November 14, 2019
So, you’ve “swam the channel”, issued a proceeding and, most importantly, WON the action against your opponent.
It’s now time to collect.
You have a court judgment for a sum of money in your favour; however, the true value of the court judgment is in the ability to use it as a tool to extract the cold, hard cash from the debtor. Believe it or not, this is not always a straight-forward exercise – common tactics for avoiding payment include your classic ducking-and-weaving, pleading poverty, and simply refusing to pay.
This note sets out a brief summary of the buffet of enforcement options at your disposal in England and Wales.
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a formal individual insolvency procedure that is intended to grant relief to the bankrupt and, importantly, fairly distribute their asset realisations among their unsecured creditors.
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Company liquidation
Compulsory liquidation is also known as winding-up by the court. After an order placing the company in compulsory liquidation, an independent insolvency practitioner (known as the liquidator) gathers in and realises or liquidates the assets of a company before distributing the proceeds to the company’s creditors and members in the prescribed order of priority.
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Charging Order
If the debtor is the legal owner of property such as a house or land, it is possible to secure your judgment against the asset. A charging order prevents the debtor from selling their asset without first paying what they owe you.
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Warrant of Control
A Warrant of Control authorises enforcement agents to attend at the judgment debtor’s home or business address to collect the money owed or to take goods to sell at auction.
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Attachment of earnings order
An attachment of earnings order means that a proportion of a judgment debtor´s earnings will be deducted by their employer and paid to the judgment creditor until the judgment debt is paid.
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Third party debt order
A third party debt order is a method by which sums owed to a judgment debtor that are in the hands of a third party (for example, a bank with whom the judgment debtor has a bank account) are frozen and seized for the benefit of the judgment creditor.
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Deciding which of these enforcement tools is appropriate for you will depend on your circumstances – and you ought to give careful, strategic consideration as to which is likely to be the most efficient and effective.
For more information on how we can assist you to enforce your court judgment or, more generally, recover monies owed to you, contact Tom McCue on 0161 667 3686 or tom@prosperitylaw.com.