HCEO cant enforce my warrant - what other options do i have?

[il buono]

Hi.  It is pointless arguing over who the best/most aggressive bailiff company are if the debtor is not granting access and there are no assets outside.

You must also bear in mind that you can only enforce against the judgement debtor so unless both are named, the wife’s income/assets are irrelevant.

In your shoes, I would try to locate his car to see where he is storing it. If you can do that, you can contact CES and ask them to have 1 last attempt at the vehicle. You may have to kick up a bit of fuss because companies don’t like cases where they have to work/dedicate time to. You should usually have 3 visits which I’m assuming you haven’t had. This isn’t set in stone but it’s a general rule of thumb.

If this fails, come back and discuss an attachment of earnings order.

With regards charges/fees, companies generally take the compliance fee (£90) up front. I’m not convinced that they should but they do. Anything recovered from the debtor should be divided pro-rata. I would argue that IF they have taken their compliance fee up front, that the little that has been collected should be passed on to you.

Good luck.

 

 

[il buono]

Having reviewed the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations several times, I have seen nothing that prescribes the taking of the compliance fee up front from the debtor. The fact that they all do it does not automatically mean that they are correct in doing so.

My interpretation of the regulations is that ALL stages of enforcement should be split pro-rats from proceeds, including the compliance fee.  Furthermore, if the creditor is not VAT registered, they should not be charged VAT.  Happy to be corrected.

Personally, I would exhaust the bailiff avenue before throwing more money at it by way of applying for an attachment. If you can locate the vehicle, you have a good chance with enforcement.

One tip - Debtors often change ownership of vehicles on paper by registering a different name on the V5 document.  It’s worth noting that for the purposes of enforcement, vehicles become bound from when the writ is issued. In essence, this means change of ownership may not take place.

If you locate a vehicle, you can go online and pay to see when the last change of registered keeper took place. It only costs a small amount.  You won’t be given details (names etc) but you’ll be able to see when the registered keeper was last changed.

 If it was after the date the writ was issued, inform CES of this and request they obtain proof of ownership for the relevant time - At the time the writ was issued.

[il buono]

Hi. In fairness to CES, if the vehicle is not on the debtor’s drive, it would be difficult for their agent to ascertain whether or not the debtor actually owns a vehicle.

Regarding the fees, are you saying the following:

1. You have received around £135 from the £450 collected thus far?
2. You have paid VAT on the fees?

CES appear to have charged (in fees) £75 for the compliance stage, £190 for the first enforcement stage and a small amount (7.5%) of £95.75 which is the amount they may recover on anything over the first £1000. VAT would have been added to these figures.

You should not have been charged VAT unless you are VAT registered. The debtor would be liable for any VAT payments.

On collecting part payment from the debtor, CES were entitled to take their compliance fee in full first. Following on from that, any other monies recovered should have been paid pro-rata. As your outstanding balance is around 5 times greater than that of CES, it would seem reasonable to split payments at a ratio of 5:1.

It would be worth asking CES if they have made an enforcement stage 2 visit.

 

[il buono]

The command on a writ is to take control of the debtor’s goods and sell them.

Attempts have been made to do so and goods cannot be controlled legally.  It is not possible to complain on those grounds.

Adding an ES2 would only mean that more monies recovered would have to be divided pro rata, leaving the creditor with less money.