Foolishly loaned money to friend...

thunderella

schoolrunmum wrote: »

"In accordance with your request judgement was entered against the defendant on XX Nov 2016"


Judgment Details
Judgment Type Default
Amount Claimed£1,600.00Court fees shown on claim£105.00Judgment Total£1,705.00
Payment Plan
Payment Details In full By 16/11/2016.

Ok, so the defendant has until tomorrow to pay the amount owed (as you said)
Therefore you cannot take enforcement action before this date.
Even if they don't pay by tomorrow, if the defendant pays the total sum owed (£1705.00) within 30 days of the date of the judgement, then the CCJ will not appear (or will be removed from) the register of CCJs and it won't show on the defendants credit file.

I guess you could start enforcement actions against the defendant from Thursday this week, but you may find the costs are irrecoverable if the defendant pays up £1705.00 within the 30 days permitted.
The other risk is that the defendant is 'playing' you, as the judgement was in default, the defendant (if they can show good cause and a plausible defence), could later ask for the judgement to be set aside. This could also result in you losing the costs of the enforcement action, and even possibly the £105 you have already paid the court for the judgement)

If and when you decide to ensforce the judgement, then this site gives you details of the alternative methods open to you
https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/enforce-a-judgment

So if you are aware the debtor has assets, then a bailiff could assist. However the bailiff won't take the persons house or certain other items (such as tools vital for their work, or items required to live, such as an oven or bed, etc)

You could go for a charging order on the persons house - that means you will get any money owed should the property be sold (after other priority debtors such as a mortgage company is paid out)

If, as you say, they are self employed, then an attachment to wages is not really appropriate (as there is no employer to order a deduction from)

But you could go for a freezing of the debtor's bank account if you know the person trades through such an account. Not only will that hinder the debtor trading, but the court may say you can have some or all the money in the account you freeze.

Back to bailiffs, you asked the difference between a county court and a high court bailiff.
Well the glib answer would be to say that the county court bailiff works on instructions from the county court, whilst the high court bailiff works on instructions from the High Court.

You currently have a judgement from the County Court.

The High Court will not consider debts below £600, but you've claimed more than that anyway.

Realistically, the main differences as far as you are concerned is that the County Court Bailiff is an employee of the court, whilst a High Court Bailiff is a seperate business/person (and so usually paid on a commission basis)
Also a County Court Bailiff will first attempt to contact the debtor in writing telling them to pay up or they will come knocking on their door; a High Court Bailiff does not need to give any prior notice of arrival - the High Court Order they will have will be all they require.
Therefore, a High Court Bailiff is often more successful in recovering money owed than a County Court Bailiff, particularly against a 'professional' debtor ... but neither can get blood out of a stone.

You already have a County Court Judgement, so (when the appropriate time arrives) you can ask for the County Court Bailiff to assist you ... for a fee.

If you want a High Court Bailiff, first you will need to progress the matter to the High Court and get a High Court Judgement. It'll cost you, and whilst usually granted, is not guaranteed. Then you need to appoint an authorised High Court Bailiff to recover the money owed (if that is the route you decide upon) who will usually charge a small fee too ... and add the remainder to the amount the debtor is required to pay.

As these are businesses, some High Court Bailiffs (such as the ones in the link Sleazy provided earlier) will take the case now for a small fee and try and get you the High Court judgement, as then they can go after the debtor for you.

Ultimately, you need to decide if this is a case of can't pay or won't pay.
You need to establish how he can repay you, and then decide the best way of enforcement.
Perhaps make an effort to come face to face with this 'old friend' of yours and find out what really is the underlying issue here. Armed with a judgement in your favour, the ball really is in his court at the moment, and perhaps a personal call yourself will elicit much the same result as a bailiff you will have to pay for ... but don't put yourself in any difficult situations. Sometimes it certainly is better to call in the professionals.

A couple of other options not mentioned in the link I provided:

1. You could get the debtor ordered to attend (county) court to discuss how they plan to pay the amount owed. It's not an enforcement method itself, but may shed light on the reasons the debtor has not paid, and/or the best enforcem,ent method to adopt.
If the debtor does turn up in court, then probably stood in front of the judge he will at laest to pay by an agreed installment method if he can prove he can't pay it all at once immediately.

2. As the judgement is in excess of £750, you could go for a Statutory Demand for Insolvency. Essentially make him bankrupt. It will cost you, and if the person does go bankrupt, you probably will never see your money. But (a) it will help stop him doing it to anyone else (b) cause him some extreme difficulties if he goes bankrupt and (c) usually if you squeeze someone that hard, you will find out what they really can or cannot afford to pay.

SailorSam

thunderella wrote: »

Perhaps make an effort to come face to face with this 'old friend' of yours and find out what really is the underlying issue here. Armed with a judgement in your favour, the ball really is in his court at the moment, and perhaps a personal call yourself will elicit much the same result as a bailiff you will have to pay for ... but don't put yourself in any difficult situations. Sometimes it certainly is better to call in the professionals.

Unless i was sure i knew how he was going to react, i'd be hesitant to meet face-to-face. I think i'd email reminding him of the date and saying you hope he isn't going to force you to have to instruct the Bailiffs to go ahead.

schoolrunmum

Thanks all for the comprehensive replies. I'll let you know where we decide to go ,thanks.

schoolrunmum

Ended up employing DCBL. He paid as soon as they got in touch with him. Thanks all for advice.

ReadingTim

schoolrunmum wrote: »

Ended up employing DCBL. He paid as soon as they got in touch with him. Thanks all for advice.

Out of interest, how much did that cost?

The usual advice is that it's simply not worth the time, hassle and expense of trying to reclaim money lent to friends, whereas you've taken the other route and had success.

Did you recover all of the money lent, plus all costs incurred? If not, what percentage (or amount) did you get back, out of the total lent/spend recovering?

Candyapple

Epic 18 month thread revival!

schoolrunmum wrote: »

Ended up employing DCBL. He paid as soon as they got in touch with him. Thanks all for advice.

I want to know if he appeared on an episode of the show :rotfl:

AnotherJoe

Candyapple wrote: »

Epic 18 month thread revival!
I want to know if he appeared on an episode of the show :rotfl:

I would doubt it, not much drama in a segment where bailiff turns up, says "I'm a bailiff you owe £x" and the person says "ok here it is"