Households ‘behind by nearly £19bn on bills’

HOUSEHOLDS have fallen behind on essential bills such as council tax and utilities by an estimated £18.9bn, according to Citizens Advice.

The charity made the calculation as it said it received a cry for help with bailiff issues once every three minutes last year typically.

It is calling for stronger regulation of bailiffs and said it has seen a 24% rise in related problems since 2014.

Citizens Advice said it is concerned that aggressive tactics are leading to further debt and mental health problems.

The charity said people with household bill debt were more likely to be out of full-time employment and around a third (34%) had a mental health problem.

Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Families are living in fear of a visit from the bailiffs, and small missed bills can skyrocket through excessive enforcement fees.”

She said an independent bailiff regulator should be introduced “to fix this broken system”.

In one case, Citizens Advice helped a retired couple who had fallen behind on some of their essential bills and owed £700 in council tax. It said the couple are now afraid to open their front door after bailiffs visited.

In July, MPs sitting on the Treasury Committee said the debt collection practices of public authorities have been described as “worst in class”.

Richard Watts, chairman of the Local Government Association’s resources board, said: “No council wants to have to debt collect from its residents, particularly from people on low incomes, but local authorities have a duty to their residents to collect taxes which fund essential services”