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Advice to Enforce a Judgement
Firstly, hello to all. Its my first ever posting and I am hopeful that I can find the right advice. I have used the site for guidance previously which has been very helpful and helped guide my earlier actions. However, I now find myself at a bit of a crossroads and felt a post with my particular set of circumstances might be more useful. I have tried researching my next step on my own, which has been mind boggling at times and left me with more questions than answers at times......anyway to the matter at hand.
The matter I am posting about is how to Enforce a Judgement for my particular set of circumstances.
After a poor driveway installation I tried dealing amicably with the installer with a view to getting the problem rectified. But, after the phone stopped being answered, letters & emails not replied too, even the installer not replying to his own solicitor, After a full year of trying to resolve this amicably I eventually had to go down the Small Claims route.
The initial claim was for £2,600 which was the cost to rectify the driveway problems with another installer doing the work. This was based on a set of quotes. I undertook the process through the MoneyClaim government website, making the claim against the company, not an individual.
Ultimately a Default Judgment was entered. I then applied for a Warrant of Control and when the bailiffs first went to the address of the company that was listed on the company website. They couldn't make contact with anyone on this occasion. On the second visit to the same address they noted that the address was a private house and the company had no saleable goods there. On this second visit they made contact with one of the company directors and were informed that they were making an application to Set the Judgement Aside (SJA).
As a result the bailiffs didn’t proceed any further and referred the case to the County Court to address the SJA. I attended the hearing and the judge was quite critical of the defendant. The reason he gave for the SJA, that he had lost the paperwork, didn't go down well. The result was that the application for the SJA was Refused.
After this, in an attempt to get this issue settled I wrote to the director and suggested that if he could refund the £2,600 then I would waive the fees that I had incurred and close the claim. The reply I got back stated that he was eager to resolve the matter as well but that he could only afford to pay back £50 a month, which meant it would take him in excess of 4 years to pay back the money. I wrote back saying that it was unacceptable and that he needed to make a more realistic offer. When they state they have offices in 3 locations (which I would question) and they were telling me of high profile jobs that had taken on, to pay back such a pittance I thought was insulting.
After 2 months without hearing anything further from the installer, I am now in the position of Enforcing the Judgment again.
The Judgment was taken against the company, so an Attachment of Earnings order is not an option. The address that is actually listed for the company is actually the address of their accountants, so no joy there. The company has 2 directors, father and son with the father seemingly holding 60% of the company and his son 40%. The address for both individuals is listed as the same. I have visited the address and there has been a works van there and locally at a nearby address I have seen another works vehicle and a range rover with a private number plate which I assume is also belonging to them as it has the word TAR in it, suggestive of a driveway company. Because of the random nature of the work they do there is no guaranteed time as to when they will be there, its not like they work a 9am – 5pm job, so if bailiffs were sent there is no guarantee when these vehicles would be there.
I am therefore leaning towards applying for an Order to Obtain Information to try and get details about there financial affairs and to see if it may just frighten them to some action, but to be honest I think that would be a long shot.
The Financial Statements for 2014 for this company show the following: Net assets of £6,659 with shareholder funds to the same amount. Under current assets it lists Debtors £5,350 and Cash at bank and in hand £801. It also lists Tangible fixed assets (Net book value) as £15,506.
To a layman such as myself it would seem to suggest that there are funds available in some form to make the repayment.
So my thinking was to apply for the Order to Obtain Information which would give some idea as to any bank accounts etc with a view of applying to get the money from the bank directly and then I am not sure what other steps could be taken?
Is there at any point in this process a point where a Judge would step in to evaluate a company’s means of repaying a Judgment and place an order on them?
Additionally I had wondered about getting it escalated to a High Court Enforcement, but my knowledge of that is limited.
The idea of having gone down the small claims route was that they state that you should be able to manage it on your own, as the fees of employing a solicitor are not recoverable. One quote I had for making the application to Obtain Information and then applying to a bank to recover any money was just over £600, but that was not guaranteed to get the money and it would soon reach a point where the money being paid in solicitors fees would overshadow the claim, which is why I am looking for whatever help and advise people could offer to try and take this through to a positive conclusion. Any help would be grateful appreciated. Thank you.
The matter I am posting about is how to Enforce a Judgement for my particular set of circumstances.
After a poor driveway installation I tried dealing amicably with the installer with a view to getting the problem rectified. But, after the phone stopped being answered, letters & emails not replied too, even the installer not replying to his own solicitor, After a full year of trying to resolve this amicably I eventually had to go down the Small Claims route.
The initial claim was for £2,600 which was the cost to rectify the driveway problems with another installer doing the work. This was based on a set of quotes. I undertook the process through the MoneyClaim government website, making the claim against the company, not an individual.
Ultimately a Default Judgment was entered. I then applied for a Warrant of Control and when the bailiffs first went to the address of the company that was listed on the company website. They couldn't make contact with anyone on this occasion. On the second visit to the same address they noted that the address was a private house and the company had no saleable goods there. On this second visit they made contact with one of the company directors and were informed that they were making an application to Set the Judgement Aside (SJA).
As a result the bailiffs didn’t proceed any further and referred the case to the County Court to address the SJA. I attended the hearing and the judge was quite critical of the defendant. The reason he gave for the SJA, that he had lost the paperwork, didn't go down well. The result was that the application for the SJA was Refused.
After this, in an attempt to get this issue settled I wrote to the director and suggested that if he could refund the £2,600 then I would waive the fees that I had incurred and close the claim. The reply I got back stated that he was eager to resolve the matter as well but that he could only afford to pay back £50 a month, which meant it would take him in excess of 4 years to pay back the money. I wrote back saying that it was unacceptable and that he needed to make a more realistic offer. When they state they have offices in 3 locations (which I would question) and they were telling me of high profile jobs that had taken on, to pay back such a pittance I thought was insulting.
After 2 months without hearing anything further from the installer, I am now in the position of Enforcing the Judgment again.
The Judgment was taken against the company, so an Attachment of Earnings order is not an option. The address that is actually listed for the company is actually the address of their accountants, so no joy there. The company has 2 directors, father and son with the father seemingly holding 60% of the company and his son 40%. The address for both individuals is listed as the same. I have visited the address and there has been a works van there and locally at a nearby address I have seen another works vehicle and a range rover with a private number plate which I assume is also belonging to them as it has the word TAR in it, suggestive of a driveway company. Because of the random nature of the work they do there is no guaranteed time as to when they will be there, its not like they work a 9am – 5pm job, so if bailiffs were sent there is no guarantee when these vehicles would be there.
I am therefore leaning towards applying for an Order to Obtain Information to try and get details about there financial affairs and to see if it may just frighten them to some action, but to be honest I think that would be a long shot.
The Financial Statements for 2014 for this company show the following: Net assets of £6,659 with shareholder funds to the same amount. Under current assets it lists Debtors £5,350 and Cash at bank and in hand £801. It also lists Tangible fixed assets (Net book value) as £15,506.
To a layman such as myself it would seem to suggest that there are funds available in some form to make the repayment.
So my thinking was to apply for the Order to Obtain Information which would give some idea as to any bank accounts etc with a view of applying to get the money from the bank directly and then I am not sure what other steps could be taken?
Is there at any point in this process a point where a Judge would step in to evaluate a company’s means of repaying a Judgment and place an order on them?
Additionally I had wondered about getting it escalated to a High Court Enforcement, but my knowledge of that is limited.
The idea of having gone down the small claims route was that they state that you should be able to manage it on your own, as the fees of employing a solicitor are not recoverable. One quote I had for making the application to Obtain Information and then applying to a bank to recover any money was just over £600, but that was not guaranteed to get the money and it would soon reach a point where the money being paid in solicitors fees would overshadow the claim, which is why I am looking for whatever help and advise people could offer to try and take this through to a positive conclusion. Any help would be grateful appreciated. Thank you.
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