Enforcement of a Judgment by Third Party Debt Order

This is a very effectivemethod of recovering money due under a Judgment which not manypeople are familiar with.

The application can be madeagainst any "third party" (i.e. bank, individual or business) aslong as they owe money to the debtor.

The application is mostcommonly made against a bank and you only need to know the name ofthe bank, although it does assist if you know the accountdetails. The bank has a duty to search their records for allaccounts held in the debtor's name (as named on the Judgment) so itmay be that the debtor will have more than one account that theOrder can be used against.

Upon receipt of the Order thebank must freeze the debtor's bank account(s) to cover all moniesup to the value of the Judgment plus fixed legal costs of theapplication. Due to the difficulties this causes, especiallyto a business, this often results in immediate payment being madeby the debtor from other sources so the freezing Order can belifted.

The application can also bemade against an individual or company who owe money to the debtorand the Court would order that entity to withhold payment to thedebtor and pay the amount owed under the Judgment plus fixed costsof the application to the applicant.

A crucial aspect to considerwhen making this application is timing as the entity receiving theCourt Order can only freeze any money owed to the debtor on the dayit receives the Order, therefore if you know a particular date whenthe debtor is likely to receive money (for example wages into theirbank account or payment from another source) it would be moreeffective to submit the application in good time prior to that dateso it can be served on the bank on the day the money is due to gointo the debtor's account.

This method of enforcement isused by us regularly with good results, however if the applicationis not successful in capturing any or all of the money due by thedebtor a second application can be made or other methods ofenforcement can be taken.

This article is for general guidance only. It provides useful information in a concise form. Action should not be taken without obtaining specific legal advice.