How to Obtain Information About Your Debtor

Once you have obtained a county court judgment against someone, they become the ‘judgment debtor’ and you become the ‘judgment creditor.’ As payment in full within one month of the judgment being made entitles the judgment debtor to request the court to delete the entry on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines you might expect that individuals would have good reason to make the effort to pay judgments in full.

Entries that remain on the Register make it very difficult for judgment debtors to obtain credit. In spite of this it is very often the case that judgment debtors do not pay at all.

Deciding How to Enforce the Judgment

If you have obtained a county court judgment against someone who hasn’t paid, you can then consider how to enforce the judgment against them. It is possible to use one method or several methods of enforcement but as there are costs involved it is vitally important to know about your judgment debtor’s circumstances before you choose which option(s) are most suitable.

The Order to Obtain Information

The best way to undertake this process, if you do not already have details of your judgment debtor’s financial and personal circumstances, is to apply to the court for an Order to Obtain Information (OTOI.) Although this is not an enforcement action it is a process by which the judgment debtor is asked questions under oath and must provide documentary evidence of their circumstances.

Procedure

To apply for an OTOI, you should fill out form N316 for individuals, and form N316A for businesses, providing details of the date of the judgment, the amount that was ordered to be paid, and any timescale within which this should have been paid. On the second page there is an option to provide any specific questions you would like the court officer to ask the judgment debtor, as well as any particular documents you would like the judgment debtor to produce e.g. a contract of employment. Finally there is an option to request that the questions are asked by a district judge but there must be compelling reasons for this.

Costs

The fee for an OTOI is £45 and you may also be required to pay the judgment debtor’s travel costs for attending court (but the judgment debtor has to apply for this.) The judgment debtor will be told to attend court and bring documents such as pay slips, bank statements, building society books, mortgage documentation, any hire purchase agreements, and other bills. If the judgment debtor is a business, the documents required are generally the accounts for the previous two years, management accounts and details of any debtors it may have (money owed to the business.)

The questions that the judgment debtor will be asked during the hearing are found on form EX140 (available from the HMCS website.)

Statement of Service

Once the court has received the application it will be processed, and you will be given details of the time and date of the hearing. You must then arrange for the judgment debtor to be served with this order no less than 14 days prior to the date of the hearing. Normally, people choose to use process servers for this purpose (at further cost) in which case you should file the statement of service with the court before the hearing. You should complete form EX550 once service has been effected, with an affidavit swearing that the debtor has been served with the order.

What if the Judgment Debtor Does Not Attend the Hearing?

There are serious consequences for judgment debtors who fail to attend court. In the event of non-attendance, a committal order will be made by a circuit or high court judge. In reality, this will be ‘suspended’ to allow the judgment debtor another chance to attend court. If they fail to do so on a further occasion a warrant will be issued for their arrest.

If for whatever reason you, or the process server, has not been able to serve the order on the judgment debtor you must let the court know no less than 7 days prior to the date of the hearing.

Once you have received details of the judgment debtor’s circumstances, you will be in a better position to decide which enforcement actions to pursue.