Bristol Solicitors

What are the options for enforcing a Judgment ?

Oral Examination

Creditor has to pay a court fee and pay fee. The court then issues an order for the debtor to come to court and provide details of his or her Income, Capital and Savings. You can then decide from this information whether they are able to repay the debt. Creditor does not have to be present, but it often helps to have questions ready as many debtors try to provide as little information as possible and some do not even turn up and a further order or orders have to be made to get them to court.

Garnishee Order

If the creditor has information that the debtor is owed money by another party, such as wages from an employer, or money in a bank account, an order can be applied for that the 3rd Party pays that money direct to the creditor. the debt must be at least £50 and the 3rd party must be within England & Wales. The court may well require evidence as to what the creditor knows about the debt owed to the debtor and how the creditor knows about it. Caution should be exercised.

Warrant of Execution

This is an application, again with a fee payable, for the court Bailiffs to enter  the debtor’s premises, either home or business premises to seize assets to sell to pay off the debt. There can often be a delay as the bailiffs are busy and they have no power to enter residential premises if refused entry. Also, they cannot seize essential living items such as bedding, clothing, pots and pans, furniture, household equipment, tools of trade. Another common drawback is that bailiffs cannot seize goods on hire purchase or belonging to someone other than the creditor and such claims are often made by creditors ie they do not own equipment or assets.

Attachment of Earnings

This is deduction being made by a debtor’s employer. A court fee is required  and there will be a hearing. If successful, an Order will be served on the debtor’s employers.

Charging Order

If the debtor owns property an application can be made for a charging order to be registered at HM Land Registry against the property. A fee is payable, there are several stages to the order, and the debtor’s mortgage company will be notified and can possibly object, although unlikely. Such orders are useful, although they do not always result in immediate payment of the debt. Once a Charging Order absolute is obtained, which is the second stage of the process, an application for sale of the property can be made, but these are quite risky applications and may not succeed, particularly if the property is jointly owned or there are children in occupation. A charging order does however provide long term reassurance that when a property is sold or remortgaged, the debt will be paid. Such orders are not always worthwhile, for obvious reasons, if a property is in negative equity.

We hope you found some information of use here. In any event, please visit our commercial law blog for Bristol.