A judgment is paper until it is enforced. Which route works depends entirely on what the debtor actually has.
Winning is not being paid. A judgment establishes the debt; enforcement is what turns it into money, and it is the stage where creditors most often give away value by choosing the route they have heard of rather than the one that fits the debtor.
There are five main routes. They are not alternatives of equal merit — each works against a particular kind of debtor and is close to useless against the others.
An enforcement agent attends the debtor's premises, takes control of goods and can sell them. In the County Court this is a warrant of control executed by a County Court bailiff. For judgments of £600 or more, the judgment can be transferred to the High Court and enforced by a High Court Enforcement Officer under a writ of control — a different animal, with wider powers and, generally, a great deal more urgency.
Good against: a trading business with premises, stock, vehicles or equipment. Poor against: a service business with a laptop and a rented desk, or a company that has already stopped trading.
Judgments arising from agreements regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 cannot be transferred to the High Court and must be enforced in the County Court.
A charging order secures the judgment debt against land or property the debtor owns. It does not produce cash immediately — it is a security, and turning it into money requires a separate application for an order for sale, which courts do not grant lightly.
Good against: a debtor with real equity in property, particularly where the debt is large and you can afford to wait. It is patient money: many charging orders are paid out when the property is sold or refinanced. Poor against: anyone who does not own property, or whose property is already mortgaged to the hilt.
An order requiring someone who owes the debtor money — most usefully their bank — to pay it to you instead. It is a snapshot: it catches what is in the account on the day it is served, which makes timing everything.
Good against: a debtor you have reason to think holds a balance, or who is owed a substantial sum by an identifiable third party. Poor against: a debtor who runs their account close to zero, which after a judgment many do.
An order requiring an employer to deduct sums from the debtor's wages. It applies to individuals in employment, not to companies, so in commercial recovery it comes up where you have judgment against a sole trader or against a director on a personal guarantee.
You can apply for an order requiring the debtor to attend court and provide information about their means — employment, income, bank accounts, assets. On a debtor you know nothing about it is often the cheapest sensible first move, because it stops you spending on an enforcement route that was never going to find anything.
| Step | Court fee |
|---|---|
| Warrant of control (County Court bailiff) | £96 |
| Writ of control (transfer up to a High Court Enforcement Officer) | £82 |
| Attachment of earnings order | £139 |
| Third party debt order | £139 |
| Charging order | £139 |
| Order to obtain information from a debtor | £69 |
Fees in force from 13 July 2026. Enforcement agents' fees are set separately by regulation and are, in the ordinary case, recoverable from the debtor. Our fee and the solicitors' fee for making an application are agreed in writing before anything is issued.
Enforcement routes can be run in combination and in sequence. A common shape is an information order first to find out what is there, then control of goods against a trading debtor, with a charging order behind it if there is property and the debt is large enough to justify waiting.
A judgment does not evaporate, but there are practical limits. Permission of the court is generally needed to enforce a judgment more than six years old, and the older it is the harder it becomes to find assets. Enforcing promptly is worth a great deal more than enforcing thoroughly two years later.
For most commercial judgments over £600, yes — HCEOs have wider powers, are paid on results and generally act faster. It is not automatic: the judgment must be transferred up, and judgments under regulated consumer credit agreements cannot be. Against a debtor with no goods worth taking, neither will help.
Test it rather than accept it. An order to obtain information puts them in front of a court to answer questions about their means under oath. If it turns out to be true, a payment plan you can enforce is worth more than a route that will not find anything — and if it turns out not to be true, you now know where to enforce.
Only if there is a legal basis, and 'they were in charge' is not one. The usual routes are a personal guarantee, or wrongful or fraudulent trading in an insolvency, which is a matter for a liquidator. Where a personal guarantee exists it changes everything, so it is always worth checking your original paperwork for one.
The letter-before-action checklist, the interest and compensation rules, and the escalation ladder with what each step costs. One email, no sequence.
Tell us what you are owed and who owes it. You get back what the debt is actually worth once interest and compensation are added, what we would do first, and the fixed fee for doing it.