Enforcement – Getting Paid What You Are Owed

Congratulations on getting your judgment from the Court. You now have to enforce that judgment. There are several paths you can take.

1. There is Government help online:

You can view the assistance provided on the Government website, here.

2. The Civil Procedure Rules and County Court Rules provide the methods of enforcement.

Some of the rules are well known and tried and some are not. You can find the rules here.

CPR Part 69 – Receivers (Including receivers by way of equitable execution)

CPR Part 70 – General Rules about enforcement

CPR Part 71 – Obtaining information from a judgment debtor (Oral Examination Hearings)

CPR Part 72 – Third Party Debt Orders (Garnishees)

CPR Part 73 – Charging Orders (Judgment Mortgage)

CCR 26 [County Court Rules] – Warrants of Execution (The Bailiffs)

CCR 27 – Attachment of Earnings (Getting paid by the debtor’s employer)

Insolvency Rules – Bankruptcy and Companies Winding Up

CPR Part 25 – Interim Remedies (Injunctions)

3. Before choosing a remedy…

Before you can decide which one of these remedies you are going to use, you have to know;

(a) Where the debtor is (?)

(b) What he/she owns (?)

4. If you don’t know where the debtor is…

The easiest way to find a debtor is to instruct an enquiry agent. Tracing the whereabouts of a debtor will cost a fee, and these vary. Some Agents offer a “no-find, no-fee” service.

Always find out what a successful trace will cost.

5. If you can find the debtor, maybe you can find their assets.

Do they own their home? You can check online at HM Land Registry.

6. If you can’t find the debtor’s details…

If you know nothing else about the debtor and their means, you can use the CPR 71 – Oral Examination Process.

Once you have conducted your enquiries, you can then see which enforcement method you wish to use. This will depend upon the assets which you find.

How We Can Help

At W Davies Solicitors we are well used to dealing with enforcement problems and in getting the best result for you if there is a good result to be obtained.

You can attempt any of these procedures yourself, but we are likely to know about pitfalls that you will not. Our advice comes at a cost and we will always advise you up front as to whether it is worth incurring that cost in your search for payment.

If you are dealing with business debts then it is often sensible to take our advice about terms and conditions which include a costs indemnity in the event of non-payment. This can often mean that the debtor pays a substantial part of your legal costs of enforcement, but you have to be prepared in advance of the debt being incurred.

If you are having a problem with getting paid, talk to one of our Litigation Team:

Andrew Cohen – aec@wdavies.com

Caroline Batko – cab@wdavies.com

Mark Williams – mw@wdavies.com

Freddie Lawson – fjl@wdavies.com

Trudi Fletcher – tf@wdavies.com