Third Party Debt Orders: Freezing a Debtor's Bank Account

If you have won a money judgment and the other side still will not pay, one option is to go after money held for them by someone else. The most common target is a bank or building society, but it could also be a business that owes your debtor money, or even rent held by a managing agent. The process is called a third party debt order, and it is governed by Part 72 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

The principle is straightforward: the court orders the third party to pay you, out of money they hold for the debtor, up to the amount of the judgment debt plus costs. Execution is less forgiving. It is a blunt tool with real limits, and timing matters a great deal.

When it is worth considering

A third party debt order works best when you have a decent reason to believe the debtor holds money somewhere specific. For most people, that means a bank account. You need to name the bank and, ideally, the correct legal entity, for example Barclays Bank UK PLC rather than just "Barclays". The court will not let you fish. You cannot apply in the hope that the debtor might bank somewhere, and the court will not tell you where to look.

Evidence of the account can come from various places: old correspondence, previous payments to or from the debtor, cheques, or information obtained through an order to obtain information from a judgment debtor under CPR 71. That CPR 71 procedure, where the debtor is questioned under oath about their means, is a separate enforcement step with its own requirements, but it is often what produces the account details needed for a later third party debt order.

Making the application

The application is made on form N349, supported by written evidence. You file it at the court that made the judgment, or the County Court Money Claims Centre if that is where the case sits. Your supporting evidence should include, at a minimum:

• the judgment details and the amount still outstanding;
• the name and address of the third party (the bank);
• so far as you know it, the account details or at least a reasonable basis for believing the debtor holds money there;
• the names and addresses of anyone else you know to have a claim on the money.

The application is made without notice to the debtor, which is the whole point. If they knew it was coming, the account would be emptied before the order had any effect.

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The interim order and what it catches

If the judge is satisfied, they will make an interim third party debt order. This freezes money held by the third party for the debtor, up to the amount owed. The bank then has to search its records and identify any accounts held in the debtor's name.

The interim order is served on the third party first, and must reach them before it is served on the debtor. That order of service matters. Under CPR 72.5, the interim order must be served on the third party not less than 21 days before the hearing, and on the debtor not less than 7 days after it is served on the third party and not less than 7 days before the hearing. Within a set period, the bank has to respond to the court, confirming whether it holds an account, whether there are sufficient funds, and if not, how much is actually there. Banks also tend to charge the account holder an administrative fee for dealing with the order, which reduces what is available.

This is where people are often caught out. The order only catches money in the account at the moment the bank processes the interim order. Anything paid in afterwards is not covered. If the account lacks funds when the bank acts on the order, the creditor recovers nothing, even if wages arrive the next morning.

Joint accounts are not caught unless the judgment is against all the account holders. Business accounts held by a limited company are separate from the director's personal accounts, and vice versa. ISAs and most ordinary current and savings accounts can be reached; some products with notice periods or specific rules may be more complicated.

The final hearing

A final hearing takes place after the interim order, usually a few weeks later, to decide whether to confirm the interim order. If the court makes the order final, the bank pays the frozen sum to you, or into court, up to the amount of the debt and costs. From the application being issued to a final hearing, you are usually looking at roughly two to three months, depending on the court's workload and how service goes.

The debtor can attend and object. Common objections include disputes about the amount said to be owed, a claim that the money belongs to someone else, or a request for a hardship payment. Third parties, for example a joint account holder or someone who says the funds were held on trust, can also come forward. If there is a genuine dispute about ownership of the money, the court may have to resolve that before making a final order, and in some cases it will adjourn for evidence or direct a separate hearing on that point.

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Hardship applications

An individual debtor (not a company) whose account has been frozen can apply for a hardship payment order under CPR 72.7. The idea is to release some money so they can meet ordinary living expenses: rent, food, essential bills. The debtor has to support the application with evidence of their outgoings and of the hardship caused.

If granted, the court orders the bank to release a specific amount. It does not cancel the third party debt order, but it reduces what you will eventually recover.

Costs, fees and practical limits

There is a court fee to issue the application, and if you succeed you can normally ask for your fixed costs to be added to the sum recovered. Fees change from time to time, so check the current figure on GOV.UK rather than relying on older sources or rules of thumb.

A third party debt order is essentially a snapshot. It catches what is there on the day, not what flows through the account over time. A debtor who is tipped off, or who keeps a working balance close to zero and moves wages out as soon as they arrive, can defeat the order without doing anything unlawful. In practice it is a one-shot tool: once the debtor knows you have tried it, they are unlikely to leave money sitting in that account again.

For that reason, people often combine it with other enforcement methods. A charging order on a property, an attachment of earnings order against a salaried debtor, or instructing High Court enforcement officers may all be worth considering depending on what the debtor has and where. Enforcement also has to stay within the framework set by the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, which shapes how these tools interact.

If you are unsure which route is likely to work, it is worth taking advice before spending more in fees. Citizens Advice, a solicitor, or a regulated debt adviser can help you weigh up the options based on what you actually know about the debtor's circumstances.

The Next Step

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