Transferring to High Court for HCEO Enforcement

If you have won a county court judgment (a CCJ) and the defendant still hasn't paid, you don't have to stick with the County Court's own bailiffs to enforce it. For most judgments over a certain value, you can transfer the case up to the High Court and use a High Court Enforcement Officer, usually shortened to HCEO. For some creditors this route works well. For others it's the wrong tool entirely.

Here's what's involved, what it costs, and the pitfalls to watch for.

Why transfer up at all?

County Court bailiffs are employed by HM Courts and Tribunals Service and handle a heavy workload. Appointments can take weeks or months to materialise. HCEOs are authorised officers working for private firms, paid largely through fees recovered from the debtor, which gives them a commercial reason to act quickly. In practical terms this usually means the debtor receives a compliance letter within days of the writ being issued.

Speed is not the only factor, though. HCEOs deal best with debtors who have assets, a trading business, or goods worth taking control of. Enforcement is not possible without debtor assets, and no writ will change that.

When you can transfer, and when you can't

To transfer a county court judgment to the High Court for enforcement, the judgment generally needs to be £600 or more. Below that figure, transfer isn't available and you'll need to stick with County Court enforcement. For judgments of £5,000 or more, High Court enforcement by writ of control is in fact required rather than optional, though creditors may still choose County Court methods other than a warrant of control where those are more appropriate, for example an attachment of earnings order.

The main exception is judgments arising from agreements regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. These cannot be enforced in the High Court. If your CCJ comes from an unpaid credit card, personal loan, hire purchase agreement or similar regulated credit, you're limited to County Court enforcement and the collection strategy needs to work within the Consumer Credit Act requirements. This catches a lot of people out.

Commercial debts, unpaid invoices between businesses, unpaid rent from commercial tenants, and most personal debts that aren't regulated credit can all be transferred up.

The paperwork and the transfer fee

A judgment is transferred by filing form N293A at the County Court that made the judgment. This is a combined certificate of judgment and writ of control. Some courts may also ask for an accompanying application. There is a court fee for doing this, so check the current figure on GOV.UK before sending anything off, as fees are reviewed periodically.

Most people don't file N293A themselves. They instruct an HCEO firm, which prepares the form, handles the court paperwork and issues the writ on their behalf. The firm will usually add the court fee to the debt so it's recovered from the debtor along with everything else.

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How the fees work

HCEO fees are fixed by the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 and don't vary between firms. What changes is how much is recovered depending on how far the enforcement goes. There are three main stages:

• Compliance stage. A fixed fee is added as soon as the writ is received by the HCEO and a notice of enforcement is sent to the debtor. The debtor has at least seven clear days (excluding Sundays and bank holidays) to pay before anyone visits.
• Enforcement stage. If payment isn't made, an enforcement agent attends the debtor's premises. A larger fixed fee applies, plus a percentage of any sum over £1,000.
• Sale or disposal stage. If goods have to be removed and sold, a further fee applies.

The exact figures and percentages are in the regulations and summarised on GOV.UK. Check these before you instruct, because the schedule is updated from time to time. Fees are added to the debt and recovered from the debtor where possible. If the debtor pays nothing and has no goods, the creditor may still be liable for an abortive fee, depending on the firm's terms.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

Common criticisms

HCEOs attract a fair amount of bad press. Some of it is fair, some less so. Complaints tend to cluster around a few themes:

• Aggressive or intimidating doorstep behaviour, particularly when the debtor disputes the debt or didn't know about the original judgment.
• Fees escalating quickly once the enforcement stage is reached, which can feel disproportionate on smaller debts.
• Cases where the debtor claims never to have received the original claim form and the judgment was obtained in default, only for enforcement to arrive before they've had a chance to apply to set it aside.
• Vulnerable debtors being pursued in ways the regulations are meant to prevent.

Reputable firms have internal complaints procedures and are members of trade bodies such as the High Court Enforcement Officers Association (HCEOA), which has its own code of practice. If a firm's own process doesn't resolve the issue, complaints can be escalated to the HCEOA, and in more serious cases an application can be made to the High Court, which regulates the conduct of its officers.

Choosing a firm and what to give them

Because fees are regulated, you're not shopping on price. What you're comparing is service, reporting, geographic coverage and how the firm handles tricky cases. Sensible questions to ask:

• Are they authorised, and members of the HCEOA?
• How do they report progress back to you?
• Do they cover the area where the debtor lives or trades?
• What are their abortive fees if nothing is recovered?
• How do they handle cases where the debtor claims not to have known about the judgment?

The more accurate information you can provide, the better the chance of recovery. Useful things to hand over include a sealed copy of the judgment, the debtor's full name and any trading names, current and previous addresses including business premises, vehicle details, and anything you know about employment, bank accounts or assets. Correspondence showing the debtor has acknowledged the debt also helps. For a limited company, a registered office address and company number are essential. For a sole trader, personal details matter more than the trading name.

When to consider other routes or take advice

For commercial debts of £600 or more where the debtor appears to have the means to pay, transferring up is often the quickest way to apply pressure, and the compliance letter alone resolves a fair proportion of cases without any visit.

For small judgments, regulated credit debts, or cases where the debtor has no assets, it isn't the right tool. Other options may do more:

• Attachment of earnings order where the debtor is in steady employment and unlikely to have seizable goods.
• Charging order where the debtor owns property, securing the debt against it and, if needed, following up with an order for sale.
• Third party debt order where you know the debtor has funds in a particular bank account or is owed money by an identifiable third party.

If the debtor disputes the judgment itself, rather than just refusing to pay, the answer is not more enforcement. They can apply to set aside the CCJ, particularly if it was entered in default and they didn't receive the claim form. If that happens before or during enforcement, the writ may need to be suspended while the application is dealt with. Where a dispute looks likely, or where the debt is substantial, taking advice from a solicitor before instructing enforcement is usually money well spent.

Before committing, check the current fees and thresholds on GOV.UK and, if in any doubt, take advice on which enforcement method fits your case.

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