An Order to Obtain Information is not a form of enforcement that will get you your money. Instead, it’s a way of getting information from the ‘judgment debtor which will help you decide whether it is worthwhile taking an enforcement step; and if so, which of the methods available is most likely to get you your money.
Orders to Obtain
In the first quarter of 2021 only 1533 applications for Orders to Obtain Information were made. The use of this procedure has been in steady decline over the last decade and here at Shergroup, we don’t recommend it to find out about the assets of the Judgment Debtor.
Enforcement Steps and Judgment Debtor
In our experience, this method is costly, long-winded and dare we say out of step with the various ways judgment creditors can find out information about their target judgment debtor. With all the information that people and businesses publish about themselves online on their social media and websites, we think Orders to Obtain Information are old-fashioned and pretty much obsolete.
If you do use this procedure, the judgment debtor will be ordered to come to the court to be questioned, on oath, by a court officer, although we prefer it if the questioning is done by a judge and Counsel for the Judgment Creditor is asking the questions. It is supposed to be a cross-examination – not a multiple-choice exam paper! The sort of information you should receive from the questioning includes:
- Employment status or business trading information
- If appropriate, details of employer and wages or salary
- Details of dependents and outgoings paid from income
- Details of any additional income
- Details of any property owned (house, car, caravan, etc.), which may have a saleable value
- Details of any bank or building society accounts and the balances in them
The court officer’s questions will ask the judgment debtor to set out in on a standard questionnaire being court form EX140 Record of Examination. A copy of the questionnaire can be downloaded from the HMTCS website. But the problem we see with this application is that the information given can be at best unreliable and at worst just downright untruths. So, you have to take the information you’re given with “a pinch of salt” and evaluate it against other more concrete sources of information.
We suggest that if you need more information about a person’s assets either before starting your claim or after you have a judgment, you use our service for finding out about a debtor’s assets, or we look to see if a Writ of Control or another method of enforcement is open to you.
We offer an alternative to using the court procedure by sending out Shergroup Enforcement Agents with a standard questionnaire where we interview the debtor to find out their real situation. We then give you a report with our recommendations on your next enforcement step.
The initial investment is less than a court-based application and we will aim to get the initial report to you within 14 days of your instruction.
Summing Up
Don’t sit on a judgment you need to be enforced. We recommend using our online channels to transfer it to us or contact us about any query you have. We are here to help you get your situation resolved. And we have plenty of ways you can contact us!
By Phone | 020 3588 4240
Website | www.shergroup.com and you can chat to us from here
Email | hub@shergroup.com
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