Most recorded visits are for smaller debts, data from England and Wales suggests, though method of recovery is a postcode lottery

Tens of thousands of people a year have bailiffs sent to their homes by water companies in England and Wales, data shows.

Many thousands of these visits by debt collectors were for sums worth under £1,000, according to the data released by the House of Commons environment, food and rural affairs (Efra) committee. Bailiffs are debt collectors instructed by a court, who can seize items from those in debt, including electrical items, jewellery or vehicles.