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How to use a High Court Enforcement Officer to Enforce a County Court Judgment

You have been to court and successfully obtained a County Court Judgment, but the debtor has ignored the court order and has not paid the money you are owed.

What can you do to recover your money?

How a High Court Enforcement Officer can help you

High Court Enforcement is often the most effective option for collecting the money you are owed. High Court Enforcement Officers have greater collection powers than County Court Bailiffs.

By transferring your County Court Judgment to a High Court Writ of Control an Enforcement Agent (Bailiff) acting under the instruction of the High Court Enforcement Officer can collect the money.

Quality Bailiffs have at least one Authorised High Court Enforcement Officer on our board of directors.

The HCEO can assist you with transferring up County Court Judgments to the High Court for enforcement of judgments (including costs) of over £600. Once we receive the Writ of Control, we can enforce it anywhere in England and Wales through our 14 local offices.

Quality Bailiffs Service

We offer 3 service levels.

• Bronze Service. The standard service. For customers only requiring basic email support during the transfer up and enforcement process, Updates are provided when things happen, such as agent visits.
• Silver Service. The supported service. For customers wanting telephone support and assistance during the transfer up and enforcement process. Silver service also offers additional benefits.
• Gold Service. The supported priority service. All the benefits of the silver service along with visits to the address on the writ being prioritised.

Standard Bronze Service

The most popular service. For customers only requiring basic email support during the transfer up and enforcement process. Updates are provided when things happen, such as agent visits.

Our standard service is suitable for:

• Individuals and businesses conducting their own litigation and legal matters and requiring NO Support including requesting updates, asking questions other than us sending an update by email only if a significant event occurs.
• Individuals and businesses with experience dealing with debt recovery.
• Legal professionals.

Fee to instruct = £241.75

This is the administration fee of £108 (£90+vat), and the court transfer and execution fee £133.75. On successful collection the court transfer and execution fee is recovered from the debtor and returned to you.

Please note if we are unable to successfully recover your debt then an abortive fee is due to us by law of £94.80 (£79 plus vat).

The service

The Bronze service provides:

• Help with the transfer up of the CCJ to the High Court by helping to complete the forms and posting the paperwork to the court.
• Up to 3 free visits to one address to contact the debtor to collect payment or take control of goods.
• We aim to have the first visit completed within 40 days of the notice of enforcement expiring. If we are unable to collect after three visits any further visits are chargeable and are not recoverable from the defendants.
• Communication by email only of all significant actions.

Significant actions: These are the times you will receive an update.

• On receipt of instruction and payment we email confirmation of receipt and your case reference number. We aim to respond within 2 hours on an office business day.
• The case is passed to a qualified enforcement professional who will thoroughly check the case file to check for any obvious errors that may prevent or impede enforcement activities. We will run an insolvency check, complete a check of our database for prior writs we hold and check over your judgment for obvious issues. We aim to complete this procedure within 3 working days of your instruction being loaded. If we find any major issues we will contact you giving you the opportunity to ask us not to request the writ and therefore save yourself the £133.75 court transfer and execution fee. If you decide to cancel only the court transfer and execution fee can be refunded as the administration fee of £108 will still have been incurred as this is due upon instruction.
• We will have the N293A and other paperwork completed.
• For individual clients we will insert an electronic signature to complete and email the form to you to check and return. Or we will where possible get a third party solicitor to complete, sign and post this to the court.
• For limited company clients we will email the form to you to check, sign and return, or we will where possible get a third party solicitor to complete, sign and post this to the court.
• The signed N293A is sent to the court.
• When returned we will issue a Notice of Enforcement which gives the debtor approximately 14 days to pay (including postage time). We email confirmation of this.
• If the debt is not paid the Writ of Control is passed to one of our local Certificated Enforcement Agents.
• The Certificated Enforcement Agent is part of an experienced national team able to enforce by taking control of the goods of the debtor.
• The team will aim to recover your debt, interest on the debt, and all court costs and the statutory enforcement fees which are added to the debt when enforcement is successful. The admin fee and the Silver and Gold service fee is not recoverable from the debtor.
• You will be kept informed by our system as actions are taken.
• The first visit to the debtor will be within 40 days of this expiring.
• After each visit we email a basic report giving the outcome of the visit and what the next process is.
• After any communication from the court or important developments with the case we email an update.

Silver Service

The supported service. For customers wanting telephone support and assistance during the transfer up and enforcement process. Silver service also offers additional benefits.

Our Silver service is suitable for:

• Individuals and businesses that prefer telephone support with a named client liaison manager. If they are not available, they will aim to call back within 1 working day.
• Individuals and businesses that require telephone support and help during the transfer up and enforcement process.
• Individuals and businesses that have a difficult or complex case.

Fee to instruct = £439.75

This is the silver service fee of £198 (£165+vat), the administration fee of £108 (£90+vat), and the court transfer and execution fee £133.75. On successful collection the court transfer and execution fee is recovered from the debtor and returned to you.

Please note if we are unable to successfully recover your debt then an abortive fee is due to us by law of £94.80 (£79 plus vat).

The service

The Silver service includes all the benefits of bronze service and additional benefits:

• Updates by telephone with client liaison. (Set up so we can give you information over the telephone securely). If they are not available, they will aim to call back within 1 working day.
• A named client liaison manager.
• Up to 2 free traces.
• Up to 2 free DVLA checks.
• Up to 2 free HPI checks.
• Up to three visits across 2 different addresses.
• 20% discount on our fees for any court applications that you may want us to make (such as a break-in order, known as “A Warrant of Reasonable Force”), and additional traces.

Gold Service

The supported priority service. All the benefits of the silver service along with visits to the address on the writ being prioritised.

Our Gold service is suitable for:

• Individuals and businesses that prefer telephone support with a named client liaison manager. If they are not available, they will aim to call back within 1 working day.
• Individuals and businesses that require telephone support and help during the transfer up and enforcement process.
• Individuals and businesses that have a difficult or complex case.
• Individuals and businesses that require their cases visited as soon as possible quicker than our standard times.

Fee to instruct = £739.75

This is the gold service fee of £498 (£415+vat), the administration fee of £108 (£90+vat), and court transfer and execution fee £133.75. On successful collection the court transfer and execution fee is recovered from the debtor and returned to you.

Please note if we are unable to successfully recover your debt then an abortive fee is due to us by law of £94.80 (£79 plus vat).

The service

The Gold service includes additional benefits:

• All the benefits of the extra support of the silver service.
• We aim to have the first visit to the address on the writ done within 7 working days where ever possible and legal to do so.
• We aim whenever possible to have the next two visits (where required) and legal to do so completed within 6 weeks of the first visit.
• The Gold service is not always available in all areas so please speak with one of the sales team to confirm that we can cover this service in the area the debtor is located.

Take the first step

Take the first step to recovering the money you are owed.

Contact our enforcement team for a FREE CCJ review.

Outside business hours complete the form below and we will contact you the next business day.

7 reasons to use Quality Bailiffs to enforce your writ

1. Free transfer up from County Court to High Court for enforcement. You just pay the court transfer fee.
2. Experienced and Qualified High Court Enforcement Team.
3. Enforcement delivered by local Enforcement Agents.
4. Automated emailed reports at key stages.
5. Our roots can be traced back to 1948.
6. Fully insured Public Liability, Employers Liability, Professional Indemnity.
7. Accreditations - ISO 9001, Safe Contractor, CHAS.

Can A High Court Enforcement Officer Force an Entry?

Commercial Property

• A High Court Enforcement Officer can use force to enter commercial premises, but only if you indemnify us for the cost.

Residential Property

• A High Court Enforcement Officer cannot normally use force to gain entry to a residential or mixed use property.
• They can however if they have previously gained entry peaceably and have a valid Controlled Goods Agreement in place.

They can also apply to the court for a Warrant of Reasonable Force. This can be used if the debtor refuses to cooperate and has goods in the property worth taking into control to satisfy the debt.

Can you use a High Court Enforcement Officer to enforce your Judgment?

Options to enforce a County Court Judgment depends on the value of the judgment (including all costs).

When enforcing a county court judgment in England and Wales if your judgment is below £600 including all costs then you MUST use the County Courts own bailiffs.

If it is between £600 and £5,000 you have a choice.

• Use the County Court Bailiff via money claim online or the issuing court.
• Have the case transferred up from the County Court where you obtained the Judgment to the High Court for enforcement.

If it is £5,000 and above you must use the High Court for enforcement.

High Court Enforcement how it works

HCEOs are the only people that can execute Writs of Control. They are very experienced and qualified people who have a level 4 diploma in High Court Enforcement. They serve a suitable apprenticeship demonstrating their skills before being able to apply to be authorised by the Lord Chancellor.

There are currently about 46 Authorised High Court Enforcement Officer in England and Wales.

HCEOs sit between members of the public and the Certificated Enforcement Agents (Bailiffs) that they employ or authorise and ensure the conduct of the file through the process set out by law to enforcement or another conclusion.

They delegate their powers to Certificated Enforcement Agents (Bailiffs) who can then execute writs of control under the authority of the HCEO.

A HCEO can deal with non-regulated debts such as utility arrears, business debts, tribunal awards or old rent arrears.

A High Court Enforcement Officer is not able to enforce debts that are regulated by the Consumer Credit Act. These debts include credit cards, overdrafts, payday loans or personal loans.

Quality Bailiffs have at least one Authorised High Court Enforcement Officer on our board of directors.

What is the difference between a bailiff and a High Court Enforcement Officer?

County Court Bailiffs

They are Civil Servants who work directly as employees of the Ministry of Justice. They are based at a local county court and report via a manager to the district judge.

• They do not need to be certificated.
• They are salaried and do not receive any bonus if they collect any money.
• They can only execute for debt amounts up to £5,000.
• Their average time to report back is around 60 days.
• To instruct them costs between £77 and £110 depending on how you instruct them.
• They operate business hours Monday to Friday only.

High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO)

The High Court Enforcement Officers are appointed by the Lord chancellor. Their powers and regulations come from many pieces of legislation including the Courts Act 2003 and The High Court Enforcement Officers Regulations 2004

The High Court Enforcement Officers usually delegate their powers to Private Certificated Enforcement Agents (Bailiffs) to undertake the enforcement.

• They are Certificated.
  To be Certificated the person needs to be trained and gain a qualification, undergo continuous professional development (CPD), DBS checked, checked for CCJ, checked for insolvency, interviewed, and authorised by a judge. This process is called Certification and must be repeated every two years.
• They are incentivised to collect money.
  They work for private companies that are either owned by or authorised by a HCEO. Some of the Certificated Enforcement Agents (Bailiffs) are self-employed and some are directly employed. They will always be incentivised by the amount they collect and therefore are invested in the recovery of your debt. If they don’t collect money, they earn nothing.
• They can collect any amount above £600.
• Average time to collect money or report back a conclusion is 40 days from gaining the writ, however the writ is valid for 1 year should the agent need to return to the premises after their first visit.
• They work seven days a week between 6am and 9pm.

Further information can be found in this article about Using a Bailiff.

Powers of a High Court Enforcement Officer

A High Court Enforcement Officer has many powers at their disposal to persuade a debtor to pay or a trespasser to leave your property. For a more detailed understanding of their powers see the video below.

Fees a High Court Enforcement Officer can charge

When enforcement is successful the cost to the claimant is free as the costs are collected from the debtor.

If the debt is not collectable you will have to pay the compliance stage fee (case file set up) of £94.80 (£79 plus vat).Also the court transfer fee, currently £78.

The claimant is charged the collection fees, but these are recoverable from the Debtor / Defendant. The fees are laid down by the MOJ in The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 Table 2.

Enforcement fees for writs lodged with an HCEO from 1st May 2026 onwards.

* Percentage fee (regulation 7): percentage of sum to be recovered exceeding £1,200

Enforcement fees for writs lodged with an HCEO before 1st May 2026 onwards.

* Percentage fee (regulation 7): percentage of sum to be recovered exceeding £1,000

Other fees a claimant may have to pay besides upfront costs

1. Abortive fee from 1 May 2026 £79 plus vat is due by law from the creditor if the enforcement is unsuccessful. Please note if the creditor does not have an approved credit account with us, we may request a payment on account for this after the writ is gained.
2. When the enforcement agent visits, they charge their fees set by Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014, to you but these fees are recoverable from the debtor and added to the debt. You do not have to pay these if no goods or money are recovered unless a court order overturns the judgment, Writ or you stand us down or do your own deal with the debtor.
3. Disbursement costs. These cover the necessary expenses that may be required for successful enforcement of writs. These expenses may include locksmiths, specialist removal teams and trucks, tow trucks, shutter engineers and storage of goods and vehicles, DVLA checks, HPI checks and court applications. Please note however they are rarely charged and before we incur you any of these costs, we would contact you get your written authority and indemnity and take a payment on account. These fees would usually always be added to the debt.
4. Vat on fee if you the claimant is vat registered. For further details see next section on VAT on Enforcement Fees.

See terms and conditions.

VAT on Enforcement Fees

The Government has issued updated guidance and legislation regarding VAT charged on Bailiff fees The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations.

• Where the creditor is VAT-registered the enforcement agent may not recover VAT on the fees or disbursements under these Regulations, or the sum equivalent to VAT.
• Where the creditor is not VAT-registered the enforcement agent may recover from the debtor a sum equivalent to VAT only in accordance with these Regulations.

The service provided is for the claimant and as such if the claimant is registered for VAT then it is the claimant’s responsibility to reclaim the VAT from HMRC. The High Court Enforcement Officer and their companies must not recover the VAT from the debtor unless the claimant is not VAT registered and is unable to reclaim the VAT. In that case an amount equivalent to the VAT on the bailiffs fees can be charged to the debtor.

What if I want to stop the process at any time and ask for a full refund?

Some claimants have been known to strike their own deals with defendants, especially if the defendant wants to avoid paying bailiff fees. Sometimes claimants want the enforcement to be carried out in a way determined by them to their timescales when this is at the sole discretion of the HCEO or bailiff who is responsible for the case.

At this point they request the enforcement is stopped, and request a full refund.

The enforcement can be stopped but the fees you pay on instruction are none refundable as they have already been used. The court fee we pay to the court on your instruction to issue the writ. The statutory file set up fee for setting up the file, opening a ledger and sending out the notice of enforcement has already been undertaken.

Once the bailiff has visited then further enforcement fees are incurred. If you wish to stop the enforcement at that point then of course we can stop. However, at that point we will be unable to recover our fees from the debtor, and you become responsible for these fees. This is in accordance with our terms and conditions, and in law according to 13.2 of The High Court Enforcement Officers Regulations 2004.

What are my chances of a full collection?

All cases are unique and different so there is not an answer to this question. Our job is to take control of the debtors goods if there are sufficient to take control of or collect the full amount of money due to the clamant including our fees.

High Court Enforcement Officers Association statistics

Latest industry statistics published by The High Court Enforcement Officers Association

In 2021:

• 95,227 Writs were successfully cleared.
• 103,172 New writs were received.
• 25,165 Payments obtained in full.
• £96,293,429 Total money collected.

Ministry of Justice statistics January to March 2023

Have a Question?

Call your regional enforcement office for advice and assistance.