Can you go to prison for debt?

In almost all cases, you can’t be sent to prison just because you’re unable to pay a debt, such as:

• credit card debt
• personal loans and payday loans
• bank overdrafts
• catalogue or store card debt
• mortgage arrears or rent arrears
• utility bills 
• car finance or hire purchase agreements
• parking tickets issued by private companies
• money owed to friends, family or businesses

Debt is usually dealt with through the civil courts, rather than the criminal courts.

So prison will only be an option if you’ve done something criminal, like committed fraud.

Sadly, some unscrupulous debt collectors may threaten people by suggesting they could go to jail if they don’t pay.

So if that happens to you, it’s really important that you know this isn’t actually the case.

They don’t have this power and if they do say you could be put in jail, ask them to explain the legal basis behind the claim.

And if they’re actively misleading you, make a complaint. 

No, you won’t be put in prison if you haven’t paid an energy bill.

If you fall behind, your supplier might instead contact you to arrange payment and offer a repayment plan based on what you can afford.

They might also be able to offer grants to help you manage your energy bills.

Some priority debts can lead to prison, but only in very limited circumstances.

So while it would be extremely unusual, you could be jailed for: 

• criminal fines
• magistrates’ court fines (including TV licence fines)
• council tax arrears (in England)
• business rates
• child maintenance arrears
• income tax, VAT and national insurance debts

These types of cases will be dealt with in a magistrates’ court, but prison is nearly always a last resort.

The aim is to recover the money rather than punish you, so a custodial sentence will only be considered after other options have failed.

You might be in danger of being put in prison if the court feels you’ve deliberately refused to pay even when you could afford to.

Alternatively, they might have concluded you’ve repeatedly ignored the debt and all efforts to settle it.

This would be regarded as wilful refusal and choosing not to pay despite having the means.

Or it might be viewed as culpable neglect, especially if you’ve spent money on less important things when you could have paid the debt.

So the risk of prison hinges largely on two things: 

• whether or not you were actually able to pay, so the court will take this into account and look at your financial situation.
• if you’ve cooperated with the court, as it will take a dim view of things like ignoring court orders, not attending hearings, not providing information when asked and not returning important forms.

Not cooperating can be viewed as contempt of court, which is a legal offence, so if you’re facing court action because of debt, don’t ignore court letters or deadlines.

Prison can only be considered after several steps have been taken.

Firstly, you’ll be asked to go to a means enquiry hearing, where the court will look at your financial situation and see how much you can realistically afford to pay. 

They’ll look at option such as:

• affordable repayment plans
• deducting debt repayments from wages or benefits
• enforcement action  

And in some cases, some or all of your debt might be written off.

The court will only start thinking about prison if it believes you’ve had several opportunities to pay what you owe and that you’ve deliberately not paid it.