Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd Reviews 2,851

This company is pure scum both DCBL and who they represented. parkmaven wrongfully issue a parking fine, sent said fine to the wrong address, ignored my appeal when I finally got the parking fine letters, ignored every attempt to reach out. As a result of them ignoring me they escalated to DCBL, a company comprised of scum who are not interested if parkmaven have effectively lied and wrongfully issued a parking fine, and just try and bully and intimate tou until you pay.

You are all thieves and will do what ever you can to steal money from people, I hope you rot.

Awful customer service, zero empathy or care in their approach with a flagrant disregard to FCA regulated rules in their approach. This is either through established practice or really poor staff training, possibly both.

Fast and effective results, very quick response time, Highly recommend for any business trying to claim unpaid invoices. Great service

Paid hundreds of pounds for a poor service. I had to chase them for updates, even with a court writ they did not recover our money. The person fobbed them off easily. This was in August and I did not get another report after chasing until November which was 2 months between visits and the person had moved and they wanted more money to trace her.

Scammers, issues fines to people who don't own the car.

Absolutely terrible service. They advertise “no win, no fee,” yet still demanded payment even though nothing useful was done. The only action taken was turning up, saying the door was closed and there was nothing they could do, and then sending an invoice. Completely unacceptable and a total waste of time and money. Very disappointed with this experience. Useless scammers

Dcbl are a terrible company and really a law to them selfs. They claim to have sent SEO but never. I asked for a complete full SAR and recieved in parts and had to keep telling them it’s incomplete, I still held personal info handed to meet but not in SAR. Mixed dates no signed good agreement or anything listed, no writ seen only after I requested missing in SAR. I then took them to court went from small to high, months wasted they didn’t show and not in jurisdiction lol (funny that 🙄) I didn’t refuse to pay and sorted on the day they added 1292 anyway for one little visit no
Obstruction at all. I understand bailiffs are needed, but go to those company’s who do it right, not the ones who can’t get it right like dcbl and then gets away with it. Fairness is important and I wasn’t evading anyone and didn’t know they was coming at all no pre warning. Always ask for a full SAR request within 30 days and if not full contact the ICO and make a full complaint with all screenshots is my advice, if it’s right and you owe and fail then so be it your at fault, but I had no clue and the added 1292 for nothing is insane. Unfair system for those who actually do the right thing. Oh and how this all come about is I trained someone for 7 months in a program to be a tattooist then she took me to court for money back and judge ruled her favour due to a contract consigned that didn’t count. So again not even my fault. System and worlds unreal and unfair. Also they took all payments via bank but didn’t take the last then sent a warning so be very careful with them and what they do.

What a bunch of crooks these guys are. I urge anyone looking to collect a debt not to use DCBL. They do the hard sell, blast you with calls until you sign up, then don’t stick to what they say. Don’t use them please. I asked for them to send me emails and call recordings which they should do under data protection and they said they did not have them. I will be reporting them to the ICO also.

i have contacted DCBL just last week ,
cant think of better service ,our case was sorted in such short time and i have received confirmation , definitely 5 star service .
Very friendly team .
Will recommend to all my friends and colegues

Demand for payment of £170 with just over a week left to pay before they would take the matter to court. They gave no right of appeal stating that they had tried to contact me previously at some address unknown to me. I requested specific information from them and have not received any response to my request.

Hired to claim a personal debt, and they didnt keep me updated, after a few weeks i got a letter saying they've been unsuccessful.

They were quick to take my money, i've asked about 4 x for a list of the actions that were carried out, each time i get contact "X" so i do and nothing.

At the end of it they were like if you send us "X" we will instruct someone else to do it, yeah right !

i was reluctant to do it anyway as i knew the person in question is a bit tight. so now i'm down even more.

Happy to take the money, get the instruction and you barely hear from them despite chasing.

Waited 6 months for debt to be paid, with no satisfaction. DCBl retrieved debt in one mnth.

Full debt recovered including costs. Helpful and clear communication. I only wish I had engaged DCBL sooner as I spent a year chasing the debt myself without success. Not a nice position to be in, but DCBL took the pain out of it for us and got what we were owed.

I do not know what kind of a company who would take out money promising to work on a case then they do nothing.I cant believe this company is scamming people and the government is letting it.l want to contact No 10 this is unacceptable.

I had an excellent phone call today with Jack Adams of DCBL who gave me valuable information for free. I would not hesitate to use or recommend DCBL to anyone who needs their services.

DCBL were instructed to recover a debt for my company. The communication is poor, they don’t provide regular updates. The manager Matt is very rude when questioned why things haven’t been done, he is very defensive and takes no accountability! I would not use the guys ever again - it has been more hassle than it is worth.

This company has absolutely no respect for human dignity. Their only goal is to increase people’s debts through intimidation and constant threats. They do not listen, they do not care, and they deliberately ignore facts. They sent legal letters to an address I moved out of over a year ago, and even after I informed them, they refused to correct it.
Despite providing clear evidence that the parking issue was related to my own property — for which I had already paid an annual fee — they completely ignored the documents. Instead, I was subjected to ongoing threats that caused serious stress and emotional distress.
When I finally agreed to pay the amount in instalments just to stop the pressure, they told me their system was down and promised to call me back. They never did. When I later contacted them again, I was shocked to be told that the amount had increased, the case had been sent to court, and that I was now forced to pay the full amount in one lump sum.
This behaviour is unethical, unprofessional, and emotionally damaging. Companies like this must be strictly regulated, as their practices cause real psychological harm. I am deeply distressed and disgusted by the way I have been treated.

On the 22nd of July I had an employee From DCBL turn up at my door claiming to be an HCEO, he flashed his identify badge to my partner and because my partner had left the door unlocked proceeded to enter my premises illegally as he didn't present his enforcement certificate issued by a court to every bailiff and HCEO in the UK.
He,s not on the certificated register of bailiffs or the HCEO register and when requested to produce a copy of his enforcement certificate by text and in person, he failed to do so.(Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007)
There is also the small matter of the letter or E-mail which must be sent 7 day's before any enforcement can take place, which DCBL failed to do. I have not been given a notice of enforcement pursuant to regulation 7(1) of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
Their employee and DCBL have been sent E-mails and letters with regards to this case and as yet have failed to send me any of the information requested.
Their employee called the police because he felt threatened and when the police officer turned up I suspect he failed to show him his enforcement certificate and facilitated DCBL'S employee in his illegal actions.(Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015)
Their employee proceeded to go through mine and my partners private paperwork which he had no legal right to do as this enforcement was illegal as explained in the notes above.
The charges that their employee added to the original debt are illegal and no paperwork was left to explain any of the charges and no controlled goods agreement was presented to me or signed by me. (The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014)
The monies that were paid on the 22nd July was made under duress and DCBL'S employee gained that money by deception and false misrepresentation. (Fraud Act 2006)
Because no notice by post or E-mail was sent or received everything that their employee carried out on the 22nd July is illegal and unlawful.
DCBL seems to think that they are above the law and can do what they wish, well I have news for DCBL they can't and if more people complained and took these crooks to court over there dishonest and illegal practices it may force them to act in the correct and lawful manner.
I am currently pursuing this matter with DCBL directly and if they fail to respond in a timely and legal way I will have no hesitation pursuing legal action against them and I will also report them to the financial conduct authority.
I notice that DCBL rarely reply to the bad reviews and only comment on the good reviews and I suspect that most of the good reviews are from DCBL employees.
Let's hope that these crooks and charlatans get what they deserve and they get shut down or slapped with a very big fine from the authorities or courts.
I certainly won't let this matter rest until I have received fair recompense from them either voluntarily or through the courts and they have apologised for the illegal way that their employee carried out the enforcement and for the mental anguish and worry they have caused me and my partner.
Absolutely disgusting behaviour by DCBL and the most dishonest company I have ever dealt with.
DCBL tried to get this review removed because the truth is apparently illegal in their eyes. Sorry DCBL you can't avoid the truth of how your company seems to think it's acceptable to operate with little respect to law
Update- still no reply to my review or emails DCBL, are you taking your time thinking of inventive ways to falsify information and to try and justify your illegal actions. Time is ticking DCBL and I do have several publications interested in featuring my story, so a little bit more bad publicity for DCBL, that's if you needed any more.

Update 2-It seems that DCBL don't like criticism or the truth on their Facebook page, what an absolute joke. The truth will catch up with you DCBL and when it does I hope you suffer like the honest hard working people you prey on with your illegal and immoral actions.

Update 3-I received a response to the points raised in the numerous emails and letters sent to DCBL.
All I can say is what an utterly inaccurate and illegal way of interpreting and twisting the law too suit yourselves, DCBL.
I would attach a copy of the email sent to me, but I think that would be far too embarrassing for DCBL.
It does make interesting reading and I will reply to DCBL to point out the inaccuracies and lies in the legal and procedural points that they have raised, before I instigate legal proceedings against DCBL, their employee and the PC sent to avoid a breach of the peace.
I will try and attach a copy of the email to this review , just so people can see what sort of company DCBL really is and the lengths they will go, too massage and manipulate the law to fulfill the so called enforcements they carry out in this country.

Regards

As an SME, losing money to non paying clients can have serious impacts on cash flow. DCBL have helped us on two separate occasions, with both being successful in recovering unpaid invoices and costs. It's not a situation we hope to be in again, but if we are, we will use DCBL without hesitation. Good communication throughout, and proactive approaches to maintaining a fair and professional, yet effective approach.

I called about a parking fine that I never recieved, They sent me a random letter saying that I owe them £170, 9 months after the so called fine.
There letter stated that I have 14 days from the date of the letter to call them which was dated 21/01/2026, it arrived on the 29th of Jan.
I asked for evidence of the fine, they refused to send it out saying that they would only send via email. I did not want to give my email because I wanted to recieve the hardcopy for if I choose to escalate. I was told that they can't do this and they wanted my email, I declined and asked to speak with the supervisor and was told this would take 72 hours, I ok and they can call me on my number that they have. I was then told that in order for them to contact me, they needed my email address. I once again said they can contact me via the phone or my postal address. I was told no!

I asked for a.refference number for the call as it was being recorded and was told that there was no reference number, I asked for the the name of who I was speaking to and was told "Alicia", she refused any more information about her, I asked for her extention number as evidence of the call, she declined. Alicia then escalated by saying that I wasn't listening to her, I let her repeat what she had already said, I then repeated what I was saying, she interrupted me and said that she had just been told by her manager that he wouldn't call me without an email address, which means I could have spoken with him directly right then, and then she said she was needing the call.
I wish to escalate this conversation.