Sheriff vs Bailiff
It is common for enforcement action to fail. This is mainly due to not
assessing your debtor’s financial position. You need to know whether your debtor has assets with equity, in their name (this can be difficult). However, another reason is whom you choose to collect your debt.
A High Court sheriff, under a writ of ‘fieri facias’, is very good at overcoming problems where debtors claim to have no money, assets etc. A sheriff is paid by results. A sheriff needs to be single-minded (i.e. they want to be paid). They know their job, and their debtors, very well.
A County court bailiff is a civil servant (nothing wrong with that!). They are salaried. They are not usually single-minded (i.e. can be a ‘soft touch’ in difficult circumstances). A bailiff, under a Warrant of Execution, is unlikely to ‘dig too deep’ into a debtor’s financial position when they meet a convincing debtor who claims to have nothing.
The new rules allow for Judgments over £600 to be ‘transferred up’ to the High Court for the sheriff to enforce. The cost is reasonable.
Under £600, I suggest that you have some knowledge as to the debtors financial standing before spending money that you may not recover.
All fees for enforcement can (if they can pay) be recovered from the debtor.
Have a Judgment for £600+ and want a Sheriff to Collect:
The Court Service – Forms & Leaflets – you need form N293A.
It would be better for you to call the Sheriffs Lodgement Centre: 0845 8909207, or email them for info: slc@sheriffslodgmentcentre.net
Defended claims for £5,000.00 and under will, in the main, be allocated to the ‘Small Claims Track’ for a ‘Small Claims Hearing’ (the new form of ‘Arbitration Hearing’) where claims will be dealt with in a less formal manner, with help and guidance from the district judge and with limited costs.
The small claims hearing has been modelled in favour of the Claimant (the person/company starting the court action) to represent themselves. The Claimant and the Defendant are not expected to have any legal or court room knowledge. If you (the Claimant) represented yourself and the Defendant employed a solicitor, or you employed a solicitor and the Defendant represented themselves, in theory the solicitor should not make any difference to the outcome as the court will only be interested in three areas:
a) Documentation: invoice, relevant correspondence
b) Oral Evidence: your account of what happened
c) Your Persona: will the judge believe you or the defendant ? Hearings, on average, will last 1 – 2 hours.
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