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England and Wales > Debt Advice > Secondary Debts > Further Action a Creditor Can Take

On this page : Bailiff’s Warrant | Keeping Your Belongings | Attachment of Earnings | Charging Orders |

Further Action a Creditor Can Take

Subsections : Priority Debts |Secondary Debts |Fact Sheets |Sample Letters |

Suspending a bailiff’s warrant and reducing the instalments on a county court judgement (90KB)
Attachment of earnings in the county court (492KB)
Charging orders (71KB)

If you do not pay the monthly amount the court orders the creditor can ask the court to take further action. The following methods are most commonly used.

Bailiff’s Warrant

The creditor can ask the court to send a notice from the county court bailiffs called a ‘warrant of execution’.

You do not have to let the bailiffs in. The bailiffs cannot force their way into your home unless you have let them in before. They could take your vehicle.

You can ask the court to suspend a warrant by filling in a county court form N245 and making an offer of payment you can afford. You will need to pay a fee to do this.

If you want to ask the court to suspend a warrant you will need to pay a fee, unless you are on Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or if you receive the guarantee credit element of pension credit. You don’t have to pay the fee if you get Working Tax Credit with Child Tax Credit or if it includes a disability element and your income is below a set amount. There is an application form called an EX160 to fill in to ask for the fee to be waived by the court if it will cause you hardship or because you are on benefits.

Keeping Your Belongings

As long as you act quickly, it is rare for county court bailiffs to actually take people’s belongings away.
Basic household goods cannot be taken.
County court bailiffs have no right to break in, unless you let them in before.
Use an N245 to suspend the warrant immediately.

Attachment of Earnings

If you have ceased trading and become an employee, the court can order your employer to make deductions from your wages to clear your debt if you default on a county court judgment.

The rate is worked out by the court using a set formula. This order can be suspended if it might affect your employment and you can make the payments yourself.

If a creditor is threatening to make an attachment of earnings against you phone us for advice.

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Charging Orders

If the court orders you to pay your judgment in one lump sum (or ‘forthwith’), or if you fall behind on the monthly amount ordered by the court, the creditor can ask for a charge on your home.

This is called a ‘charging order’. This means the debt is secured on your home like a mortgage and may put your house at risk.

There must be a hearing in the court before a charging order is made final. It is up to the court to decide and there are several arguments you can use against a charging order being made.

Charging orders are very popular with creditors as they give them security for their debt. Because of this they often ask the court to make a forthwith judgment.

If a creditor applies for a charging order, phone us for advice before the hearing.

If you do have to attend a court hearing, your name will not appear in the local paper, so don’t worry about publicity.
The county court is not a criminal court and is not there to punish anyone.
The court staff and the district judge who decide the cases are used to dealing with people who do not have a solicitor.
If you receive a letter or form from the court you do not understand, take it to them and ask for an explanation, or phone us for advice.

Do remember that you have rights as well as your creditors.

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