Enforcing a judgement

[colin973]

I would be grateful for any help/advice anyone could give me on which method between a Charging Order, a Third Party Order and a Statutory Demand would be best for enforcing a judgement I have obtained for the sum of £3500.
The back story to the debt is that the defendant (a sub-contractor) owes myself and a work colleague (both self-employed) unpaid wages for work we carried out for him. He pulled off a job soon after starting the works but was paid a 'settlement' amount for the work carried out by the main contractor which was probably less the costs he had incurred. The reason the judgment is against the defendant personally and not his company is because he paid 2 other workers (his friends) their wages in full and therefore my argument is that by paying them and not us he is personally liable for not treating all of his creditors equally in an insolvency situation.

The defendant is now currently self-employed and during an order for questioning provided bank account details (the account only had only a few £ in it though and is unlikely to have the sufficient funds to cover the debt). He does own a second property that is solely in his name that he did state during the order for questioning he was being paid rent of £750 for this property.

I have tried using HCEO's to collect the debt but there has been no response from the defendant.

Is it possible to have a Third Party Order issued against the tenant in thesecond property he owns as a way to secure payment or if I did go for acharging order what would be my chances of getting an Order for Saleif the Charging Order is granted.

thanks in advancefor any help/advice that is provided

[Debt Camel]

Re: Enforcing a judgement

In 2013 there were Charging Orders 47,769 and Orders for Sale 222.

Statutory Demand - I'm not sure this is possible. The minimum amount for a creditor bankruptcy petition is being increased to £5,000. AFAIK this comes into force on October 1st and you aren't going to be able to get a Statutory Demand plus 21 days through before then. So if you issue a Statutory Demand it could simply be ignored.

I have no experience of a Third Party Order except against a bank / building society.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Enforcing a judgement

Is it possible to have a Third Party Order issued against the tenant in thesecond property he owns as a way to secure payment or if I did go for a charging order what would be my chances of getting an Order for Sale if the Charging Order is granted.

thanks in advance for any help/advice that is provided

The courts don't grant orders for sale that often, especially for relatively small debts, however, the courts do take into account things like whether a property is being used as a family home, which means it may be easier to obtain one for a buy-to-let investment property as opposed to their home. At the very least, having the debt secured on the property and the possibility of having to defend an order for sale application in court could well give him the incentive he needs to make regular monthly payments. With a charge on the property, a letter from a creditor stating their intention to apply for such an order has made many a debtor rush to make an installment offer followed by a direct debit. :bolt:

The charging order would be easily granted, for judgments made after October 2012, as long as the amount is over £1,000, a judgment creditor can apply for one even if the debtor has been making the agreed payments.