Enforcing judgment

If a court has decided that someone must pay you an amount of money (judgment) and you have not received it, you may want to ask the court to enforce the order.

First of all you should read the guidance called I have a judgment but the defendant hasn't paid - What can I do? (Leaflet EX321). It explains what is available to help get your money for you (called 'enforcing your judgment'), and which of the methods of enforcement available is likely to be most successful in different circumstances.

You can try to get your money by asking the court for any of the following:

• A warrant of execution (Leaflet EX322) - sending a court bailiff to collect the money.
• An attachment of earnings order (Leaflet EX323) - stopping the money from the defendant's wages.
• A third party debt order (Leaflet EX325) - freezing the defendant's money that is held, for example, in a bank account; or
• A charging order (Leaflet EX325) - the money is paid on the sale of the defendant's house.

You can also request that the defendant is called into court for an Order to obtain information (Leaflet EX324). This is not a method of attempting to retreive the money owed, but an interview to discover information about the defendant's financial situation.