Colin Naylor, Managing Director of Dukes Bailiffs, has his own opinion on this highly charged question:

"Bad Practice in the Enforcement Industry is being driven by a number of things, not just volume. It's true that some Councils are considering asking their contractors to pay them some of the fees recovered. This is common practice for other outside contracts and it's not surprising that the notion has caught on with enforcement.

The truth is we are all fighting for a portion of work that is growing but becoming more difficult to collect. In competing for the same work, our industry can be accused of cutting its own throat by offering services for next to nothing.

Councils believe we can afford to do the work for less but it defies common sense to believe that professional services can be provided free of charge.

Demands include asking for retrospective rebates, free tracing, free training, collection of multiple debts for one fee, free back room service, free correspondence and free void inspections.

The companies that do offer so-called free services just use their own interpretation of fees and Councils are either unaware or turn a blind eye. The debtor, on the other hand, is the soft target until he gets help from the internet and then shouts foul!

There's always a company who will do it for less but people must eventually recognize that best value does not always equate to "cheapest available".