Employment tribunal hearing coming up

[Lorenz]

Ok, I  called the county court and the judgement was issued last week,  they sent it to me via email. 

Now, do I:

1. Contact the company and tell them to pay?

2. Instruct county court bailiffs?

3. Transfer the case to high court bailiffs for enforcement?

 

These are the 3 options I found online.

Thanks!

 

Sorry, just seen that there's a minimum of £600 judgement to get high court bailiffs involved, so it's between option 1 and 2, what do you think?

[dx100uk]

how much is your judgement for?

ah<£600 so county court bailiffs only then.

 

what date was judgement handed down ?

 

you have to give at least 14 days.?

 

dx

 

[Lorenz]

Judgement was issued on 4th May.

So i wait 14 days.

Is it working days or calendar?

Any postage days?

[dx100uk]

not sure where you keep getting working date from...

[Lorenz]

Don't know,  probably because one of the tricks used by shady companies is the "working days" rather than calendar days. 

So I got into the habit of specifying all the times.

[dx100uk]

the only thing i know of is working days is when you send a CCA request.

 

dx

 

[Lorenz]

So, do I wait 14 days from the 4th may or do they get 2 days extra for postage?

Thanks

[FTMDave]

You applied for a forthwith judgement.  They should already have paid you.

 

So no messing around, as soon as the 14 days are up - 18 May - go for enforcement. IIRC it'll cost you £83, but no worries, they will be paying that to the bailiffs too so you'll get it back.

 

You also need to send another LoC.  it can be identical to the first one, except for the below.  Obviously check my additional words for accuracy as I can't remember when you sent the first LoC.

 

The reason for adding the nine words is that, in the Virgin thread which you may have read, the charlatans' solicitors tried to argue that they were being sued for the same thing twice, so this is to scupper that excuse!

 

Therefore I am giving you a final 7 days in which to satisfy my subject access request and if you do not do so I shall be beginning a County Court claim against you for £200 for distress for the period from 20 March to 15 May.

[FTMDave]

Any update?

 

Have you enforced?

[Lorenz]

Gonna do it today.

One question: what happens if they pay after I start enforcement?

Do I lose the enforcement fee?

[FTMDave]

No, if they pay after you start enforcement they have to pay your enforcement fee.

[Lorenz]

Even if they pay immediately after, so before they're notified?

For example, I enforce today and they pay tomorrow morning without knowing that I have enforced.

Do they still get to pay the enforcement fees?

[FTMDave]

TBH I'm not sure of exactly what would happen in the circumstances you describe.

 

So just to make sure you're not chucking away money - how about e-mailing them tomorrow and telling them that unless the money is in your bank account by 1pm on Wednesday then you will enforce, bailiffs will turn up at the workplace and they will have to pay the bailiffs' fees?  Or something similar.  I presume they have your account details as they are your employer.  That way they would have no excuses.

[dx100uk]

or just make them sweat and simply send this link to themmmm....

What to do if you have a judgement but the defendant has not paid (EX321) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

[Lorenz]

Ok, thanks.

I don't think there's any chance they'll pay up without enforcement, so I have decided to go ahead.

From your link I see there are a few options:

• a warrant of control
• an attachment of earnings order
• a third-party debt order
• a charging order

Forget about the charging order for obvious  reasons. 

Being a company, can I apply for an attachment of earnings or third party debt order?

Or is the warrant of control the safest bet, considering it's around £350 all inclusive?

[FTMDave]

It doesn't matter what is in dx's link, that idea was just to make them sweat.

 

You need to get on MCOL and follow the process.

[Lorenz]

Help!

Mcol is asking for the particulars of claim. 

Am I on the wrong page???

What do I write there?

Something like this:

 

Judgement was issued by the County Court on 04th May 2023.

To date Defendant failed to make payment. 

 

Or something else?

 

I'm confused.

There's another page saying that I need to fill form N323 and send it to the court. 

I thought I could do this online.

Am I on the wrong webpage???

 

It looks like mcol has taken me to a new claim because it's asking for a court fee of £35 instead of the enforcement fees. 

Can someone please direct me to the correct page to start enforcement. 

I'm lost!

[FTMDave]

From what you say, it does look like that MCOL page is for starting a new claim.

 

You need to look up your existing claim.  Do whatever you did to find your claim when you requested judgement.

[AndyOrch]

If you wish to apply for a warrant of execution, this can be requested online. For all other methods you must contact the court to request a ‘transfer for enforcement’. Once you receive the notice of transfer you may contact the appropriate court directly in order to apply to enforce
your judgment.

 

Andy

[Lorenz]

I have done that but it takes me to an information page, no way to start enforcement. 

If I login to mcol it asks questions for a new claim.

I'm truly lost, don't know what to do. 

[FTMDave]

MCOL is famous for its "hissy fits", albeit normally at the weekend.  24 hours will change nothing.  Leave it now and have another go tomorrow.

 

In any case don't worry, even in the worst-case scenario of MCOL permanently thwarting you, there are lots of other allowed ways to contact the court.

 

 

[AndyOrch]

Requesting a Warrant online

Step 1 - Guidance
Choose the “Warrant” option from Claim Overview page. This brings up a guidance screen, including a warning that the warrant should be for a maximum of £5000 including costs.

Steps 2, 3 & 4 – Claimant / Defendant Address

Please follow the instructions outlined when entering judgment

Step 5 – Warrant Details
On the “Warrant Details” page the claim judgment figures will show in the top section. The “Balance due at date of this request” box will already be populated with the judgment figure; this should be amended to the current amount outstanding. You must then type in the amount you would like the bailiff to collect on the warrant. This amount cannot be more than the outstanding balance due on the judgment and cannot be more than £4900 as the system will not allow the warrant to exceed £5000 (including the warrant fee of £100).

At the bottom of the screen there is a box for “Additional Information” where you can provide any extra information that may assist the bailiff in the execution of the warrant. The additional information has a limit of 120 characters and the same conditions apply regarding punctuation as with the POC.

Steps 6, 7 and 8 – Summary, Payment and Confirmation

Select “Next” to move on to the “Summary” page. You will need to check all the details and then tick the box to confirm all the information is correct and that you have read the guidance before signing the page. Click “Next” to proceed to the payment screen.

What happens after a warrant has been requested?

When you return to the “Overview” screen there will be documents available to view confirming the warrant details (including the warrant number and local court “foreign Court code/name”). Once payment is submitted the information will take up to 2 working days to be processed by the court. If the warrant cannot be issued, your request will be rejected and your fee will be refunded.
The warrant will be sent to the defendant’s local court for enforcement and the local court should provide you with updates (called “warrant returns”) on the progress. If the warrant cannot be enforced, or if the warrant is paid, you will be sent a “final return” advising that enforcement has concluded and the reasons why.

If you receive payment after issuing a warrant, please contact the bailiff immediately. If the warrant request has just been submitted contact the court immediately to bar the case in order to prevent the issue of the warrant. If the warrant has already been issued, contact the
enforcing court to ensure the bailiffs do not attempt to collect more than the outstanding debt.

[Lorenz]

Thanks, but there's no warrant link on the page.

I'm stuck!

[Lorenz]

This is what it says on the claim page:

 

County Court Judgment (CCJ) requested

We’ll process your request and post a copy of the judgment to you and to xxxxx Limited. We aim to process this request as soon as possible.

Please do not call the Court and Tribunal Service Centre (CTSC) about the progress of your request.

Your online account will not be updated with the progress of this claim and any further updates will be by post.

 

No mention of enforcement. 

[AndyOrch]

Quote

Judgement was issued by the County Court on 04th May 2023.

You requested judgment forthwith , the system will not allow you to enforce until the allowed time has elapsed ( even though its a forthwith there is still a grace period to allow payment)

Keep checking the system claim overview page.