Got Judgement, need to enforce. Help please

[Autofire]

I have recently been given judgement against someone who owes me just over £8000 and the claim is being dealt with by the County Court Business Centre. I went to the next step (Issuing the warrant) only to find out that the maximum amount I can claim is £5000. How do I get the other £3000 ?
I have tried to phone several times to get advise but they just don't answer the phone so I have e-mailed and they have not replied and I am now feeling that my claim might all go pear shaped because of the lack of progress leading to the defendant slipping through the net and moving house.
I can't afford massive solicitors bills so am trying to handle it myself but am finding the Money Claim Online Service very unhelpful both in the info that is on their website and their lack of communication.
Can anyone tell me by way of a flow chart description what I need to do. The state I am at is that I have judgement and the warrant is unsubmitted because I came up against this £5000 limit.
What I want to do is call the defendant to court to disclose her financial situation and then go for an attachment of earnings but I am beginning to feel that she has moved out of her home and disappeared into the mist which will scupper my plans.
Any help would be appreciated.

[ploddertom]

Re: Got Judgement, need to enforce. Help please

Have you not tried engaging a High Court Enforcement Officer - transfer up fee is approx £66 - only other fee you are likely to incur is an abortive fee if they are unsuccessful. You give them a copy of your Judgment and they will do all the work for you. Next is to who to choose - certainly would not recommend those that appear on CH5 Can't Pay, We'll Take it away. The ones that are on BBC1 are OK.

[Autofire]

Re: Got Judgement, need to enforce. Help please

I don't want to go down the road of bailiffs stripping the house cos there aren't a lot of assets, even her car is worth less than a grand. I need her to be ordered by the court to start paying and then if that fails I can call in the bailiffs but if I do that to start with I only have the one shot.
My next plan is to visit the local magistrates court an see if they can shed any light. I can see this all going down the pan and being eight grand out of pocket.

[ploddertom]

Re: Got Judgement, need to enforce. Help please

Just because you have a Judgment against someone is no guarantee they will pay - there are many that don't either because they cannot or because they do no intend to. You can get an Order for them to appear to explain why they have not paid and the chances are they could apply to pay in instalments perhaps as low as £5 per month - that will cost you £100 and is added to the debt owed. Using HCEOs for the amount you have owing is quite normal.

[Amethyst]

Re: Got Judgement, need to enforce. Help please

https://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.j.../ex321-eng.pdf describes options you can consider.

Does she own her house?
Is she employed ?

You might want to find out her overall situation first to see if it is even worth spending on enforcement - have a read https://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.j.../ex324-eng.pdf and the form http://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.ju...k/n316-eng.pdf

[Autofire]

Re: Got Judgement, need to enforce. Help please

I believe the house is on a mortgage but I no longer know what her employment status is as she has done the usual disappearing trick, however I know her husband so I'm going to meet up with him to try and get an angle on what she's doing these days. As they are separated he probably doesn't know anything about what is going on which will be a rude awakening for him but he might put some pressure on her to wake up and smell the coffee and start replying to the court paperwork before she is arrested.
I don't know yet how I'm going to serve any papers on her because she probably won't answer the door once she knows it's me ringing the bell then I'm knackered.................. Papers unserved.

It's also a pain knowing what the County Court Business Centre deals with, what the local County Court deals with and what I have to deal with.