CLC Enforcement Series: Writs and Warrants

25 February 2025

In this series I will explore the circumstances in which each enforcement mechanism may be used and why a judgment creditor may want to use a particular mechanism and set out some of the advantages and disadvantages of each of these methods.

Enforcement mechanism 1: Writs and Warrants of Control – “sending in the bailiffs”

The size of the judgment debt will determine whether a judgment creditor makes an application for a writ or a warrant of control in the High Court or the County Court, respectively. In any event, this method of enforcement commands an enforcement officer, be it a High Court enforcement officer or a County Court bailiff to seize and sell at auction assets belonging to the judgment debtor to raise funds to satisfy the judgment debt.

When to use this method?

Before a writ or warrant can be obtained the judgment debtor must have failed to make payment of the judgment debt or some instalment thereof within the period allowed for payment. There are also special cases wherein permission from the court is required to obtain a writ or warrant such as when six years or more having elapsed since the judgment, but outside of those cases the court will always grant the writ or warrant.

The Part 71 procedure may reveal any number of goods and assets which may be of value. This might include machinery in the case of a company or goods such as cars, art or jewellery in the case of individual judgment debtors. Before it is worth making an application for a writ or a warrant it is important to establish that the judgment debtor either has enough goods which can be sold at auction to satisfy a large part of the debt, or they must have enough money that the threat of seizure of their goods would compel them to make payment. The threat of seizure under a writ or a warrant is often enough to compel a judgment debtor to comply with an order, after all.

Advantages and disadvantages

This may be the quickest and simplest enforcement mechanism available to a judgment creditor, which is an obvious advantage. Provided that the application is made in the correct form and to the correct court with a fee of £78 in the High Court and £91 in the County Court, and that permission is not necessary in your particular case, no judicial decision is necessary, and the issuing of the writ or warrant will usually be dealt with by a court officer.

One drawback of this mechanism is that in most cases (but not all), the goods seized will be sold at public auction. This makes the actual sum which will be recovered uncertain unless the judgment debt is small by comparison with the value of the goods owned by the judgment creditor.

A judgment creditor will also need leave from the court to execute the writ or warrant where an attachment of earnings order is in force.

Timescales

Once the writ or warrant is issued and delivered to an enforcement officer the time to execute it may vary depending on availability, and there are certain restrictions on when it may be executed. It is open to the judgment creditor to apply that a judgment made in the county court be transferred to the high court for enforcement. As High Court enforcement officers are often available more quickly this can achieve an outcome more promptly, but it is more expensive and the application to transfer the case will involve additional costs.

This series provides a general overview of options for judgment creditors. For detailed advice and assistance with enforcing your money judgments contact Seamus Smyth at seamussmyth@cartercamerons.com, Head of Litigation and Arbitration, or Julian Smith at juliansmith@cartercamerons.com.