If you need to recover a sum of money that is owed to you and you're positive that the debtor doesn't have the funds to cover it, your other option is to seize some or all of their goods to cover their debt. You can do so with a writ of control, which is a type of high court order that allows creditors to take control of a debtor's goods to cover the amount owed.
In total there are four stages you need to complete in order to be able to recover debt under a writ of control, so it is important to understand the four different stages and what each of them involves.
The compliance stage
The compliance stage is the first stage that you will need to complete when exercising a writ of control. This stage was introduced in April 2014 and it begins once the high writ of control has been officially lodged. The compliance stage involves sending a notice of enforcement to your debtor, which gives them seven days' notice to pay the full amount they owe in order to prevent further action being taken against them. These seven days include Sundays or any bank holidays.
Besides paying the amount they already owe, debtors also need to pay for any judgement debt, judgement interest, and court fees that you as creditor may have incurred at the compliance stage. On top of these, they should also pay the £75 plus VAT compliance fee.
The purpose behind this stage is to encourage debtors to pay what they owe in order to be able to avoid any further enforcement costs. If the debtor makes a payment arrangement, this will be done by progressing the case to enforcement stage 1, where an enforcement officer will attend the premises and take control of enough goods to cover the entire amount owed.
By choosing Able Investigations to take control of the goods of a debtor to recover money on your behalf, you can make sure that the process follows the letter of the law and that you can recover the amounts due as quickly as possible.
For help with your repossessions call our team on 0345 366 0000 or fill out our contact form.
