Court Enforcement & Appeals
We understand the complexities of court enforcement and appeals processes and work closely with clients to navigate these procedures effectively. We provide comprehensive advice on the options available for enforcing court judgments or appealing decisions, including the likelihood of success and the potential costs involved.
We provide comprehensive advice on the options available for enforcing judgments, such as obtaining a County Court Judgment (CCJ) or using enforcement officers to recover the debt.
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High Court Enforcement Officer
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The High Court Enforcement Officer (known as the HCEO) is our preferred method of enforcement for the majority of County Court Judgments (CCJs).
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The HCEO is an employee of a private company licensed by the High Court to enforce debts with a value of over £600 (unless the debt is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act and under £25,000). We have a list of preferred local and national HCEs.
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The HCEO will attend the address you have for the debtor. They are paid on results and therefore have an incentive to collect the debt. The HCEO will seek to collect their costs from the debtor.
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The HCEO also has additional powers over and above a bailiff – for example they are allowed to force entry to commercial premises if they have reasonable grounds to believe that goods belonging to the debtor will be found at that location.
Court Bailiff
A County Court Bailiff can enforce debts under £600 or debts that are regulated by the Consumer Credit Act and under £25,000. Bailiffs are employed by the Court and as with the HCEO who do get paid on results are not necessarily incentivised to collect the debt. They will often only make visits during office hours whereas a HCEO is more flexible.
Appeals
Once the court has made its decision, you have a limited time in which to appeal. You cannot appeal against the lower court’s decision just because you think the judge ‘got it wrong’. You can only appeal if you have proper legal grounds – for example, if you can show that the decision was wrong because of a serious mistake or because the procedure was not followed properly.
In most cases, you will have to ask a judge’s permission to appeal (unless you were already granted permission at your hearing). The judge will only grant this permission if they think the appeal has a real chance of succeeding or in family proceedings, there is some other valid reason for your appeal to be heard.
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You must file your appellant’s notice:
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within the time limit set by the judge whose order you are appealing against
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if the judge sets no time limit, within 21 days of the decision you want to appeal against
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Further information on how to Appeal can be found on the Government website here.
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If you believe that you have grounds for an appeal against a case decision that you have dealt with yourself, we can assist you with this.
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