Enforcing a Judgement

If you are successful at a Court hearing in obtaining a judgment against a party you may need to enforce the judgment to recover monies if they are not paid.

If the defendant refuses to pay up or falls behind in paying – if for example instalments have been ordered, you can go back to Court to seek to enforce your judgment. The judgment in itself does not mean that you will automatically receive payment.

A further Court fee will be required in order to enforce the judgment. Ways in which you can enforce are:-

Issue a Warrant of Execution. This is often used if the defendant has assets which can be taken and sold. The Court uses bailiffs to collect money that you are owed or seizes goods to sell at auction.
Attachment of Earnings Order. If the defendant is employed you can obtain an Attachment of Earnings Order by which the defendant’s employer will be ordered to deduct an amount from the defendant’s wages and pay it over.
Third Party Debt Order. If the defendant has a bank account which is in credit you can apply for an order requiring the bank or building society to release the amount you are due from the funds in the defendant’s account.
Charging Orders. The Defendant will be unable to sell his house without paying you the money first procured on the defendant’s house and the defendant will therefore be unable to sell his house without paying you the money first. The normal procedure is to apply for an Interim Charging Order and then for a Final Charging Order. In certain circumstances you may be able to apply for an order for sale.
Insolvency Procedures. An individual can be made bankrupt. The process involves serving a Statutory Demand and if the amount of the Order is not then settled within twenty-one days you can issue a Bankruptcy Petition. There will then be a bankruptcy hearing and the Court may make the defendant bankrupt. If the defendant is a company you can serve a Statutory Demand and, as with individuals, if the debt is not paid you can issue an application for a Winding Up Order to stop the company trading.