If you have a debt of between £600 and £5,000 (including
court costs), you will seek a judgment in the County Court. Once
you have this, you then have a choice for enforcement between
either the County Court Bailiff or the High Court Enforcement
Officer (HCEO).
HCEOs are authorised by the Lord Chancellor. HCEOs work under
the authority of a writ of control (previously called a writ of
fieri facias or fi fa). This is issued when a County Court Judgment,
Order or Tribunal Award is transferred to the High Court for enforcement
via Form N293A and a court fee of £66. The transfer
process normally takes between 5 and 21 days.
If successful, the HCEO will collect your judgment debt, your
court costs, your £66 transfer up fee, interest at 8% and
enforcement fees from the debtor. As a result, HCEOs tend to have
significantly higher collection rates than those of the County
Court Bailiffs, who are salaried without any financial incentive
to collect.
County Court Bailiffs
CCBs are salaried civil servants employed directly by the
court service. They can enforce on judgments up to £5,000.
They work under the authority of a Warrant of Execution which
can be requested from the County Court for a fee of £110.
• HCEOs normally have far higher collection rates due to
the financial incentive of fees only being paid on success
• Only County Court Bailiffs can enforce on judgments below
£600 (at present)
• The process of gaining a warrant of execution (CCB) is
normally a little faster than that of transferring up and gaining
a writ of control (HCEO)
• A warrant of execution (CCB) costs £110
• A writ of control (HCEO) costs £66
• There is a £75 plus VAT compliance fee if enforcement
is unsuccessful (HCEO)
Residential & Commercial Lease Forfeiture
The judgment debt, interest, court fees and enforcement costs
are collected from the debtor through either route
Our network of Enforcement Agents can undertake Commercial Property
Repossessions, Evictions and Forfeitures at very short notice
Provided that the lease contains a forfeiture clause giving the
landlord the right to terminate the lease and "re-enter"
the premises following a breach, the tenants lease agreement can
be forfeited on several grounds without going to Court;
Can you evict immediately, returning back my land?
Yes we can – there are a number of variables
that might not make immediate eviction
Possible. Where evicting immediately is not possible, we would
usually Serve notice, allow a reasonable amount of time and then
if necessary re-attend the following day, removing them without
any further notice with the use of contractors where required.
Under ancient rights of Common Law found in Halsburys laws of
England, (Para 1400, Volume 45 of the Fourth edition) every landowner
has a right to remove trespassers from their land or property.
This can be assigned to an agent.
