Make a court claim for money
Enforce a judgment
You can ask the court to collect payment from the person or business who owes you money (the ‘debtor’) if they do not pay you after receiving the court order.
You must pay a court fee when you ask the court to collect the payment.
Find out what the debtor can afford to pay
Ask the court to order the debtor to attend court to provide evidence of their income or spending, for example bills and statements.
If the money is owed by a business, you can ask for an officer from the company to attend court and give details of its accounts.
You can then decide if you want the court to take further action to collect your payment.
You cannot enforce a judgment if you’re told that the person who owes you money has got a ‘Breathing Space’ and is temporarily protected from their creditors. Find out about your responsibilities and what you need to tell the court during a ‘Breathing Space’.
Send bailiffs to collect payment
You can ask the court to send bailiffs to collect the money. This is called a ‘warrant of control’.
The bailiff will ask for payment within 7 days. If the debt is not paid, the bailiff will visit the debtor’s home or business to see if anything can be sold to pay the debt.
You can apply to either a county court or the High Court if you’re owed between £600 and £5,000.
You may need legal advice if you apply at the High Court.
How you apply to the court depends on how you made your claim.
You claimed online
If your reference number has ‘MC’ in it, download and fill in either:
- form N323 - to apply at a county court (you must be owed £5,000 or less)
- form N293A - to apply at the High Court (you must be owed at least £600)
Otherwise, enforce a judgment using Money Claim Online.
You used a paper claim form
Download and fill in either:
- form N323 - to apply at a county court (you must be owed £5,000 or less)
- form N293A - to apply at the High Court (you must be owed at least £600)
Get money deducted from wages
You can ask the court to take money from the debtor’s wages to pay the debt. This is called an ‘attachment of earnings’.
The court will do this by sending an order to the debtor’s employer.
Download and fill in a request for an attachment of earnings order form N337.
Freeze assets or money in an account
You can ask the court to freeze money in the debtor’s bank, building society or business account. This is called a ‘third-party debt order’.
The court will decide if money from the account can be used to pay the debt.
Download and fill in a request for a third party debt order form N349.
Charge the debtor’s land or property
You can ask the court to charge the debtor’s land or property. This is called a ‘charging order’.
If the land or property is sold, the debtor must pay this charge before they get their money.
Download and fill in a request for a charging order form N379.