Judgement & Enforcement of Judgment

If the court grants you a judgment, and you win your claim, if the Defendant does not pay you as ordered then consideration then has to be given to how the judgement is enforced, so that you receive the amount awarded.  The amount awarded is known as the judgement debt and the paying party is known as the judgement debtor.  The party owed the judgment debt is known as the judgement creditor.  Enforcement is used where the judgment debtor has failed to pay the judgment debt.

There are several methods of enforcing a judgement as follows:

A judgment creditor may enforce a judgment or order for the payment of money by any of the following methods:

• a writ of control or warrant of control;
• a third party debt order;
• a charging order, stop order or stop notice;
• in the County Court, an attachment of earnings order;
• the appointment of a receiver.

In addition the court may make the following orders against a judgment debtor –

• an order of committal, but only if permitted by CPR & and the Debtors Acts 1869 and 1878
• a writ of sequestration

Essentially, there a different solutions for different situations. For example, you have obtained a judgement but the debt may be threatening to petition for its or his/her insolvency, where the judgement debtor has real assets we will look to attach your judgement to that asset preventing that asset to be sold with payment of the outstanding liability to you. It is important that you obtain advice as to the best and most suitable option for you. If the case is enforced incorrectly, you may have obtained a judgement but payment of the debt may well be put out of reach if the wrong enforcement method is used.

We will provide a fast assessment of the matter as a whole and from the information available to us advice you as to the best and most suitable means of enforcing a judgement with your stated objectives in mind.

With our Head Office based in Hull and two Consulting Offices in London and Leeds we are easily accessible for consultations. Call us on 01482 616 616 or 0800 037 1305 to book a free telephone consultation to discuss your issues and requirements.