Top 10 Questions From Our TV Show “Call The Bailiffs”

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By putting our work as High Court enforcement professionals on national TV we do receive more questions than ever from people watching the show – so here’s our Top 10 Q & A so far from all the stories we have shared!

#1 Can I instruct a High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO) online or do I have to do that in writing?

The good news is you can instruct our HCEO’s using our website at www.shergroup.com/call-the-bailiffs/

On this special landing page, you will find all the services that we offer as part of our High Court enforcement solutions. We can enforce CCJ’s over £600 in value, along with commercial and residential rent arrears and Employment Tribunal Awards. And we offer a FREE review service where you can email in your paperwork so we can advise you on what to do next if you feel you are stuck!
We also understand that instructing an HCEO can be a little daunting particularly if you are working on your own, and don’t have access to legal advice. If you’re in this position, don’t worry! We are a friendly and proactive team, and we will help you to get to the best outcome for you and your judgment.

What we can say is that we have over 100 years of operational experience as a team of professionals, and our CEO, Claire Sandbrook is a past Chair of the High Court Enforcement Officers Association. Over the last 20+ years, Claire has been passing on her knowledge and experience to Shergroup’s legal teams and enforcement teams to create a seamless and professional service.

#2 What options do I have for a judgment under £600 in value?

Shergroup offers a NO COLLECT NO FEE service for these judgments. We will contact the judgment debtor to encourage payment in the first 30 days of being instructed. If that doesn’t achieve a payment, we will suggest one of the other enforcement methods open to you including attaching earnings or instructing a County Court bailiff. Whatever we suggest we will manage the entire process for you so it’s our problem to solve!

What we don’t recommend is going straight to the Warrant of Control. You are going to encounter a delay in the County Court system and with our NO COLLECT NO FEE option we jump on the collection of your CCJ straightaway with no investment by you.

We charge a 15% commission of any monies collected – and we can also advise businesses on how to add collection charges to their terms of business so even this cost can be recouped in the future.

#3 Can I use an HCEO to enforce a County Court possession order?

You can – and depending on who the Order is against you may or may not need the District Judge’s permission.

For possession orders in residential settings, you will need the permission of the District Judge to transfer the possession order to the High Court. You should apply for that permission at the time of making your claim. We can help you with how to do this. Just contact us at [email protected] or any of our other channels to talk you through what you need to do.

If your possession order is against “Persons Unknown” then just send us the order by sending it to [email protected] so we can give you a FREE review. We will talk you through the size of the project to see if you can use our standard fee, or whether you need a more bespoke response.
Either way, the good news is we don’t have any backlogs, and we can schedule the eviction appointment to suit your calendar.

#4 Can I issue a Charging Order and a Writ of Control at the same time?

For higher value judgments. (typically, over £5,000) a good strategy is to combine the issue of a High Court Writ of Control with the issue of a Charging Order. The result of this concurrent enforcement approach is to secure your debt over any property your judgment debtor may have, whilst at the same time, going for a quicker result of taking control (or seizing) any goods at the debtor’s relevant premises. If your debtor offers a payment plan in response to enforcement agents attending the address, you can accept this knowing that the Charging Order is in place, and will stay in place, until the Writ is paid in full. This gives you “leverage” – something you hear the enforcement agents discussing on “Call the Bailiffs”.

#5 My CCJ is over 6 years old, can I still enforce it?

It may be that seeing our TV show has made you think about a CCJ you obtained some time ago and which looked as if no one could help you. Well, the good news is that even if your CCJ is up to 6 years old from the date of the judgment you can come to us, and we can help you enforce it without seeking any permission from the Court.

If your judgment is however over 6 years old, there is still a chance that you can enforce it, and our sister company, Shergroup Legal, can help you make an application to the Court for permission to enforce it. You will have to show some effort to enforce the judgment, which may be instructing County Court bailiffs, trying another method of enforcement, agreeing to instalments, or instructing a trace agent.

Again, if you want to take steps to resurrect a CCJ then email us at [email protected] and we will see how we can help you with our FREE review service.

#6 Can I amend my debtor’s name on a CCJ if I misspelled the debtor’s name?

Amendments to the name of a party on court proceedings can be done under what is called the “slip rule” but again we would need to see the CCJ and understand what you need to correct to offer you an opinion on how to go forward.

If you have sued completely the wrong person, it may be easier to discontinue the claim and issue a fresh set of proceedings so there is no issue.

The best way to avoid any problems before issuing a claim is to let us help you get your proceedings in the correct form, so you don’t get tangled up in unnecessary court applications.

Again, reach out to us by email at [email protected], and let’s see if we can sort out the correct name of your debtor by using our knowledge and databases to check their identity.

#7 My debtor has a car and not much else – can you take that into legal control to create “leverage”?

You will be pleased to know that many creditors face a similar situation which you can see on the TV show – and time and time again seizing the car to pay the debt is the thing that gets a previously “Won’t Pay” debtor into the zone of realizing that “time to pay up” has arrived and they need to make a payment.

In fact, the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 specifically provides for this situation to allow the High Court Enforcement Officer to take goods into control which are in some ways out of kilter to the value of the debtor. But if that’s all there is – then that’s what we will do.

For example, in Episode 5 of “Call the Bailiffs” you see us moving to take control of an aircraft to pay a flight compensation award of just £2,000. We did this because the aircraft was the only asset available that belonged to the airline at the address on the Writ of Control.

#8 Shergroup charges £156 to transfer a CCJ – what is this for?

We charge a ONE-TIME fee to transfer your CCJ from the County Court to the High Court, through our legal partner, Shergroup Legal. Once that fee is paid, it covers you for the entire enforcement process. We don’t come to you for any further fees.

Other than this all the fees we charge are payable by your debtor as part of the recovery process.

#9 Why do people choose an HCEO like Claire Sandbrook, rather than a County Court bailiff?

People choose HCEOs like Claire because they can see her and her team on the TV show and like what they see and hear. In fact, Claire asked that her Business Solutions Advisors, Raz, and Sue appear on the show alongside her so you can see and hear how they look after people that come to Claire for an enforcement service. We hope you can tell they are friendly, professional, and efficient in processing the judgments and orders issued in Claire’s name for enforcement.

Alongside the customer service side of our approach, people with judgments need to see that judgment turn into cash and we have put together a full process with pro-active enforcement agents, and other enforcement professionals who recover payments in full nearly every day of the year.

On figures returned to the Ministry of Justice, we achieve 75p in the £ of all judgments sent to us for enforcement. Your personal recovery rate may be above or below this figure and we will be able to guide you further on your chances of recovery as we move through the enforcement process.

What you see in the TV show is how we operate. The more valuable and available the assets that a debtor has, the more likely we are going to be able to help you recover your judgment debt. If you know your debtor has a car or other goods with some value we ask you to share this information so we can brief the enforcement agents as they go out to enforce for you.

Each Writ of Control is different and people who look like they have no assets or money can surprise you with having assets tucked away. Conversely, people who you thought have an expensive car, can have the same on lease – in which case it is not available to the HCEO.

If you want to discuss your options before you buy our service – then email us at [email protected] and send us a copy of your judgment so we can help you decide the best way forward.

#10 Do I have to agree to a payment plan from my debtor?

No, you don’t but sometimes it is better to agree on a payment plan rather than walk away with no goods in legal control.

What we can say is that we work with you to get to the best outcome based on all the information we can see from the enforcement agent’s visit, and our conversations with the debtor by phone.

Summing Up

So, if you watched our TV show and you have unpaid CCJ that you need to enforce then we hope you realize we have plenty of ways to help you turn that CCJ into cash.

You can use any of our online channels to connect with us and speak to our friendly team who will set you up with the best way to move forward. Don’t forget to use our FREE review service to let us look at your CCJ before you pay your ONE-TIME fee!