Seven Clear Days

A notice of enforcement has arrived. It is not the end of anything. It is a seven day clock.

Regulation 6 of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 requires seven clear days before an enforcement agent can take control of anything, and Sundays, bank holidays, Good Friday and Christmas Day do not count.

Use those days and the fee is £75. Wait until somebody knocks and it is £310.

That is the whole argument for opening the letter today, and this book is what to do with the week.

It prints what the law actually says, with the provision number attached:

• that they cannot force your door for council tax, because force needs a warrant from a court under Schedule 12 paragraph 20(2), and the conditions in regulation 28 are narrow;
• that they may not attend before 6am or after 9pm, under regulation 13;
• what they cannot take, under regulation 4: tools of the trade up to £1,350, the cooker, the fridge, the washing machine, the beds, one telephone, medical equipment, an assistance dog, a vehicle displaying a disabled person's badge;
• that they cannot take control at all where a child or vulnerable person is the only person present, under regulation 10;
• and the whole fee table, so you can check your own balance, including the rule that two debts with one firm do not mean two £235 fees.

Then it does the work. Getting the council to recall the account, which is the most underused route in this subject. Payment arrangements that hold. Notifying vulnerability so that it counts. The controlled goods agreement you should read before you sign it. And the debts underneath: council tax liability orders, parking penalties and the witness statement route, county court judgments and setting one aside.

Every letter you need is written out to copy, along with a script for the door.

It is honest about the limits. The fees are lawful and nobody is going to waive them because you are angry. Some readers will lose a vehicle. For some, the answer is not a fight at the door but Breathing Space or a Debt Relief Order, and the book says so.

And it takes apart the material circulating online that says council tax is voluntary, or that you should move your belongings to a friend's house. That advice is false, and moving goods deliberately is one of the two things that can let a court authorise forced entry.

England and Wales only. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different systems entirely.

Information, not legal or financial advice. Current as of August 2026.