Enforcement

Winning is not the same as being paid. Enforcement is the set of court tools that turns a judgment into money — and choosing the right one for your particular debtor is most of the battle.

The court gave me a judgment. Why has nothing happened?

Because judgment and payment are separate stages. The court decides who owes what; it does not collect the money. If the defendant does not pay voluntarily, you choose an enforcement method, apply for it, and pay a further fee that is normally added to the debt.

Which enforcement method is best?

It depends entirely on the debtor. Bailiffs suit debtors with goods or vehicles worth taking; an attachment of earnings suits a debtor in steady employment; a third-party debt order suits one with money in an identifiable bank account; a charging order suits one who owns property. Choosing on the debtor's actual circumstances, rather than by default, is most of the game.

How do I find out what the debtor has?

You can apply for an order to attend court for questioning, where the debtor must answer questions about their income, assets, bank accounts and employer under oath. Many people also learn a great deal from what they already know — where the debtor works, what is parked outside, whether they own or rent.

Can I use more than one method?

Yes. You can pursue different methods in sequence and, in some combinations, at the same time — for example securing the debt with a charging order while an attachment of earnings collects monthly. Each application has its own fee, so a scattergun approach gets expensive; a targeted sequence usually works better.

How long do I have to enforce?

A judgment does not expire after six years, but taking warrant-based enforcement after six years needs the court's permission, which is not given automatically. Enforcement is generally easier, and debtors easier to find, the sooner you act.

What if the debtor genuinely has nothing?

Then enforcement recovers nothing, whatever method you choose — court fees spent chasing a debtor with no income, no assets and no property are usually lost. That is why the informed decision is sometimes to wait, register the judgment and revisit when the debtor's position improves. A judgment stays enforceable, and an unpaid one sits on the debtor's credit record for six years.

Small Claims · Glossary

Winning is not the same as being paid. Enforcement is the set of court tools that turns a judgment into money — and choosing the right one for your particular debtor is most of the battle.

Last reviewed: August 2026

is the stage after judgment where the court's collection tools — warrants of control, attachment of earnings, third-party debt orders, charging orders and High Court writs — are used to make a judgment debtor actually pay.

Where this comes from

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007

— the framework for taking control of goods and modern enforcement.

Civil Procedure Rules, Parts 70–73 and 83–85

— the procedure for each enforcement method.

— gov.uk overview of the options and fees.

The gap the court never mentions

Nothing in the claim process quite prepares people for this: the court decides the case, enters judgment — and then stops. No one from the court chases the defendant. If the

, the next move belongs to you: pick an enforcement method, apply, and pay a fee that is normally added to the debt.

Each method reaches a different asset. That is the single most useful way to think about enforcement: not “which is strongest” but “which points at something this debtor actually has”.

The five main methods

• (£96) — County Court bailiffs take control of the debtor's goods. For judgments up to £5,000; strongest where there are vehicles or valuable goods at a known address.
• — judgments of £600 or more can be transferred up and enforced by High Court Enforcement Officers under a writ of control. Often faster and more persistent; not available for Consumer Credit Act regulated debts.
• — a slice of the debtor's wages is deducted by their employer each payday. Needs an employed debtor; self-employment defeats it.
• (£139) — freezes and takes money someone else holds for the debtor, usually a bank account. Timing is everything: the order only catches what is in the account when it lands.
• (£139) — secures the judgment against the debtor's land or property, like a court-made mortgage. Slow to produce cash, but very hard for the debtor to shake off.

Find out first, enforce second

The court offers a tool for exactly this: an

, where the debtor must answer questions under oath about income, employer, bank accounts, vehicles and property. It produces no money itself, but it converts guesswork into a targeted application — and the summons alone sometimes produces an offer to pay, because debtors rarely enjoy discussing their finances on the record.

Informal information counts too. A van on the drive suggests a warrant; a salaried job suggests attachment of earnings; a business that takes card payments suggests a third-party debt order against its merchant account; a house owned rather than rented suggests a charging order. Enforcement rewards the creditor who looks before spending.

How it works in practice

A tenant wins £2,750 against a former landlord who kept her deposit and ignored the judgment. She knows three things: he owns the flat she lived in, he collects rent from two other flats, and he banks with a high-street bank — his account details are on her old standing order.

Third-party debt order application

Charging order application (backup security)

Fees added to the judgment debt

She times the third-party debt order application for the start of the month, when rent payments land. The interim order freezes £2,930 in the account; at the final hearing the bank is ordered to pay her in full, including her application fees. The charging order, obtained in parallel, never needs to be used — but had the account been empty, the debt would have sat secured against his flat, gathering priority, until he sold or remortgaged.

• Enforcing on autopilot.
• Most people reach for bailiffs first because bailiffs are what they have heard of. Against a debtor with no goods but a steady salary, that instinct buys a wasted fee.
• Ignoring the debtor's ability to apply back.
• Debtors can apply to pay by instalments, to suspend a warrant, or to
• a default judgment. Enforcement often ends in a payment arrangement rather than a lump sum — plan for that.
• Missing the six-year permission line.
• Warrant enforcement of a judgment more than six years old needs the court's permission. Do not sit on a judgment expecting it to keep indefinitely without questions.
• Spending good money after bad.
• Where questioning reveals a debtor with nothing, the disciplined move can be to wait and watch rather than fund further applications. The judgment, and its effect on the debtor's credit record, does not go anywhere for six years.
• Forgetting the fees stack onto the debt.
• Every application fee is normally recoverable from the debtor. Keep a running total, and include it in every application and every settlement discussion.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

• Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
• (legislation.gov.uk)
• Civil Procedure Rules, Parts 70–73 and 83–85
• EX50 — civil and family court fees
• County Courts Act 1984

Judgment won, money still missing?

Start My Claim helps you profile your debtor, compare methods and prepare the enforcement application yourself.

Last reviewed: August 2026.

References checked against the TCEA 2007 and CPR Parts 70–73 and 83–85 as in force on 24 August 2026.

This page is explanatory only and is not legal advice. Start My Claim is self-service software, not a law firm — its tools help you build and run your own case.