We won a small claim - now what?
Discussion
My wife is a sole trader. Someone owes her between £300 and £400 for unpaid fees.
We raised a small claim via moneyclaim.gov.uk. They made no defence and the case was never brought to court. I filled in the necessary form and we received a one line letter from HMCTS saying something to the effect of "Judgement has been entered against the defendant".
They still have not paid. What do we do next?
The debtor is not "well off", but they have a house, and a job (we believe). Not living off the local food bank or anything like that.
I'm aware of some of the options (bailiffs, claim against wages etc.)
i.e. the ones listed here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/small-cl...
Has anyone had success with these kinds of measures?
Is there anything I should know before shrugging and asking the court to send in the bailiffs? Or are we just likely to lose more money by doing this?
(Also, am I correct in assuming that the current situation means the defendant now has a CCJ on their record?)
I'd be grateful for any advice.
We raised a small claim via moneyclaim.gov.uk. They made no defence and the case was never brought to court. I filled in the necessary form and we received a one line letter from HMCTS saying something to the effect of "Judgement has been entered against the defendant".
They still have not paid. What do we do next?
The debtor is not "well off", but they have a house, and a job (we believe). Not living off the local food bank or anything like that.
I'm aware of some of the options (bailiffs, claim against wages etc.)
i.e. the ones listed here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/small-cl...
Has anyone had success with these kinds of measures?
Is there anything I should know before shrugging and asking the court to send in the bailiffs? Or are we just likely to lose more money by doing this?
(Also, am I correct in assuming that the current situation means the defendant now has a CCJ on their record?)
I'd be grateful for any advice.
Unfortunately if someone has the money it can be notoriously difficult to get hold of even if you have a small claims verdict etc in your favour. In my experience anything less than £600 owed should be written off as it costs more to chase it down. Chalk it up to experience and avoid if you can working for people not likely to pay their bills.
TX.
TX.
We've chased smaller debts than that, set the bailiffs on them & they keep returning (if residential premises) until they get paid from what I remember.
Our debtor eventually got fed up with them knocking & paid up inc. all fees & interest.
We got an attachement of earnings on another debtor a few years ago, not sure if that's still possible?
Our debtor eventually got fed up with them knocking & paid up inc. all fees & interest.
We got an attachement of earnings on another debtor a few years ago, not sure if that's still possible?
Keep sending them reminder letters until at least 30 days past judgment. Once 30 days have passed, the CCJ will remain on their credit record for 6 years. Even if they pay after 30 days, it will remain on their record as satisfied.
Consider sending it up to High Court enforcement officers after that. I think you recover your fees from the paying party.
Consider sending it up to High Court enforcement officers after that. I think you recover your fees from the paying party.
Why do you want the money?
If purely financial, it is possible it will be hard work in terms of time and effort, so consider writing some or all of it off.
If another reason, again you may not get the money, but make their life difficult, but cost you time and effort for no direct return.
If purely financial, it is possible it will be hard work in terms of time and effort, so consider writing some or all of it off.
If another reason, again you may not get the money, but make their life difficult, but cost you time and effort for no direct return.
A few years ago I won a case against a small trader using money claim online. Like the Op he made no defence but didn't pay.
The money claim site had links to click if payment hadn't been made, and one option was to appoint Bailiffs.
I did the Bailiff thing, they went round to the business and collected the cash, the defendant had to pay for the court fees and the Bailiff fees.
The money claim site had links to click if payment hadn't been made, and one option was to appoint Bailiffs.
I did the Bailiff thing, they went round to the business and collected the cash, the defendant had to pay for the court fees and the Bailiff fees.
seveb said:
kindai said:
Send it to HCEO, forget bailiffs.
This. Everything else is a waste of time and can be ignored.Greg66 said:
seveb said:
kindai said:
Send it to HCEO, forget bailiffs.
This. Everything else is a waste of time and can be ignored.48k said:
I thought HCEOs could only be used if the debt was over £600?
HCEO might be £700 or £750: I used them last year for a debt and even they couldn't get it. Like the OP's wife I've sued over the years for unpaid fees and it's bloody annoying but if they don't pay (which seems to be the case nearly 50% of the time) you'll just have to write it off and forget about it. ElectricPics said:
Greg66 said:
seveb said:
kindai said:
Send it to HCEO, forget bailiffs.
This. Everything else is a waste of time and can be ignored.You have my sympathy - I have had two fee bad debts.
One I got judgement for £1200, but the defendant had no money, so the court ordered him pay £3 per month.
I didn't bother to bank the first two cheques - the charges if they bounced were considerably higher.
The second one I put in a winding up order, as it was a company, but then some work had to be done on the day of the court hearing, helping a client to win a Queens Award for Industry, so I did that work and vowed never again to do work where i couldn't afford to lose the fees.
These days I only deal with people I can trust.
One I got judgement for £1200, but the defendant had no money, so the court ordered him pay £3 per month.
I didn't bother to bank the first two cheques - the charges if they bounced were considerably higher.
The second one I put in a winding up order, as it was a company, but then some work had to be done on the day of the court hearing, helping a client to win a Queens Award for Industry, so I did that work and vowed never again to do work where i couldn't afford to lose the fees.
These days I only deal with people I can trust.
Bennet said:
They still have not paid. What do we do next?
The people who have recommended getting High Court Enforcement Officers to deal with it don't know what they're talking about. In order to use the HCEO the debt must be at least £600.So the best advice is to use the County Court bailiffs. They're not as quick or as brutal as the HCEO, but they'll probably get you the money in the end.
You need to apply for a Warrant of Control, which is basically a request for the bailiffs to attend at the debtor's house and seize goods to satisfy the judgment. In practice, the bailiffs hardly ever actually take goods, as their appearance is usually enough to extract payment from the debtor.
You need to fill in this form and send it to the court with the Court fee (which is added to the claim and paid by the debtor) - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n3...
Pro Bono said:
Bennet said:
They still have not paid. What do we do next?
The people who have recommended getting High Court Enforcement Officers to deal with it don't know what they're talking about. In order to use the HCEO the debt must be at least £600.So the best advice is to use the County Court bailiffs. They're not as quick or as brutal as the HCEO, but they'll probably get you the money in the end.
You need to apply for a Warrant of Control, which is basically a request for the bailiffs to attend at the debtor's house and seize goods to satisfy the judgment. In practice, the bailiffs hardly ever actually take goods, as their appearance is usually enough to extract payment from the debtor.
You need to fill in this form and send it to the court with the Court fee (which is added to the claim and paid by the debtor) - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n3...
Friend of mine took a car dealer to court and won and got a judgement against him. He then sent in the bailiffs but no-one was home when they called. Dealer then turned up and mate's house while he was at work and spoke to Mrsmate and said he would never pay the bailiffs or the bill. Admired mate's house and kiddies playing in the garden and said wouldn't it be a shame if they had a fire or n accident? Made no threats as such just "now we know where you live" comment. Matey dropped the whole thing and lost the £3.5k owed
Thanks for all contributions and advice.
Pro Bono said:
The people who have recommended getting High Court Enforcement Officers to deal with it don't know what they're talking about. In order to use the HCEO the debt must be at least £600.
So the best advice is to use the County Court bailiffs. They're not as quick or as brutal as the HCEO, but they'll probably get you the money in the end.
You need to apply for a Warrant of Control, which is basically a request for the bailiffs to attend at the debtor's house and seize goods to satisfy the judgment. In practice, the bailiffs hardly ever actually take goods, as their appearance is usually enough to extract payment from the debtor.
You need to fill in this form and send it to the court with the Court fee (which is added to the claim and paid by the debtor) - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n3...
Many thanks for the helpful information. I will do exactly this.So the best advice is to use the County Court bailiffs. They're not as quick or as brutal as the HCEO, but they'll probably get you the money in the end.
You need to apply for a Warrant of Control, which is basically a request for the bailiffs to attend at the debtor's house and seize goods to satisfy the judgment. In practice, the bailiffs hardly ever actually take goods, as their appearance is usually enough to extract payment from the debtor.
You need to fill in this form and send it to the court with the Court fee (which is added to the claim and paid by the debtor) - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n3...
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