When a company does not respond to HMRC about unpaid tax, or refuses to pay, HMRC can pass the debt to a private debt collection agency, which collects for HMRC. The agency has no enforcement powers of its own. It cannot take goods, and it cannot petition to wind the company up.
What matters is what the agency’s involvement signals. HMRC has tried to reach the company and has not got an answer it accepts. The agency is the last stage before the debt goes back to HMRC, and HMRC’s own powers come next.
Which agencies does HMRC use?
HMRC’s current list, last changed on 4 September 2026, names eight agencies:
- 1st Locate (trading as LCS)
- Advantis Credit Ltd
- Ardent Credit Services (trading as Debt & Revenue Services, DRS)
- BPO Collections Ltd
- BW Legal Services Limited (trading as BWL)
- CCS Collect (also known as Commercial Collection Services Ltd)
- Moorcroft Debt Recovery Ltd
- Pastdue Credit Solutions Limited
HMRC changes this list. Check any letter against HMRC’s own page, not a copy of it, including this one. All the agencies are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and must follow HMRC’s processes.
How the agency will contact you
An agency working for HMRC contacts the company by letter, text message or phone only. HMRC states that its agencies never visit a home or place of work. Anyone who turns up at the premises saying they are collecting for HMRC through one of these agencies is not following HMRC’s process. Check before you pay them anything.
On a call the agency will ask security questions. If you want your accountant or adviser to speak to it for you, the consent you give on the phone lasts 24 hours for each debt. For longer, the company must give HMRC written authority on form 64-8.
What you can do once an agency has the debt
You can pay the agency in full, and it passes the money to HMRC. Or you can agree a Time to Pay arrangement with the agency. The agency route is still a negotiation, and it is the cheapest point left to settle.
If the company cannot pay in full or agree a plan, the agency hands the case back to HMRC, and HMRC writes to say what happens next. From there HMRC can use its own recovery powers:
- its officers can take control of company goods and sell them, after a notice of enforcement giving at least 14 clear days to pay
- it can take the company to court
- for a debt of more than £750, it can petition to wind the company up
HMRC describes these powers as a last resort. It says it will try to contact you first, unless it suspects fraud or criminal activity, and that it will warn you before it removes goods. It does not promise notice before every step. What happens on the premises when HMRC’s own officers arrive is covered in our guide to dealing with HMRC debt collectors.
From the office-holder’s side
HMRC uses an agency when it has not had a response it can work with. That silence is the pattern to break. Once a winding-up petition is presented, the directors’ options narrow sharply and the court, not the directors, increasingly decides the outcome. If the court makes a winding-up order, the Official Receiver becomes liquidator and must report on how the directors ran the company.
If the arrears are more than the company can clear, the directors can still choose a formal route themselves before a petition is presented. That choice narrows quickly once HMRC’s own powers are in play.
Complaints
Complain to the agency first. Its process is on its letter or its website. If you are not satisfied with its answer, or with how it handled the case, complain to HMRC and name the agency.
Talk to us before the case goes back to HMRC
AABRS® takes insolvency appointments. If an HMRC agency is chasing the company and the numbers do not support a plan, call us on 0208 444 3400 while the next step is still the directors’ decision.