Online Small Claims - warrant of control/bailiffs

DTBlaster

Hi,
I've recently filed an online small claim against a tradesmen who took my money, didn't perform the job, and has refused to refund me (has now cut off all contact).

A CCJ has been issued and the court has sent a letter ordering him to refund me and pay the £60 associated fees. Unsurprisingly, this has not been paid.

I've been told of my enforcement options with the most common option being a warrant of control, whereby bailiffs are sent to the company address (he has an Ltd) and try to take back goods worth the amount due to be sold on.

Does anyone have any experience with this/have any idea as to how successful this tends to be?

My concern is that I have heard the bailiffs either don't have the right to enter a property without being granted access or at the very least, seldom choose to do so - does anyone know if this is true because I've been struggling to find anything clear-cut as to what they can/can't do?

Given how unresponsive the individual has been - when I initially sent my letter before court action, the first post was lost by Royal Mail, so I sent a fully tracked post the second time, which was returned to me after a few weeks because no-one was there to receive the letter - I'm concerned he's just not going to answer the door, in which case, this might render the bailiffs ineffective (?)

Sorry for the essay, but if anyone has any advice or feedback as to whether they think the warrant of control route might be a good option (or if there are other approaches they would recommend, like a third party debt order) it would be greatly appreciated!

Kind regards,
DTB

davidmcn

You need to consider the likelihood of the premises having goods identifiable as being owned by the company - rather than say leased equipment, or materials not yet paid for, or things which they claim are owned by individuals or other companies etc. Might not be easy to predict this without actually sending bailiffs round.

DTBlaster

Ah, I hadn't even considered that! Thank you!

robatwork

Is your judgement against the trader as a director of the Ltd company and in the company name? Or against him as a named person?

if the judgement is in the business name and at the business premises, then a bailiff can force entry. They can only enter peaceably into a residential dwelling.

DTBlaster

robatwork wrote: »

Is your judgement against the trader as a director of the Ltd company and in the company name? Or against him as a named person?

if the judgement is in the business name and at the business premises, then a bailiff can force entry. They can only enter peaceably into a residential dwelling.

Thank you for the response! It's against the Ltd company itself, so this is very encouraging!

CardinalWolsey

Before you consider incurring additional cost, consider the likelihood of recovery.

From what you've written, I assume you got a default decision - i.e. the defendant (the ltd) did not contest the case in court? I say this because your post was bounced back as no-one could sign for it. A tradesman may well use their accountant as their registered office, and as such will have nothing under their own name that bailiffs could take at the address. Do some more homework at your own (low cost) expense, before paying others...

DTBlaster

CardinalWolsey wrote: »

Before you consider incurring additional cost, consider the likelihood of recovery.

From what you've written, I assume you got a default decision - i.e. the defendant (the ltd) did not contest the case in court? I say this because your post was bounced back as no-one could sign for it. A tradesman may well use their accountant as their registered office, and as such will have nothing under their own name that bailiffs could take at the address. Do some more homework at your own (low cost) expense, before paying others...

That's a very good point! It was a default position - I'll go to the property and see if there's any indication as to whether it's theirs or not - thank you!

DoaM

How much is the judgment for (including court costs)? Is it high enough to engage High Court Enforcement Officers (HCEO - think Here Come The Sheriffs)? If yes then they have far more powers than bailiffs.

DTBlaster

DoaM wrote: »

How much is the judgment for (including court costs)? Is it high enough to engage High Court Enforcement Officers (HCEO - think Here Come The Sheriffs)? If yes then they have far more powers than bailiffs.

Thanks for the response! I'm owed £780 so it seems I could apply to the high-court. Silly question, but what's the advantage to this? I can't seem to find much info on what extra powers they have?