Sherforce aims to visit the debtor's address within five working days of receiving the Writ into its system. Sherforce also aims to publish a report on Sherpa or to send this out in letter form within fourteen days of receiving your Writ.
In some remote parts of England and Wales an attendance times may be delayed but again your Client Relationship Manager will advise you if there is going to be a delay and give you an estimate of the likely attendance time. Sherforce works to very strict service levels internally to ensure that all Writs are attended as far as possible within the service level that we quote to our judgment Creditors although sometimes due to the nature of our work these timescales have to be adjusted. Either way, your Sherforce Client Relationship Manager will keep you fully informed on progress.
When the Officer arrives at the address he or she will begin to assess how to enforce your Writ. This involves the Officer making a detailed report on his findings. The Officer will also photograph the debtor's address to give you an insight into the debtor's situation.
On meeting the debtor the Officer will seek payment in full of the amount outstanding under your Writ and will be able to assess from the information given to him or her whether or not the debtor is going to be able to pay.
If the debtor is unable to pay all that is owed immediately, including Sherforce's fees, the Sherforce Enforcement Officer will levy on any saleable goods. This means that a written list (called an “inventory”) will be made of the goods to be sold if the debt and fees are not paid. It is important to remember that certain goods cannot be levied on. These include:
Tools, books, vehicles and other items of equipment that are necessary for use personally by the debtor in the debtor's employment, business or vocation.
Clothing, bedding, furniture and other items of equipment that are necessary for satisfying the basis domestic need of the debtor and the debtor's family.
Sherforce will include what might be termed “tools of trade” on its inventory and the court rules provide a mechanism for the debtor to make an application to the court within five days of the Officer's visit to determine whether those goods are in fact “tools of trade”. Sherforce ensures that debtors adhere to the strict court rules in making these applications as it is not officer's responsibility to decide whether or not goods which are levied on are in fact tools of trade or items which are necessary for the family. Thats said, Sherforce Enforcement Officer's take a commonsense approach and obviously will not include goods on an inventory which have little or no value.
Goods are not usually removed for sale immediately unless they are:
Perishable, or
There is good reason to believe that the debtor will remove or dispose them.
Where Sherforce Enforcement Officer has concerns about the safety of the goods he or she will and can make arrangements for the goods to be removed immediately to a place of safe custody.
Usually goods will not be removed on the first visit by the Officer to the address and instead the debtor will be asked to agree the list of goods that the Officer has made and to sign a “Walking Possession Agreement”. This agreement allows the debtor to keep and use the goods while the money due is raised. It is also a promise on the debtor's part not to remove or dispose of those goods and breach of this promise may be an offence.
