans, overdrafts and catalogue accounts usually are; council tax, traffic penalties and court fines are not, and those reach enforcement by a different route entirely.
If several debts are enforced together
This happens often, particularly where one company has bought several of your accounts, or where a council has more than one liability order against you. The enforcement agent is instructed on all of them at once and deals with them on the same visit.
The fees do not simply multiply, and this is where people are most often overcharged. Where the agent is instructed under more than one enforcement power against the same debtor, and those powers can reasonably be exercised at the same time, regulation 11 of the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 splits the treatment:
- The £79 compliance fee may be charged for each enforcement power. Several of these is correct.
- The £247 enforcement fee and the £116 sale fee may each be charged only once, however many debts are involved.
So three debts enforced together should cost three compliance fees and one enforcement fee, £484, rather than three separate lots of £326. If you have been charged an enforcement fee for each debt on a single visit, that is worth challenging in writing.
The saving depends on the debts genuinely being enforceable at the same time. Where an agent legitimately attends on separate occasions for unrelated matters, separate fees can apply, so it is worth checking the dates and references on the fee breakdown before challenging it.
Not sure which one is contacting you? How to tell from the paperwork
Frequently asked questions
Are Chandlers legitimate bailiffs?
Yes. Chandlers Limited has been registered at Companies House under company number 03292455 since 1996, and Wandsworth and Slough name it on their own websites as an instructed firm. Verify any specific letter with the creditor named on it.
Are Chandlers regulated by the Enforcement Conduct Board?
As of a register check in August 2026, Chandlers is not on the ECB's accredited firms register or CIVEA's member list. Both are voluntary and its statutory powers and fees are unaffected, but complaints escalate through the creditor, the Ombudsman or the certificating county court rather than the ECB.
Can Chandlers force entry to my home?
Not for council tax, business rates or a traffic penalty on a first visit: entry must be through a door you open or one already unlocked. A magistrates' court fine warrant carries a narrow statutory force power, so the answer depends on the debt.
Which councils use Chandlers?
Wandsworth and Slough name it on their own council tax enforcement pages, and its site describes wider local and central government work. Whichever creditor your letter names can confirm whether Chandlers holds your account.
Sources
- Companies House register GOV.UK Checked 2026-08-13
-
Enforcement Conduct Board
Enforcement Conduct Board
independent oversight of the enforcement industry (bailiffs) to ensure that all those who are subject to enforcement action in England & Wales are fairly treated.
Checked 2026-08-17 -
Taking control of goods: national standards (2014)
Ministry of Justice
Creditors should act proportionately when seeking to recover debt, taking into account debtors' circumstances… Creditors must consider the appropriateness of referring debtors in potentially vulnerable situations to enforcement agents and, if they choose to proceed, must alert the enforcement agent to this situation… Should a debtor be identified as vulnerable, creditors should be prepared to take control of the case, at any time, if necessary… Enforcement agents should be trained to recognise vulnerable debtors, to alert creditors where they have identified such debtors and when to withdraw from such a situation… The debtor should be able to easily find out how to make a complaint and obstacles should not be placed in their way.
Checked 2026-08-17 -
Enforcement agents (bailiffs) — Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman jurisdiction
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
If your complaint concerns the enforcement agent's actions in collecting council tax, business rates or traffic enforcement penalties then we can normally investigate your complaint. This is because the enforcement agent is acting on behalf of the council. However, we cannot investigate complaints about the actions of bailiffs in recovering other debt because the enforcement agent is acting directly for the courts. You should normally complain to the council first. Councils often have more than one stage in their complaints procedure and you will usually have to complete all stages before we will look at your complaint. Usually, you should complain to us within 12 months of when you first knew about the problem.
Checked 2026-08-21 -
Courts Act 2003, Schedule 5, paragraph 12 (duty to make a collection order)
legislation.gov.uk
The relevant court must make an order ("a collection order") relating to the payment of the sum due, unless it appears to the court that it is impracticable or inappropriate to make the order. If P is subject to a collection order, the powers of any court to deal with P's liability to pay the sum due are subject to the provisions of this Schedule and to fines collection regulations.
Checked 2026-08-22 -
Courts Act 2003, Schedule 5, paragraph 38 (the further steps a fines officer may take)
legislation.gov.uk
The steps referred to in paragraphs 37(6)(b), 37A(3)(a) and 39(3) and (4) (powers to take further steps) are— (a) issuing a warrant of control for the purpose of recovering the sum due; (b) registering the sum in the register of judgments and orders required to be kept by section 98; (c) making an attachment of earnings order or an application for benefit deductions; (d) subject to sub-paragraph (3), making a clamping order; (e) taking proceedings by virtue of section 87(1) of the 1980 Act (enforcement of payment of fines by High Court and county court).
Checked 2026-08-22 -
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, Schedule 12, paragraph 18
legislation.gov.uk
the enforcement agent has power to enter the premises under paragraph 14 or 16 or under a warrant under paragraph 15… he is acting under an enforcement power conferred by a warrant of control under section 76(1) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 (c. 43) for the recovery of a sum adjudged to be paid by a conviction… he is entitled to execute the warrant by virtue of section 125A (civilian enforcement officers) or 125B (approved enforcement agencies) of that Act.
Checked 2026-08-17 -
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, Schedule 12, paragraph 19A
legislation.gov.uk
This paragraph applies if these conditions are met— (a) the enforcement agent has power to enter the premises under paragraph 16; (b) the enforcement agent has taken control of the goods by entering into a controlled goods agreement with the debtor; (c) the debtor has failed to comply with any provision of the controlled goods agreement.
Checked 2026-08-17 -
Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, regulation 34(3)
legislation.gov.uk
no application may be instituted in respect of a sum after the period of six years beginning with the day on which it became due
Checked 2026-08-13 -
Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014, Schedule 1 Table 1, as amended by SI 2026/366
legislation.gov.uk
Compliance stage £79.00 0%; Enforcement stage £247.00 7.5%; Sale or disposal stage £116.00 7.5% — percentage of sum to be recovered exceeding £1900.
Checked 2026-08-17 -
Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013, regulation 6, as amended by SI 2026/366
legislation.gov.uk
notice of enforcement must be given to the debtor not less than 14 clear days before the enforcement agent takes control of the debtor's goods. Where, before the expiration of the period of notice indicated in the notice of enforcement, a request is submitted by a debt advice provider on behalf of the debtor, the minimum period of notice referred to in paragraph (1) must be extended to a minimum of 28 clear days before the enforcement agent takes control of the goods. The extension under paragraph (1A) does not apply where the debt is non-eligible business debt. Where the period referred to in paragraph (1) or (1A) includes a Sunday, bank holiday, Good Friday or Christmas Day that day does not count in calculating the period.
Checked 2026-08-17 -
Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014, regulation 11
legislation.gov.uk
The enforcement agent may recover the compliance stage fee in respect of each enforcement power to which the instructions relate… the fixed fee for each stage may be recovered only once regardless of the number of enforcement powers to which the instructions relate.
Checked 2026-08-13 -
Form PE2: application to file a statutory declaration out of time (statutory-declaration regimes: TfL Congestion Charge/LEZ/ULEZ and PD 75 para 5.1(1))
HM Courts and Tribunals Service
Application to file a statutory declaration out of time
Checked 2026-08-17 -
Form PE3: statutory declaration, unpaid penalty charge (TfL Congestion Charge/LEZ/ULEZ and other statutory-declaration regimes under PD 75 para 5.1(1))
HM Courts and Tribunals Service
I did not receive the Notice to Owner / Enforcement Notice / Penalty Charge Notice… I made representations about the penalty charge to the local authority concerned within 28 days of the service of the Notice to Owner / Enforcement Notice / Penalty Charge Notice, but did not receive a rejection notice. I appealed to the Parking / Traffic Adjudicator within 28 days of service of the rejection notice, but have had no response to my appeal… Important: Filing a false declaration knowingly and wilfully is a criminal offence under Section 5 of the Perjury Act 1911 and you may be imprisoned for up to 2 years or fined or both.
Checked 2026-08-17 -
Form TE9: witness statement — traffic enforcement order outside London boroughs, or a parking charge in a London borough
HM Courts and Tribunals Service
Use this form to challenge a traffic enforcement order outside London boroughs or a parking charge in a London borough.
Checked 2026-08-21 -
Form TE7: apply for more time — traffic enforcement order outside London boroughs, or a parking charge in a London borough
HM Courts and Tribunals Service
Use this form to ask for more time to challenge a court order ('order of recovery') for traffic enforcement charges outside London boroughs, or a parking charge in a London borough.
Checked 2026-08-21 -
Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2022, regulation 23 (invalid notices — witness statement within 21 days)
legislation.gov.uk
This regulation applies where— (a) a county court makes an order under regulation 22, (b) the person against whom it is made ("P") makes a witness statement complying with paragraph (2), and (c) that statement is served on the county court which made the order, before the end of— (i) the period of 21 days, beginning with the date on which notice of the county court's order is served on P, or (ii) such longer period as may be allowed under paragraph (4). A witness statement must state one and only one of the following— (a) that P did not receive the enforcement notice; (b) that P made representations to the enforcement authority under regulation 5 of the 2022 Appeals Regulations but a notice of rejection was not received from that authority in accordance with regulation 6 of those Regulations; (c) that P appealed to an adjudicator under regulation 7 of those Regulations against the rejection by the enforcement authority of representations made under regulation 5 of those Regulations but— (i) P did not receive a response to the appeal, (ii) the appeal had not been determined by the time the charge certificate was served, or (iii) the appeal was determined in P's favour; (d) that P has paid the penalty charge to which the charge certificate relates. Where this regulation applies— (a) the order made under regulation 22 is deemed to have been revoked, (b) the charge certificate is deemed to have been cancelled, (c) in the case of a witness statement including a statement under paragraph (2)(a), the enforcement notice to which the charge certificate relates is deemed to have been cancelled, and (d) the district judge must serve written notice of the effect of this regulation on P and on the enforcement authority concerned. Service of a witness statement including a statement under paragraph (2)(a) does not prevent the enforcement authority from serving a fresh enforcement notice.
Checked 2026-08-21 -
Practice Direction 75 — Traffic Enforcement, paragraphs 5.1-5.2 (statutory declaration vs witness statement; forms PE2/PE3/TE7/TE9)
Ministry of Justice (Civil Procedure Rules)
a completed application notice (form PE2 (Application to File a Statutory Declaration Out of Time) may be used for applications relating to statutory declarations and form TE7 may be used for applications relating to witness statements); and (2) a completed— (a) statutory declaration in form PE3 (Statutory Declaration – unpaid penalty charge); or (b) witness statement in form TE9.
Checked 2026-08-21 -
Road User Charging (Enforcement and Adjudication) (London) Regulations 2001, regulation 19 (invalid notices — statutory declaration within 21 days; Congestion Charge/LEZ/ULEZ)
legislation.gov.uk
(b) the person against whom it is made makes a statutory declaration complying with paragraph (2); and (c) that declaration is, before the end of the period of 21 days beginning with the date on which notice of the county court's order is served on him, served on the county court which made the order.
Checked 2026-08-21
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