“Fee increases introduced earlier this year into
the County Court scale of fees have narrowed the differential
between choosing either a County Court bailiff or a High
Court Enforcement Officer”, says Shergroup’s
Chief Executive, Claire Sandbrook.
Shergroup, a leading provider of enforcement services,
has seen a steady rise in new instructions as people turn
to Shergroup’s High Court Enforcement service brands,
Sherforce, Sherbond and Sherforce Plus for increased levels
of service at almost the same price as the County Courts.
As Claire Sandbrook explains, “The price differential
means that instead of court users accepting the no-frills
service of the County Court bailiff service, for virtually
the same level of investment they can take advantage of
the services provided by transferring their orders and
judgment to us for enforcement”.
It costs just £50.00 to issue a High Court Writ
of Fi Fa for any judgment debt over £600, and if
the enforcement is successful, then the judgment creditor
has that fee repaid along with interest at 8% per annum
on the debt. The judgment debtor pays Sherforce’s
fees. Even if enforcement is unsuccessful, the only additional
fee payable by the judgment creditor is a £60.00
abortive fee.
Claire says, “Clients often share their frustrations
with us when we go to see them about the level of service
in the County Court. They have to wait for reports and
there is no online service to update them on how the enforcement
of their warrant is moving along. This contrasts quite
dramatically with our level of service, which sees clients
having access to our free transfer-up service to convert
the judgment into a Writ of Fi Fa, and an online service
so that our reports are published to our SHERPA website
to keep our clients fully updated on where they are with
the enforcement of their Writ”.
It is also clear that the enforcement of a Warrant of
Possession is causing claimants to turn to Shergroup for
help. With ever-increasing delays in the County Court
arranging an eviction date and landlords losing out on
rent in the intervening period, more and more landlords
want to know about alternative ways to achieve possession
quickly. Shergroup reports that some County Courts are
taking on average 12 weeks to evict a non-paying tenant,
leading to further financial loss for the landlord.
Shergroup’s response to this problem is to encourage
claimants to add some ‘magic wording’ to their
claim form, in which they ask the court for permission
to transfer any order for possession to the High Court.
A successful application will include supporting evidence
showing the hardship that the delay in enforcement will
cause to the landlord.
As a result of publishing this information, the group’s
Sherbond brand is seeing an increase in instructions,
with orders for possession including the ‘magic
wording’ being sent to Sherbond for enforcement.
Again, Claire Sandbrook says that Shergroup saw the problem
for claimants and looked for a way through the CPR and
current legislation to be able to help. Although on the
face of it orders for possession cannot be transferred
to the High Court, the court does have discretion under
Section 42(2) of the County Courts Act 1984 to make an
order allowing transfer if it can be convinced of the
efficacy in doing so.
