Commute an unpaid court fine to unpaid work after bailiffs.



If enforcement of the fine is likely to be impractical or inappropriate, you can ask the fines officer to make a work order[1] and withdraw the warrant of control from the bailiffs.[2]

A work order is an order to do unpaid work to discharge an unpaid fine.[3]

Download and complete a means test form MC100[4] and send it to the sentencing court and give the bailiff company a notice.


Tell the court you are having exceptional financial difficulty and want to do unpaid work instead. Enclose a form MC100, and copy the letter by email to the bailiff company.

Template Letter

Send the MC100 and the letter to the sentencing court and get a certificate of posting from the post office.

Send a copy of the letter only by text message to the bailiff to his mobile and make a screenshot of the sent text message to record the date you gave it.

Never give a form MC100 to a bailiff company, they are unauthorised to means-test defendants.





[1] Paragraph 2 of Schedule 6 of the Courts Act 2003
[2] Section 88(8) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012
[3] Paragraph 3 of Schedule 6 of the Courts Act 2003
[4] Form MC100 Download