Client information policy · Body-worn video

Requests for body-worn video footage

Clients may occasionally need access to body-worn video footage for a complaint, legal matter, insurance enquiry or internal review. This policy explains how requests are assessed, what may be provided and the restrictions that apply.

How to make a request Confidentiality restrictions
Individual assessment Footage is not released automatically.
Proportionate access Redaction or supervised viewing may be required.
Controlled use Publication and unauthorised circulation are prohibited.

Our approach

Confidential operational and evidential material

Body-worn video is held by UK Bailiff Services Ltd as confidential evidential, operational and compliance material. It is not produced as a client video service and does not automatically become the property of the instructing client.

Each request is reviewed individually. We consider the reason for the request, the privacy rights of everyone recorded, the relevance of the footage and the least intrusive way of meeting the client’s legitimate need.

Assessment process

How requests are assessed

The form of access, if any, is determined by purpose, relevance, privacy and proportionality.

1

Purpose of the request

Clients should explain why footage is required. Examples may include a formal complaint, threatened or ongoing proceedings, an insurance investigation or a specific internal governance review.

2

Relevant scope

Requests should identify the case reference, date, visit and particular incident. Broad or speculative requests for all available footage may be declined or narrowed.

3

Proportionate access

Depending on the circumstances, we may provide a written account, still image, supervised viewing, redacted extract or secure copy. Raw and unrestricted footage will not normally be supplied.

4

Privacy and legal review

Footage may contain personal data relating to occupiers, employees, neighbours, children or other third parties. Images or audio may need to be blurred, muted, shortened or withheld.

Permitted use

Confidentiality and disclosure controls

Any footage made available is supplied only for the purpose approved by UK Bailiffs and remains confidential at all times.

Footage must not be published or recirculated

It must not be copied, edited, broadcast, uploaded to YouTube, posted on social media, shared through messaging platforms, supplied to the press or otherwise distributed without our prior written approval or a legal obligation requiring disclosure.

Permitted professional disclosure

Where relevant to the approved purpose, disclosure may be permitted to a solicitor, barrister, insurer, court, regulator or law-enforcement authority. Any recipient must preserve confidentiality and use the footage only for that purpose.

Security controls

Access may be time-limited, password protected, watermarked, restricted to named individuals or provided through a view-only platform. Downloading may be disabled where a copy is not necessary.

Recording availability

Body-worn video is an operational safeguard

Enforcement agents are required to carry and use body-worn video equipment in accordance with our operational procedures. Reasonable checks are undertaken to support reliable recording.

It is not a guaranteed recording service

On exceptional occasions, footage may be unavailable, incomplete, obscured, inaudible, corrupted or otherwise unusable because of equipment malfunction, damage, battery or storage failure, environmental conditions or another operational or technical issue.

Where footage is unavailable or unusable, we will consider the enforcement agent’s contemporaneous notes, photographs, case records, witness evidence and any other relevant material. The absence of footage does not, by itself, determine what occurred or invalidate an otherwise lawful enforcement action.

Information governance

Retention and preservation

Routine retention

Footage is retained in accordance with UK Bailiffs’ documented retention schedule and securely deleted when it is no longer required.

Preservation hold

Relevant footage may be preserved for longer where there is a complaint, claim, threatened proceedings, insurance notification, police enquiry, regulatory enquiry or another reasonable evidential requirement.

Making a request

Provide enough information to identify the recording

Send the request to your usual UK Bailiffs contact or email our team. We will confirm whether footage exists, what checks are required and the appropriate form of access.

Information to include

Case reference Provide the UK Bailiffs case or instruction reference.
Date and visit Identify the enforcement date, address and incident.
Reason required Explain the complaint, legal, insurance or governance purpose.
Who will view it Name the individuals or professional advisers requiring access.
Email a footage request Call 0330 133 1818

This policy relates to client requests for access to body-worn video footage. It does not limit any separate legal rights that an individual may have under applicable data-protection legislation or any lawful requirement imposed by a court, regulator or law-enforcement authority.

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