This guide is for you if
This guide is also for people supporting litigants in person, for example Support Through Court volunteers, Citizens Advice volunteers, and advice workers, as well as relatives and friends.
This is just one of our resources about sorting out a dispute and going to a civil court. The rest of the series can be found on our Going to a civil court page.
This guide is not for you if a county court judgment has been made against you. If you owe money to someone else, you are known as the ‘debtor’. You can get free help to manage your debts by going to various organisations, for example StepChange, National Debtline or Citizens Advice.
What this guide covers
This guide helps you work out if:
The countries this guide applies to
The information in this guide applies to England and Wales only.
Legal Language
We try to explain any legal language as we go along, but there is also a What does it mean? section at the end.
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A county court judgment or CCJ is a court order made in your favour that means the other person, company or organisation involved in your court case needs to pay you money - this could be a debt or compensation or damages, depending on your case.The other person, company or organisation will have been known as the ‘defendant’ in the case. Now that the court has ordered that they owe you money the law calls them the ‘debtor’. You may see the word ‘creditor’ too in court documents. This means someone who is owed money. In this case, that is you.
After all the time and effort spent getting a court order made in your favour, you would be forgiven for thinking that was the end of it. Unfortunately, sometimes the debtor doesn’t always follow what the order says in the timeframe required. It is important to understand that the court will not:
You need to decide if it is worthwhile taking further court action to try and get the money owed to you. There are various things to think about before you decide. We talk about all these next.
You can only apply to enforce your order if the debtor has not paid you in the timeframe set by the court. Usually, payment should be made within 14 days of the date of the order. So, usually you will need to wait for at least two weeks to pass before taking any decisions on enforcement proceedings.
If you have an order that was made some time ago, but you are only now thinking about enforcing it, be aware that you have 6 years from the date the order was made in which to enforce it. After that it will be too late and you will be unable to enforce the order.
If the debtor was not at the court hearing where the judge ordered them to pay you a sum of money, they may not know about the order. Usually according to the Civil Procedure Rules the court will make sure the debtor receives the court order. This is called ‘service’ or ‘serving’ the order. However, if the debtor later says they never received the order it will delay things for you. So, if you can, it is worthwhile checking with the debtor that they have received the order.
If you want to be sure that the debtor has received the order, you can serve it yourself (even if the court may have already done this). That way, you will have proof that you have served the debtor. Unless a specific rule tells you how you must do this or the judge says you have to serve the debtor in a particular way, you can make sure the debtor has the order via different methods.
You can send the order by post or email if you are sure of the address. You can leave it at the debtor’s address yourself if this is safe, or hand it to the debtor directly. Or, if this isn’t safe and you want to be completely sure the debtor does know about it you can pay for a professional, known as a ‘process server’ to personally hand it to the debtor.
For more help on this, you can find the court rules about when an order is classed as properly served by the court at Civil Procedure Rules 6.21 and 6.26.
Insolvent debtors
A person, company or organisation is described as ‘insolvent’ when they cannot pay their debts on the date they are meant to pay them – or when they ‘fall due’ as accountants and lawyers call it.If the debtor is about to become insolvent, or is insolvent, this could have wide ranging implications for any claims you might have against them.
The debtor may choose or be forced to go bankrupt. This is a legal process that can be used to deal with the situation where the debtor cannot pay debts they owe. If the debtor goes through bankruptcy proceedings, someone called the ‘official receiver’ takes over any land, property, money that the debtor has and deals with it according to strict laws on insolvency. This means that other people or companies that the debtor owes money to will also have rights over any assets and your judgment debt could be at the end of a long list.
If your debtor is a company and was insured, you might be able to bring a claim against their insurer directly, however this is a complicated legal point and you should certainly get legal advice before starting down this route.
We explain how to find out if the debtor is bankrupt in the section below called ‘Searches’.
Applications for a stay of execution
The debtor could apply to the court after the judgment order is made for something called a ‘stay of execution’. This is an order that stops the judgment debt order from being enforced while the court is given new or more information.
This pause in the case can be temporary, while the debtor works out a detailed and realistic payment plan to pay you what you are owed, which might mean the court orders you get payments in smaller instalments over a longer timeframe. Or the debtor can ask the court to cancel or ‘set aside’ the order if certain circumstances apply, such as the debtor didn’t know about the case and/or you didn’t follow the right process.
If the debtor applies for either of these applications, there will be some delay and you may be asked to negotiate with the debtor about how they pay you or attend another court hearing where a judge decides what should happen next. If the debtor’s application is unsuccessful the court will tell you when you can start enforcement proceedings.
Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space)
The Debt Respite Scheme gives people with 'problem debt' a short period of time to have breathing space from enforcement proceedings. People are classed as having problem debt if they cannot afford to pay the repayments on their debts when they are due. So, in your case, it is possible that the debtor might be classed as having problem debt and be protected by the scheme.
There are two types of breathing spaces offered to people with problem debt. If your debtor is protected by either of these schemes you need to understand them and not take certain action while the debtor is protected by the scheme. The scheme is managed by the Insolvency Service. They will tell you, by email or post, if the debtor in your case is protected under the scheme. During the time they are protected by the scheme, you must not contact them about what they owe you or start enforcement proceedings. You can have contact with their debt adviser if they have one.
You can read more about the Debt Respite Scheme in the Insolvency Service’s guidance for creditors. If your debtor is protected and you are considering what else you might do about your debt it is important to read the government guidance called Debt Respite (Breathing Space) Scheme - creditors’ responsibilities to the court first.
Before doing anything else check:
Now you know you can enforce the order you need to decide if it is worth your time, money, and effort to go back to court to enforce it. The main thing is whether or not the debtor has the money to pay you. If you are sure that the debtor has money but is just choosing not to pay then you can skip this section and go the section called The different ways you can enforce your order.
If you are not sure that the debtor has the means to pay, work your way through this section.
You need to think carefully about whether it is worth trying to enforce the order. To have had a county court judgment made in your favour, you will have already spent time and money on the problem. And it might have been stressful too.
If the debtor genuinely can’t pay, it is very likely that you are going to waste more time and money by trying to enforce your order. Sometimes the debtor may have insurance to cover their debts but you would only be paid by an insurance company if they looked at the case and agreed it was a situation that their insurance policy covered.
So, you need to find out if your debtor has money or other things of value such as land, property, or investments – called ‘assets’ by lawyers – and where those assets are.
In England and Wales, you can bring enforcement proceedings through the court. But if the debtor’s only money or assets are in Scotland or Northern Ireland it will be a more complicated process. And if their only money or assets are abroad, then you will need to think very carefully about whether it is worth starting proceedings against them. For more information see Civil procedure rule - Part 74 - Enforcement of judgments in different jurisdictions.There are some searches you can do that may help tell you more about the debtor’s financial situation. Some are free, others are charged for.
You can:
Find out who owns a property and whether there are any debts secured on it by searching information from the Land Registry.
Check whether someone is bankrupt by searching the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Register.
Check if a person or company is insolvent (does not have enough money or assets to pay their debts) by checking the public notices in the London Gazette.
Ask for information about the registered keeper of a vehicle from DVLA.
Check if a vehicle is stolen, written off or on finance at HPI Check.
Check whether a business or an individual has been fined or had court orders made against them at Trust Online.
Find information about a company and see if their accounts are up to date from Companies House.
Check the Attachment of Earnings Index to see if the debtor already has had this type of order made against them. You need to ask the court to do this – for more help see the section called How to enforce your order - attachment of earnings orders.
Find information about a registered charity and their accounts from the Charity Commission.
Carry out an internet search and check social media to find out useful information about the debtor. For example, lots of information can come up about a company in online reviews.
Lawyers sometimes uses enquiry agents to investigate whether it is worth starting legal proceedings against someone. Enquiry agents can provide a report about someone’s financial status. Typically, this will give you information about whether they are a homeowner or a tenant, whether they are bankrupt or have court orders against their name and their employment details. You may want to consider this option but check the cost before you go ahead. Some enquiry agents offer this service at a fixed cost - others charge an hourly rate.
You can find an enquiry agent through the Association of British Investigators or the Institute of Professional Investigators.
Another way to get information about the debtor’s financial situation is to apply to court for something called an ‘order to obtain information’. This is an order that tells the debtor to come to court and answer questions about their financial situation.This isn’t a quick fix as the process takes time. But it could be very helpful in giving you a clearer picture of the debtor’s current financial situation so you can decide what to do next.
Next are some advantages and disadvantages of this route to getting more information.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| You are likely to get some useful information as the debtor must come to court to answer questions – if they knew about the hearing and failed to attend, they can be sent to prison. This can help you decide whether to go ahead and apply to enforce the order and also which method to use. | By applying, the debtor will know you are interested in their financial situation which they may be trying to keep private. When they find out about the application, they might rush to get rid of any assets that are easily sold or hidden. Lawyers call this ‘dissipating assets’. If you think there is a real risk of this happening you need to get urgent legal advice about a freezing injunction. |
The process is quite complicated with several steps to go through, so it is not quick or easy. | |
| A court officer will ask a comprehensive list of questions for you and you do not need to attend unless you want to. | You need to look at the list of documents and questions that the debtor will be asked to provide and answer and work out if you need to ask for other documents or ask other questions. |
There is a court fee to pay for the application and if you need to arrange for a court bailiff to give the order to the debtor you will have to pay for that too. If the debtor fails to attend and another order is made then that has to be given to the debtor too. If the court bailiff gives this to the debtor for you then there is another fee. These fees can be added to the money the debtor owes you already and if you are on a low income, you may not have to pay all or any of the court fees. |
Now that you have read about some advantages and disadvantages of this process, you may have decided to apply for this order. If so, you can read our step-by-step guidance to help you through the process. If not, you can skip this bit and go on to the short section called Next steps.
| Step 1 | Choose the correct application form to apply for an order that the debtor attend court and answer questions about their financial situation:
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| Step 2 | The notes that go with the form tell you what documents the debtor will be asked to provide. Read these notes and see if you want the court to ask the debtor to provide other documents. To see what questions the debtor has to answer and if you want to add any extra questions, look at the form the debtor has to fill in – EX140 (for individuals) or EX141 (for companies). |
| Step 3 | Fill in the correct form (see step 1) and add in any questions or documents you want added to the standard ones. The court fee for this application is £65. You need to have this money to start your application. If you are on a low income, you may be able to get help with fees. To start your application, you need to ‘issue’ it at the court. Find the debtor’s local county court hearing centre and send it there. |
| Step 4 | When the court has processed your application, it will make an order setting out when and where the questioning of the debtor will take place. The order will remind the debtor of the amount of money due to you and that they need to pay it to you directly if they now wish to do so to avoid the questioning. If you receive the money you are owed before the date in the order you must tell the court as soon as possible and they will cancel the hearing. It will also tell the debtor that they can ask you for travel expenses for getting to the hearing. Be prepared to hear from the debtor about this. The court will tell you if you need to make sure the debtor has the order about the questioning or if the court will do that task. If you need to do it go on to step 5. If the court says they will do it for you, go to step 6. |
| Step 5 | The court rules say that the debtor must be handed the order in person. This is called ‘personal service’. This means it cannot be posted or left at the debtor’s address. If the court says you need to arrange this, you can do it yourself or ask for the court bailiff to do it or pay an enforcement agent to do it. This must be done at least 14 days before the date of the hearing. Think about whether it is safe or realistic for you to personally serve the debtor. There is a fee of £131 to ask the court bailiff to serve the order. Remember that if you are on a low income you can ask for help with fees. Each county court has separate contact details for their bailiff team so it is best to check directly with the court. There is no set form to fill in - contact the court to pay the fee and they will tell you what you need to do next. If you decide to personally serve the debtor, be sure to keep some copies of the order for later. If you don’t manage to serve the debtor you need to tell the court at least 7 days before the hearing date so a new hearing date can be arranged and you can have more time to get the order to the debtor. |
| Step 6 | The court needs to know certain things before the hearing:
You need to provide the court with a sworn statement, called an ‘affidavit’ about these things. If you served the debtor yourself with the order you need to tell the court how and when you did this. If you arranged for someone else to serve the debtor, they need to do an affidavit to say how and when they served them. Your affidavit also needs to tell the court if you have been asked for travel expenses. The debtor has 7 days to do this after the date they are served with the order. That means you need to wait at least 7 days after the service before you do your affidavit. Finally, your affidavit needs to state what, if anything, has happened with the money owed to you. There is a set form to use to do your affidavit – Read it through carefully first and then fill it out. Do not sign it.form EX550 If you served the debtor you need to attach a copy of the order that you gave the debtor to the affidavit. Do not fill out part A if you arranged for an enforcement agent or court bailiff to serve the debtor for you. They will fill out their own one. |
| Step 7 | When you have filled in your affidavit you need to sign the affidavit and ‘swear’ that the contents are true in front of a court officer. To do this you need to go to your local court. Call in advance as you may need an appointment. This service is free. Or you can go to a solicitor’s office but they will charge a small fee. |
| Step 8 | Make sure your sworn affidavit reaches the court at least two days before the hearing date. Make sure you send it to the court that is dealing with the hearing. Mark your letter or email with the date and time of the hearing. The hearing will take place on the date in the order. You do not need to attend unless you want to. The debtor will be questioned and then asked to sign a record of their answers. You will be sent a copy of the answers to the questions and the documents – this is known as the ‘Record of examination’. You will then have the information you need to make a more informed decision on how to enforce the order. |
If the debtor does not attend or attends the hearing but refuses to answer any questions as required there are further steps to go through. The judge will look at what happened and decide if the debtor has failed to comply with the order. If the judge orders that the debtor hasn’t complied the judge will make something called a ‘suspended committal order’. This is an order that means if the debtor does not attend another hearing and do as they are ordered, they will be sent or ‘committed’ to prison.
Again, this order has to be personally served on the debtor and you will need to do another affidavit. If this happens, you need to go back to step 5 above. If the debtor fails to attend again – on the new hearing date – then the debtor will be arrested and taken to court. If at that point they engage with the court and answer the questions, it is unlikely they will be sent to prison. If they still refuse to, an order called a ‘warrant of committal’ will normally be issued immediately. This means that the debtor will be taken to the prison for the time detailed in suspended committed order.
Court rules If you want to read more about the court rules on applying for an order to obtain information you can go to |
If the debtor is insured or has enough assets to pay, you can go on to the next section where we talk about the different types of enforcement options.
If you have looked into it and it seems as though the debtor does not have enough assets you may decide to do nothing, knowing that you have considered your options carefully and this is the best course of action for you.
There is a range of different ways to enforce your order. The best option for you will depend on your and the debtor’s situation. When you know more about the options it will be up to you to decide which suits your situation the most. You may well need legal advice to help you decide - the section called More help and advice will help you with this.
In this section we give you an overview of the different options and in the next section we go into more detail about the most commonly used ones.
| Method of enforcement | What it is and when to use it |
Warrant of control | This is a county court document that allows court bailiffs or enforcement officers to take belongings that the debtor owns and sell them at auction. The money from the sale pays off the debt. This is a common method of enforcement as it is relatively quick and easy. The debtor does not need to be told in advance when you ask for a warrant of control. The process doesn’t require a hearing and it can be used if your debtor is an individual or a company. Also, in some situations you can use it alongside other enforcement methods. Sometimes just the threat of this method can make the debtor pay what you are owed. It is only useful though if the debtor has enough belongings of value to pay off what you are owed. Some belongings are protected – if they are linked to how the debtor makes a living. Court bailiffs cannot take belongs that meet basic living needs, such as fridges, washing machines and cookers. |
Writ of control | A writ of control is similar to a warrant of control but you can only use this process in the High Court. It can be quicker to use the High Court. To apply in the High Court the amount of money you are owed must be at least £600. If the debt is £5000 or more the case needs to be transferred to the High Court. |
Attachment of earnings order | This is an order that directs the debtor’s employer to keep back some of their earnings so that they can be paid to you. You can only use this method if the debtor is employed. These orders cannot be made against unemployed or self-employed people or companies. Also, the debtor is entitled to be paid enough to cover their monthly living expenses so the monthly amount paid out to settle the debt could be very little and so it could take a long time to get what you are owed. Or worse, if they earn less each month than they need to spend on their living expenses the court will not be able to make an order that you receive any of their earnings. |
Third party debt order | This is an order that allows you to receive money that belongs to the debtor that is held by what lawyers call a ‘third party’. In this situation the third party is often (but not always) a bank or building society. First, you have to ask for an order to freeze an account and then if the court agrees, a second order is made so that you receive money from the frozen account. This order is only a useful method if you know quite a lot about the debtor’s financial situation – such as their bank and that they have money in their account. You can potentially get this by applying for an order to obtain information (see section 3 for a reminder). But there is then a risk that the debtor will move the money before you can apply for this order. |
Charging order
| This type of order can be useful if you know the debtor has property, land, or investments, like stocks and shares. If you know that the debtor does not have any of these assets, there is no point in applying for this kind of order. A charging order stops the debtor from selling assets, such as property or land they own, without paying you what they owe you when the sale goes through. A ‘charge’ is recorded against the asset so that it cannot be sold without you being paid. You can only get your money when the debtor sells their asset. Also, if there are already other charges registered against the asset before yours, such as mortgages or other creditors who are owed money – they will have the money they are owed paid first. So, there is no guarantee you will get all that is owed to you. It is not a quick solution to getting what you are owed as you can only access your money once the sale has gone through. Sometimes you can ask the court to make an order for sale – so that the asset has to be sold in a certain timeframe rather than whenever the debtor decides. If the property is owned by the debtor with other people, then this will usually impact on your rights to enforce the order and on how much money you can get when it is sold. If the only option for a charging order is the debtor’s family home things are more complicated. A sale will usually be delayed until any children reach 18. |
Bankruptcy proceedings or winding up
| You can apply to the court to make the debtor bankrupt if the money they owe you is £5,000 or more. Or if the debtor is a company that owes you £750 or more, you can apply to the court to ‘wind up’ the company. With this option you need to show you have tried other ways to get the money you are owed or you need to apply to the court for something called a ‘statutory demand’. This gives the debtor 21 days to pay you what they owe and prevent the process of bankruptcy from starting. If they don’t do this, you can then ask the court to make the debtor bankrupt or wind up the company. There is a strict procedure to follow and as the outcome is extreme for the debtor the court will usually expect this approach to be a last resort. If the debtor is made bankrupt by the court, someone called the official receiver will be appointed to call in any assets the debtor has and then pay them out to all the different creditors, not just to you. Depending on how many other creditors there are, you may find you are at the bottom of the priority list when creditors are paid. You may not get all or even any of the money owed depending on the debtor’s situation. This process is expensive, complicated and time consuming and there is a risk that you will be in the same situation at the end as you were in the beginning. However, the threat of it might be all that is needed to get the debtor to see you are serious and pay up – if they have the means to do so. If you decide on this option, you really should get legal advice before you start. |
Be aware that there are costs involved in all of these enforcement options – court fees and if you use court bailiffs or enforcement officers, they will have professional fees and expenses. If you are successful in getting your money back from the debtor, these costs can be added on to the debt. But if you are not you will have to pay them yourself. For court fees, if you are on a low income you can ask for help with fees.If you are successful, as well as claiming your costs, you may be able to claim interest from the debtor too. Interest can be added to a debt that is over £5,000. This type of interest is called ‘statutory interest’ and is currently charged at a rate of 8%. The court can decide the date from when interest will run, but usually it will from the date of the order that states the debtor owes you money. It stops being charged when enforcement steps for a warrant or writ of control, attachment of earnings or third party debt orders begin. Although if these are not successful, it runs on as though you had never started enforcement. When it comes to charging orders, statutory interest continues to run even when you start the application.
If more than one type of enforcement option might help you get all your money back you can decide to use more than one. Some can be used at the same time or one after the other, in a particular order. Where you can use more than one option at the same time, there can be tactical or practical reasons to use them in a certain order. Things can get complicated though so if you think this might be a good way forward, get legal advice first. In the next few sections we look at each method of enforcement in more detail. If you know one or more of the methods do not fit your situation you can skip to the next one.
Court rules If you want to read more about the court rules on enforcement methods, go to the Civil Procedure Rule 70 and Practice Direction 70A |
Before you get into the detail of each of the different ways you can enforce your order, remember that whatever method or methods you try, the court cannot guarantee you will get your money back.Each method is very different and is essentially a separate court application of its own - even though you trying to get the same outcome from each option - getting back the money you are owed.
The process for each method is complicated. You might know which method you want or need to try first - if so, you can jump straight to the section that deals with that method. If you are not sure, it is best to read through all the different ways to enforce your order so you can make an informed decision about what to do next.
And remember - if more than one type of enforcement option might help you get all your money back you can decide to use more than one. Things can get complicated though so if you think this might be a good way forward, get legal advice first.
Before you spend more time, money, and energy on trying to get your money it is important to think about the practicalities. Do you know if the debtor has belongings or goods worth enough to make it worth your while going through another procedure? Do you have details about where the belongings or goods are – for example, addresses and contact details.
| County court | High Court |
£ 0 - £5,000 (Or if the case is to do with an agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act there is no upper limit – these are to do with loan agreements and hire purchase). | Optional from £600 but you must use the High Court if the money owed is over £5,000. |
If you have a choice, it can be quicker to apply to the High Court, however, be aware that it can be more expensive and complicated and so you may end up needing to pay for legal advice if you decide to go to the High Court.
The law calls this step of the procedure ‘issuing’. This is the legal term for starting an application or legal process.
How you ask for (or issue) a warrant of control depends on how you made your claim to start with to get the judgment order.
If you claimed onlineIf your claim number has the letters MC in it you need to fill in form N323 to ask the court to issue a warrant of control and then sign, print and send it to the court that made the judgment order with the court fee of £91 - you can pay by cheque or postal order. If you are on a low income, you can ask for help with court fees. This is a short form but you need some key details before you can fill it in. These are:
If the claim number does not have the letters MC in it, you need to apply online via the Money Claims Online website. You will need a credit or debit card to pay the court fee of £91 or you can ask for help with fees.
If you applied by paper
You need to fill in, print and sign the form N323 and post or hand deliver it to the court who made the judgment order. You can pay the court fee of £91 by cheque or postal order. If you are on a low income you can ask for help with fees.
A judge does not have to make a decision about the warrant. Instead, it is a procedural step that allows the court bailiff or enforcement officer to tell the debtor a warrant has been issued and give them 7 days to pay the money owed.
If this does not happen, the bailiff will go to the address for the debtor that you gave in the form within 15 days of the date of the warrant. When they go to the address, they can either collect the money from the debtor if they have it or take belongings or goods to sell at auction.
There are costs involved in taking belongings or goods and selling them - for example, collecting the goods, storing them, and selling them. The bailiff will take these costs as well as a fee for working for you from the money generated from the auction sale. The court will send you any money raised. If it is not enough to cover all the expense of the process, the bailiff will visit the debtor again or at another address if you know of one, to see if they can find more belongings or goods that could be sold.
Remember
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The threat of a bailiff removing and selling belongings or goods may be enough to make the debtor pay you what they owe or offer a part payment or longer payment term.
If at any time, the debtor pays you money during this process you need to tell the court immediately.
The debtor could apply to court to have the warrant stopped – this is called an application to ‘suspend’ a warrant. The court will tell you if they have done this and send you their application and a form to fill in to give your views on the offer made by the debtor.
If you agree to the warrant being stopped but you don’t agree with how much the debtor has offered then a court officer will look at the case and decide how much the debtor can afford to pay. This will then be made into a new order to replace the one you had when you first got the judgment order.
You may not agree with the decision by the court officer. If so, you can write to the court to explain why. You must do this within 16 days of date on the envelope the order came in. You will then get another letter to tell you to attend court before a district judge who will hear from both you and the debtor and make an order about the debt.
If the debtor still does not pay you as ordered you can apply to the court again for essentially a fresh warrant. To do this you need to fill in, print and sign form N445. There is no court fee for this form.
If this happens the court should tell you but if you have not heard from the court after a month of asking for the warrant, contact the court.
If this method of enforcement is not successful it is usually because the debtor is no longer at the address you gave in your form or the belongings or goods were not worth enough to pay off the debt.
If you are determined to keep going you can use form N445 again - only do so if you are sure the debtor is at that address or if you have new information about other addresses. If you are sure the debtor does have things of value to sell, give details in the form.
You will have to pay another court fee of £36 if you want the bailiff to go to a new address.
You need to do this if the money the debtor owes you is more than £5,000.
The procedure is more complicated than in the County Court.
When it comes to enforcement in the High Court, there are High Court enforcement officers rather than court bailiffs. They are employed by private companies who have a licence to do this work at the High Court. Unlike court bailiffs, they will work outside office hours to locate the debtor and collect their belongings or goods. They also have extra powers to enter commercial buildings in certain situations.
They are only paid if they recover the belongings or goods of the debtor and get you your money. They will add their fees to the money already owed to you and claim them from the debtor. If they do not manage to get their fees covered by money from the debtor, they will charge you an administrative fee of £75 plus VAT at 20%.
Generally, a High Court enforcement officer does very similar things to the court bailiff. But you can also ask a High Court enforcement officer to do the work required to get a writ of control from the High Court first – so that you don’t have to.
The High Court Enforcement Officer Association provides a list of enforcement officers across England and Wales, where you can search by postcode. This is likely to be much easier than doing it yourself, especially as the fees for their work can be claimed from the debtor, if you are successful in getting your money back. If they are not successful, you will only have lost their initial fee of £75 plus VAT at 20% and the court fee.
If you really cannot afford the enforcement officer’s fee you can do this process yourself but it is not easy. Only read the next bit if you are sure you want to ask the county court to transfer your judgment debt to the High Court for enforcement by a High Court enforcement officer yourself, rather than asking a High Court enforcement officer to do it for you.
First, you need to ask the court that made the judgment order to give you a ‘certificate of judgment’ with the court’s seal (or stamp) on it. This is a court document that proves what is owed to you. The certificate is in form N293A.
You need to fill in Parts 1 & 3 of form N293A, sign it and send it to the court that made the judgment order. There is a court fee of £78 to pay. Or you can ask for help with fees if you are on a low income.
It is very important to fill in the form fully – if you do not the court will send it back. In Part 1 you need to fill in:
Make sure you add in the claim number so the court can process the form. In the section where you have to sign, first tick the box that says ‘Writ of Control’, then sign and date it.
In Part 3, you will not know the High Court enforcement number yet, or the date of the certificate yet – you can add the date in when you get the form back from the county court. Add the address of the debtor. If you have decided on the High Court enforcement officer you want to deal with the task of getting your money for you, you can fill in their name in the section at the top of right-hand column.
Don’t worry if you haven’t though – you can get one allocated to you later by Registry Trust Limited.
Send your completed form N293A with the court fee to the county court that made the original order – the one you are trying to enforce. The court process your application and return the N293A form back with the court stamp on it. This is an important document in this process – make a copy of it.
When you have this stamped form, you can do the next form you need. This called form no.53 – Writ of control. This is not an easy form to fill in. We are in the process of making a short video to help you fill in this form. We will link it from here as soon as it is ready.
When you have filled in this form you need to send it to the High Court with your form N293A, that the county court stamped for you, together with a cheque or postal order for £78 (or if you are on a low income you can get help with court fees). The address is:
Royal Courts of JusticeEnforcement Section
Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
The High Court will process the paperwork and return the Writ of control form with the court seal on it. This is an important document. Make a copy of it. You then need to send the original Writ of control form (the one stamped by the High Court) to:
National Information Centre for Enforcement
Registry Trust Ltd
3rd Floor
12 Carthusian Street
London
EC1M 6EB
Staff at the National Information Centre for Enforcement, run by Registry Trust Ltd, will allocate a High Court enforcement officer to your case and send you the details by post or email.
If the High Court email you the stamped Writ of control you can forward it by email to the National Information Centre for Enforcement - tribunalft@registry-trust.org.uk.
If at any time, the debtor pays you money during this process you need to tell the court immediately.
The High Court enforcement officer will then take very similar steps to the county court bailiff to try and get back your money for you. They will update you but if you have any questions or concerns you can contact them, via the details sent to you by the National Information Centre for Enforcement.
The High Court Enforcement Officers Association has more information about what enforcement officers do once they receive your Writ of control.
Working out the interest on the debtStatutory interest of 8% will run on a judgment debt worth more than £5,000 from the date set by the court until you apply to enforce the order (unless you are applying for a charging order). Example John is owed £7,680. The court ordered statutory interest to run from the date of the judgment order. This order was made on 29th February 2024. John needs to work out the amount of interest for the form N293A, that he fills in on 15th September 2024. First you need to work out the yearly interest - what 8% of £7680 is. The sum for this is: £7860 x 0.08 = £614.40 Then to work out the daily interest you need to do: £614.40 ÷ 365 = 1.7 (1.70 per day) Then you need to work out how many days the interest has been running for. In this example that is from 1st March to 15th September – that is 199 days. So, the sum is: 199 x £1.70 = £338.30 So, the interest to pay so far is £338.30 and the daily rate is £1.70. |
You can only apply for this type of order to enforce your judgment order if the debtor is employed. Also, it is important to bear in mind that if they are employed and you go down this route but they later become unemployed the order you will have spent time and effort and money getting will stop or ‘lapse’ as lawyers call it.
It is a good idea to check the attachment of earnings index before you go down this route. If the debtor has already had this kind of order made against them, you are less likely to get all your money paid this way as there will be one or more other creditors already receiving some of the debtor’s earnings and the debtor must be left with enough to meet their basic living needs.
The court can only make an attachment of earnings order if you can provide details of the debtor’s employer – their name or the company name, together with the address. You will also be asked to give details of where the debtor works and what they do. If you don’t have this information, you can pause here and try and find it. For help with this, go back to Step 2 in the section called Working out if you can and should enforce your order.
Next, we explain how to check if the debtor already has this kind of order in place against their pay, for money they owe to someone else.
You need to ask the court to check the attachment of earnings index for you. This is quite a quick and simple process and worth doing before you go down the route of asking for an order.
There are two ways to ask the court. You can either:
The court will either complete the rest of the form and send it back to you or write to you to tell you the result of the search. There is no fee for this.
When you get the reply from the court you need to look at it carefully and decide if it is worthwhile applying for an attachment of earnings order against the debtor.
If the reply from the court states ‘there are no subsisting entries’ it means there are no orders currently in force telling an employer to hold back money from the debtor’s pay each month to pay to another creditor.
On the other hand, if there are details about another judgment debt with the amount that is being taken and how often, it means the debtor’s pay is already under pressure from another creditor’s order. A large amount suggests that their other debts are significant. A small amount could suggest that the debt is smaller but also that they have a small amount of pay coming in each month and that the court has decided they can only afford a small deduction.
Depending on what information you get in the reply from the court, you will need to decide what to do next. You could read on about the next steps to see what is involved to help you decide if it is worth it. If you can afford any legal advice at this point do try and get some – this will help you decide if it is worth going ahead with another application. Use the Law Society – find a solicitor service.
You need to start by filling in form N337. This is a short form where you need to give your details and those of the debtor together with all the information you have on their employer and work situation. You also need to state what money is owed to you. Then you need to print the form and sign it and send it to the court.These applications go to a central place rather than the actual court that made the judgment order in the first place. The address is:
Civil National Business Centre
St Katherine’s House
21-27 St Katherine’s St
Northampton
NN1 2LH
There is a court fee of £131 to pay. This fee is added to what the debtor owes you but if you are not successful, then the court cannot refund you the fee. You can pay the fee by cheque or postal order or provide your telephone number and ask the court to call you to pay by credit or debit card over the phone. Make sure you include the claim number so the court can find your case on their system. If you are on a low income, you can ask for help with fees.
Remember – if you receive any payments from the debtor after you send in your application you must tell the court straight away.
The court will get in touch with the debtor and tell them you have made this application and that they either need to:
If the debtor pays you all the money owed then the process stops. Good news!
It is probably more likely that one of two things will happen – either they will fail to send in their statement or they will send it and things can progress more quickly. Choose the right box for the situation you are in.
| When the debtor fails to send in the statement of means | When the court has the statement of means |
If the debtor does not reply to the court with the statement of means, the court can take several steps to make the debtor engage with the process.
This process takes some time. If you have heard nothing from the court for 6-8 weeks, get in touch and ask for an update. Assuming that the court eventually gets the statement of means, you now need to read the information in the box on the right called ‘When the court has the statement of means’. |
Be aware that it is possible for the debtor to ask that their employer is not contacted. Instead, they have to pay the money in the order directly to you on a regular basis. This is called a ‘suspended order’. If you have problems with this, for example, if the debtor does not do this or pays some and then stops, you have to fill in form N446 to explain this issue to the court and ask the court to send the order to the employer. There is no fee for this. In this form, make sure you tick the box that says ‘attachment of earnings’ and then fill in the details about yourself and the debtor and the money that needs to be paid. In the box at the bottom called ‘Reasons for requesting re-issue’, you just need to explain that the debtor has failed to pay the money owed to you or has only paid some of it. Print, sign and date the form and then send it to the court. |
Remember – if you receive any payments from the debtor after you send in your application you must tell the court straight away
A court officer works out how much the debtor can pay from the money they receive from their employer. If you do not agree with the amount, they have been ordered to pay you can ask a judge to look at the case. You do need to give reasons as to why you think the debtor can pay more than the amount the court officer has calculated.
To do this you need to fill in form N244. This is a longer form and you may need help filling it in – see the section called More help and advice. Either way, be sure to read the guidance leaflet that you can find on the same website page as the form. For section 3 where it asks for the order you are seeking, you can state you want the order telling the debtor how much to pay to be ‘reconsidered’. Then in section 10 you need to explain why. For example, if you have some extra information or evidence that suggests the debtor does have more money than they have stated, you should add it here.
This form has a statement of truth at the end – read this carefully. It is important to understand that when you sign this you tell the truth. If you are found not to have told the truth to the best of your knowledge and belief, you can be found guilty of something called ‘contempt of court’. This is punishable by a fine, unpaid work and even prison time.You must ask for a judge to look at the court officer’s decision within a certain timeframe - within 16 days of date on the stamp on the envelope from the court that had the attachment of earnings order in it.
The court will let you know the date of the hearing which you need to attend unless the court tells you not to. If you don’t go to the hearing the judge may make an order without you being there.
The Centralised Attachment of Earnings Payment System is in charge of making sure the employer pays them the money in the order and then they pay it to you. This is done weekly or monthly – depending on how the debtor is paid.
If there is an issue with payments from the employer, the Centralised Attachment of Earnings Payment System staff will get in touch with them to find out why. Often the problem is caused by the debtor having left or changed jobs or not being paid enough for the money to be taken out.
If the employer does not reply to the Centralised Attachment of Earnings Payment System, then staff there can ask for the court to look at the case again and make an order for payment against the employer. If this happens, you will be told by post.
If you find out any details about a new employer, you can ask the court to send the order to the new employer. To do this you need to use form N446. You need to ask the court to ‘re-issue’ the enforcement order to a new employer. There is no fee for this.
Court rules If you want to read more about the court rules on applying for an attachment of earnings order, you can go to Civil Procedure Rule Part 89 |
This is an order that allows you to receive money that belongs to the debtor that is held by another person, company, or organisation. Lawyers call the other person, company, or organisation a ‘third party’. In this situation the third party is often (but not always) a bank or building society.
This order is only a useful method if you know quite a lot about the debtor’s financial situation – such as their bank or building society and that they have money in their account. Ideally, you need to know when the debtor is likely to have money in their account. This may of course be very difficult. The reason it would be helpful to know this is because the account is frozen on the date the third party gets the court order. Any money that comes in after is not frozen. If the account is empty on the date of the order it will be a waste of your time and money.
The other thing it is important to know about the bank account or building society is whether it is just in the sole name of the debtor. If the account is a joint account, you cannot get this type of order made against it (unless all the account holders owe you money).
If you think this order will help you enforce your judgment order, read on to understand the process you need to follow.
First, you need to fill in form N349.
To fill in the form you need to add in your details and those of the debtor. You need to add in the details of the judgment order you are trying to enforce and how much money is owed to you. This form calls the debtor the ‘defendant’ in some places and the judgment debtor in others. Likewise, for you, in some places the form calls you the ‘claimant’ and judgment creditor in others.
In section 3 you need to add in details about the bank or building society – the more details you can give the better.
In section 4 you need to fill in details about anyone else who has a claim to the money in the account – you may not know or there may not be anyone else with a claim.
In section 5 you need to explain how you know or why believe the things you have stated about the debtor’s account.
You only need to fill in section 6 if you have applied for other third party orders. If you have, add them here.
This form has a statement of truth attached – read this carefully. It is important to understand that when you sign this you tell the truth. If you are found not to have told the truth to the best of your knowledge and belief, you can be found guilty of something called ‘contempt of court’. This is punishable by a fine, unpaid work and even prison time.
You need to send your completed form to the court nearest to where the debtor’s home address is. You can search for the correct court using the debtor’s postcode.
There is a court fee of £131 to pay – remember that you can add this fee to the money the debtor owes you but if you are not successful the court cannot pay back this fee. If you are on a low income, you can ask the court for help with fees.
To pay the fee you can either send a cheque or postal order with the application or if you prefer you can give the court your telephone number and ask them to call you to take payment over the phone, using a credit or debit card.
Remember – if the debtor pays you some or all of the money you are owed after you have sent your form to the court you need to tell the court straightaway.
A judge will look at your application and decide whether to make an order telling the third party to freeze the account of the debtor. This is a temporary order – lawyers call it an ‘interim’ third party debt order.
As long as the judge decides that you have provided sufficient information to warrant the making of a temporary order, it will be made and sent to the third party and you by first class post. Then the court waits 7 days before telling the debtor. This is so the third party has time to freeze the account before the debtor knows about the order. This is only a temporary order because the debtor does not know about it – they have to have the chance to go to court and be heard by the judge before a final order is made.
The third party must take certain steps within 7 days of receiving the interim order. They have to search their system and provide all account details for the debtor and tell you and the court if any accounts in the debtor’s name are in credit. This means if they have money in them that the debtor could spend – rather than being overdrawn.
The third party also has to tell you and the court if there is enough to pay all the money that is owed to you. If there isn’t they have to tell you the amount of money actually in the account on the date they received the interim order.
The court will set a date for a hearing and let you know where you need to go. You need to attend this and if you do not the court can make orders without you there.
It is possible for either the debtor or the third party to object to the making of a final third party debt order. They must send written objections at least 3 days before hearing to you and the court.
In this time, before the hearing, the debtor can ask the court to make another temporary order to allow some money to be paid out from the frozen account to help the debtor (and any family) manage financially until the final order is made. This is called a ‘hardship payment order’. The judge will only make this order if the debtor can prove, with financial documents, that they (and any family members) cannot afford their everyday living expenses because the account has been frozen. It is up to the judge to decide when and how you are told about this type of order.
The judge will look at the application you made at the start of the process and any evidence from the third party, the debtor or you.If there is enough money in the frozen account to pay the all the money you are owed, the third party will arrange this. If there is not enough money but there is some, the costs of this process will be paid first and only some of the original debt and costs will be paid. The court will make a final order that will set out how much you are to be paid and when.
Court rules If you want to read more about the court rules on applying for a third party debt order, you can go to Civil Procedure Rule Part 72 and practice direction 72 |
A charging order is useful if you know the debtor has property, land, or investments, like stocks and shares. If you know that the debtor does not have any of these assets, there is no point in applying for this kind of order.A ‘charge’ is registered against the asset (often a house or land) so that it cannot be sold without you being paid. Lawyers call this a ‘secured debt’. This charge is for the amount of money you are owed.
Be aware though that a charging order does not mean the debtor has to sell their property and pay you straight away – it just means that you get paid from the sale money when it is sold. Also, if there are already other charges registered against the asset before yours, such as mortgages or other creditors who are owed money – they will have the money they are owed paid first. So, there is no guarantee you will get all that is owed to you.
It is also important to think about how much the property or land is worth – after any mortgages and other charges secured on it are paid off. It might be worth less when sold than what you are actually owed.
You may not be able to find this information out without doing a different application first – see the section called Working out if you can and should enforce your order for a reminder on how to apply to the court to get information from the debtor.
If the debtor only has one property that you could apply to have a charge registered against, this could be their family home. If the debtor owns the property with someone else their rights have to be taken into account by the court too.
If you are applying for a charging order against a property or land you need to fill in form N379.
If you are applying for a charging order against stocks, or shares, or money held by the court that the debtor owns you need a different form – form N380.
Both these forms need information about you, the creditor, the debtor and the money owed.
Both forms have a statement of truth at the end – read this carefully. It is important to understand that when you sign this you tell the truth. If you are found not to have told the truth to the best of your knowledge and belief, you can be found guilty of something called ‘contempt of court’. This is punishable by a fine, unpaid work and even prison time.If you want to apply for an order for a charge against the debtor’s property or land you need to add in key information about it and provide a copy of the land register for that land or property.
To do this you have to apply to the Land Registry and fill in form OC1. Read the form carefully and fill it in as fully as possible (you may not have much or any information for section 2). The fee is £7 – add this to section 4. Make sure you put your name and address in section 5. In section 7 you need to put ‘1’ in the first box so you get an official copy of the of the register for the address you have given in section 3.
Print the form and then sign it and send it to the address below with a cheque or postal order for the fee.
HM Land Registry Citizen CentreWhen you get the official copy of the Register from the Land Registry you can add it to your application and send it to the court. These applications go to a central place rather than the actual court that made the judgment order in the first place. The address is:
Civil National Business Centre
St Katherine’s House
21-27 St Katherine’s St
Northampton
NN1 2LH
There is a court fee of £131 to pay. This fee is added to what the debtor owes you but if you are not successful, then the court cannot refund you the fee. You can pay the fee by cheque or postal order or provide your telephone number and ask the court to call you to pay by credit or debit card over the phone. Make sure you include the claim number so the court can find your case on their system.
If you are on a low income, you can ask for help with fees.
Remember – if the debtor pays you some or all of the money you are owed after you have sent your form to the court you need to tell the court straightaway.
A court officer will look at the case and decide whether a charge should be registered against the debtor’s property or land. This order is made without the debtor knowing, which means there needs to be another hearing to let the debtor put their case to the judge. At this stage, because the debtor is unaware of your application, the court will only make a temporary or ‘interim’ order - called an interim charging order. This order will be sent to you and the debtor by post.
You need to register the interim charging order with the Land Registry when you receive it from the court. This is not straightforward as the form you need to use varies depending on the particular circumstances around who owns the property or land and how they own it. You can either apply to register something called a ‘notice’ if there is just one owner or a ‘restriction’ if there are two or more owners. For a notice you need form UN1. For a restriction you usually need a Form K restriction, but not always. For a Form K restriction, you need to fill in RX1. The fee is not clear cut – it depends on how much the charge is for and how you apply.
The Land Registry rules are very technical and complicated and they will reject your application to register the charge if you use the wrong form or miss bits out.
At this point, you really should get help from a solicitor who specialises in property law to do this task for you so that you know it has been done correctly and promptly.If you really can’t afford this you can get in touch with the Land Registry if you are completely stuck. However, be aware that they may well say they cannot give you the answers to your questions and that you need to get legal advice.
What happens next in the process depends on where the interim charging order was made – either at the Civil National Business Centre or a county court.
The interim charging order will say where it was made – either at the Civil National Business Centre or at a county court. Read about what happens next, choosing the correct column for you.
| Interim charging orders made in the Civil National Business Centre | Interim charging orders made in the county court |
When the debtor receives the interim order, they can ask for a district judge to re-consider it. They must do this within 14 days of receiving the interim order. The judge will do this in their office – without a hearing. If the debtor wants to object to the making of a final charging order, they need to do this within 28 days of receiving the order. If the court does not hear from the debtor about the interim charging order the court will go ahead and make a final charging order. The first date the court can do this is 49 days after the date of the interim charging order. The debtor will receive the final charging order in the post. If a legal adviser, rather than a judge, made the final order, the debtor can ask for a district judge to reconsider the final order. They have to give reasons as to why they want the order to be reconsidered. | The debtor can object to the making of a final charging order. They need to do this in writing within 7 days of the hearing. The debtor needs to set out reasons why they object and send them to the court and you. At the hearing the judge will consider your position and the debtor’s. The judge may make a final decision or ask you or the debtor to get more evidence and come back at a later date. If you are successful – as in the judge agrees with you and makes a final charging order – you can get the fee for the application paid by the debtor. If you are unsuccessful the court can order you to pay the debtor’s costs of objecting to the order. |
As the creditor, you need to update the Land Registry about any changes with the charge against the property or land of the debtor.
If a final charging order is made you need to send it to the Land Registry as soon as possible, in the same way as you sent the interim charging order. Again, a property law solicitor can do this and will make sure that it is done properly. This is money well spent after all the effort of getting this far to enforce the original debt.
If the court does not make a final charging order, they will explain this and you will need to update the Land Registry so they can remove the interim order from the Register. The procedure for doing this depends on whether the interim charging order was protected by a notice by a restriction on the Register. Again, this is complicated and ideally you need a solicitor to advise you on this and which form to use.
Court rules If you want to read more about the court rules on applying for a charging order, you can go to Civil Procedure Rule Part 73 and practice direction 73 |
You can apply for an order from the court that tells the debtor the property or land has to be sold within a certain time, rather than waiting until the debtor gets round to selling. This is a fresh application and can only be made where you have already got a final charging order against the property.
The outcome of an order for sale for the debtor (and potentially family members) is severe – if it is their only home. The court will need to balance up your rights to have your debt paid with the rights and needs of those living in the property, especially any children or vulnerable or older adults. If the property is owned by the debtor with someone else this is likely to affect how willing the court will be to make an order for sale.
If there is very little by way of value in the property, once mortgages and any other debts secured against it have been paid, it will not be worth your time and money to apply for this order. It may be better to wait, for example for the value to go up or for the debtor to pay off some debts.
You may find that just the threat of an application for an order for sale makes the debtor offer to pay the debt in higher amounts or more frequently.
There are a lot of factors to consider before deciding whether to ask the court for an order for sale. It would be a good idea to get legal advice on the particular situation you and the debtor are in before you go down this route.
Technically, as a creditor you could apply to the court to make the debtor bankrupt. This is expensive, time consuming and complicated. In addition to these issues, it also does not mean you will get what you are owed. Making someone bankrupt is a drastic step and you should definitely get legal advice on whether it is a good idea, and how to do it, if you decide you really should.
Assets – money and savings and other valuable items which can be used to pay debts, for example, a house, flat, jewellery or car.
Attachment of earnings order – this is an order telling an employer to take pay from the debtor so it can be passed on to the creditor.
Bankruptcy – is a legal process which ends someone’s liability for debts after a certain period of time, usually a year.
Bringing a claim – starting a court process to bring a legal claim, also called taking someone to court or issuing proceedings.
Charging order – A charging order stops the debtor from selling assets, such as property or land they own, without paying you what they owe you when the sale goes through. A ‘charge’ is recorded against the asset so that it cannot be sold without you being paid. County Court Judgment (CCJ) – this is the name given to final court orders made in the county court ordering one person (or organisation or company) to pay money to another.
Court bailiff – this is a member of court staff who is authorised to enforce court orders. Most commonly, they are allowed to go to the debtor’s home or business and take belongings or goods to sell at auction.
Creditor – someone who is owed money. If you are owed money under a court order and you are not paid within the correct time you can apply to enforce the order. You are then called the creditor or sometimes the ‘judgment creditor’.
Debtor – a person who owes money to someone else.
Defendant – person or organisation the case is brought against. If you enforce an order made against the defendant, the defendant is then often called the ‘debtor’ or sometimes the ‘judgment debtor’.
Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) – this is a government scheme that gives people with problem debt a short period of breathing space from contact and applications from creditors while they look at their finances and get advice.
Enforcement proceedings – legal proceedings to try to force someone to obey a court order, for example to pay you or return something belonging to you.
Enquiry agent – a person or business who can be hired to find someone or to find things out about someone, for example, if they have assets.
High Court enforcement officer – staff of private companies who are authorised to enforce High Court orders and take belongings or goods from a debtor’s home or business.
Insolvent – when a person or company cannot pay its debts.
Judgment – the court’s decision.
Judgment debt – the amount of money the court has ordered one person must pay another person (or organisation or company).
Legal proceedings – taking someone to court. This can also be known as taking legal action, going to court, or litigation.
Litigant in person – a person bringing or defending a claim without a solicitor or barrister.
Order to obtain information – an order telling the debtor to come to court and give details about their financial situation.
Third party debt order – an order that allows you to receive money that belongs to the debtor that is held by another person, company, or organisation. Lawyers call the other person, company, or organisation a ‘third party’.
Warrant of control – a county court document that allows court bailiffs or enforcement officers to take belongings that the debtor owns and sell them at auction. The money from the sale pays off the debt.
Writ of control – A writ of control is similar to a warrant of control but you can only use this process in the High Court. It can be quicker to use the High Court. To apply in the High Court the amount of money you are owed must be at least £600. If the debt is £5,000 or more the case needs to be transferred to the High Court.
To find a solicitor go to the Law Society find a solicitor page and use your postcode to find a firm near you. Be aware, that there is no legal aid available for this kind of case. The options below explain where you might be able to get free legal advice.
The Royal Courts of Justice Advice Bureau can provide free ongoing legal advice if you are involved in any civil case in the County Court, High Court, or Court of Appeal across England and Wales. They can also provide help if you have permission to appeal to the High Court.
To apply for an advice appointment, download the civil assessment form from their civil legal advice page, complete it, and email to civiltriage@rcjadvice.org.uk. They will assess your advice needs and either send you a link to book an appointment or give you details of who else can help you.
Law Centres offer free face-to-face legal advice to local residents, and some run a telephone advice line. Find out if there is a law centre near you.
LawWorks supports a network of over 200 free legal advice clinics that provide initial advice to individuals on various areas of law. Use their search to see if there is a clinic near you offering advice on the area of law you need help with by phone, email, digitally or in person. In order to use the time efficiently, please see What to bring to your appointment at a LawWorks clinic (PDF).
Citizens Advice can offer practical advice on lots of issues. Their contact us allows you to search for your local Citizens Advice service, and provides details about their national helpline, their online advice service and other services. Be aware that the national helpline is not free. Calls are charged at the same rate as calls to landlines.
The information in this guide applies to England and Wales only. The law may be different if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
The law is complicated. We have simplified things in this guide. Please don’t rely on this guide as a complete statement of the law. We recommend you try and get advice from the sources we have suggested.
The cases we refer to are not always real but show a typical situation. We have included them to help you think about how to deal with your own situation.
This guide was produced by Law for Life’s Advicenow project. We would like to thank everyone who provided feedback on the guide and especially Kiara McClelland, Ayomikun Salami, Libertad Seoane, Lucy Matthews, and editorial teams at Thomson Reuters.
This guide was updated thanks to funding from the Ministry of Justice via the Online Support and Advice Grant.
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