Why Might It Not Be Possible To Obtain Payment Or To Levy?
There may be a number of reasons why payment or a levy on goods is not possible. For example:
A debtor may refuse entry to their premises and it is important to remember that Sherforce may not force entry to residential premises or to trade or business premises where any part of them is used for residential purposes.
Entry may however be forced to commercial premises which your Client Relationship Manager will discuss with you. Sherforce is experienced in handling forced entry to commercial premises and your Client Relationship Manager will discuss any action taken to ensure you are comfortable with the situation.
The debtor may already be paying on several prior Writs or other Warrants.
Although levy of goods may have been made as an incentive to pay, the value of the goods may be low at auction, and unlikely to raise a sufficient to cover the whole of the judgment and the fees. If the sale proceeded, you would have to pay any fees not recovered through the sale.
The debtor may have left the address and local enquiries may not have identified a new address for the debtor.
The car or other vehicle levied on is found not to belong to the debtor or be subject to a Hire Purchase Agreement which means that title to the car has not passed to the judgment debtor and therefore it cannot be removed by Sherforce.
The debtor may simply have no suitable goods on which a levy can be made.
The debtor may have applied to the Court for execution of the Writ to be suspended (“Stayed”), or for the judgment to be dismissed (“Set Aside”) – in these circumstances Sherforce will examine whether a satisfactory order has been made Staying Execution pending the outcome of any application your Client Relationship Manager again will advise you on whether we believe that Sherforce is prevented from taking further action or not, as the case may be.
The goods on which the High Court Enforcement Officer has levied may have been claimed by someone else (a “Third Party”) as belonging to them.
Whatever the reasons for not executing your Writ you will be sent a report (either in hard copy or by email through the Sherpa system which we call an “Abortive” report). Once again, your Client Relationship Manager will be happy to discuss any aspect of this report to you as well as informing you as to what are the types of enforcement might be more successful.
Sherforce Enforcement Officers always make enquiries about the ownership of goods before levying on them. However it does sometimes happen that they are later claimed by a third party and the debtor is not the owner of the goods. The third party will be asked to put their claim in writing saying who they are, listing the goods they claim and providing evidence of ownership. You will be sent a copy of that claim and you will be required to reply to Sherforce within 7 days of receiving the claim as to whether you accept it or you dispute it.
It is important they you follow the guidance here by your Client Relationship Manager because if you do not reply in that time then Sherforce is obliged to make an application to the High Court asking the judge to make a decision about the ownership of the goods. These are what are termed as “Interpleader Proceedings”. It is important to remember that Sherforce itself does not determine ownership of goods on which it levies that is the matter for the Court.
If you are convinced that the third party does indeed own the goods then you should let your Client Relationship Manager know so that Sherforce can withdraw from possession of the goods claimed (which may not be all of the goods) and the Walking Possession Agreement in respect of those goods will then be terminated.
If however you are not convinced that the Third Party's claim has any merit and that they do not own the goods then you should discuss this with your Client Relationship Manager as it will mean that Interpleader Proceedings will have to be issued to determine who owns the goods and whether execution against those goods can continue. You should be aware that Interpleader Proceedings can be very costly and your Client Relationship Manager will help you on making that decision before the application is issued to the Court.
Occasionally Sherforce will itself decide that it wishes to make an application to the Court to prevent any action being taken against it by a third party which it is entitled to do. Again in those situations which are rare then your Client Relationship Manager will contact you to explain the reason why Sherforce has decided to take this course of action.
