Enforcement Options (after receiving judgement) - If the court has ordered your debtor to pay a sum of money and they have failed, you use one of the following five enforcement options.

> Warrant of Execution

> Information Order

> Charging Order

> Attachment of Earnings

> Third party Debt Order

Enforcement Proceedings Continued	Court Fee    (£)
Warrant of Execution
Re-issue of Warrant
Information Order
Charging Order (Land or property)
Attachment of Earnings
Third Party Debt Order

Warrant of Execution - This is the most common method of enforcement. It is a request for the Court Bailiff to enter the debtors home or business premises to seize goods and chattels, which will then be sold to pay off the debt.

• The County Court Bailiff enforces Judgements of less than £600.

• The High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO) enforces judgements of more than £5,000. A County Court Judgment of more than £600 can be transferred up, to the HCEO for enforcement.

• Either the County Court Bailiff or High Court Enforcement Officer enforces Judgements of between £600 and £5,000.

We use High Court Enforcement Specialists for all debts above £600. The HCEO is generally more effective than the Bailiff as they operate on commission. Providing the HCEO collects in full the debtor will pay all their charges.

Abortive Costs - Any failed attempt to execute by the HCEO holds an abortive charge. The industry standard is £60 plus VAT per visit, recoverable from the debtor.

Help the HCEO/Bailiff - By providing as much contact information about the debtor together details of their valuables, property, vehicles and any other possessions that are possible located at a different address will help assist your case.

Information Order - The judgment debtor is required to attend Court for questioning under oath about their finances and company directors to give evidence about company assets. This can be useful but it is time consuming and the costs incurred are not recoverable.

Charging Order - This enforcement method is used to create a legal interest on the debtors land or property. Any charge obtained will not take priority over existing charges, such as a mortgage. An “Interim Charging Order” will initially be granted by the Court, the charge is registered and the HM Land Registry and the debtor informed. A hearing date will be allocated where the debtor and any other owners of the property will be able to attend. The court then considers if a Charging Order should be made a “Final Charging Order”. The debtor will be unable to sell land or property without first paying the creditor. 

Once a charging order is held you can enforce it by an application to sell the property. Some creditors find applying for a charging order, rather than instructing the HCEO or bailiff encourages the debtor to pay quicker, as the debtor does not like the idea of having the charge registered against their property.

It is usually only worth taking this type of action where there is equity in the property i.e. the property is worth more than the amount already borrowed against it.

Attachment of Earnings - The Attachment of Earnings Act allows the creditor to seek a court order for payment of part of the debtor’s wages, served on the employer it allows for an amount calculated between a protected figure and the total earnings of the debtor. This is deducted weekly or monthly and paid direct to the Court by the employer, this is then passed on to the creditor. It can be an expensive, and un-effective if the employer does not pay or the debtor changes jobs. On a consolidated attachment of earnings order, for every £1, or part of a £1, of the money paid into court, a fee of 10p is deducted from the money before it is paid out to the creditors under the order.

Third Party Debt Order - If money is owed to your debtor by a third party a court order can be obtained which requires that person or company to pay the money directly to you, this includes parties who are holding money on behalf of the debtor such as a building society or bank, any evidence of an account held by the debtor could be of use. 

next >>