Proceedings are prepared in the form of the particulars of a claim, setting out the basis of the action, the amount owing, interest, and any costs. After the claim form is issued by the court it allows 21 days to the debtor to respond to the proceedings. If it does not respond or admit the debt, the court will give a judgment in the absence of the debtor and there will be no hearing.

You will be entitled to recover, from the debtor, an amount of our fixed costs for entry of Judgment. Costs vary from £22.00 to £55.00 depending upon the size of the debt. If the Judgment is not discharged then it will be necessary to take enforcement action. There are various enforcement actions that may be taken. Further information about these enforcement actions is mentioned below.

If a Defence is received within 21 days, the Court will allocate the case to one of the following Tracks.

The Small Claims Track is designed for cases which typically do not exceed £5,000.00 in value. Following allocation to the Small Claims Track the Court will issue appropriate Directions for the conduct of the action, which will usually lead to a final hearing before a District Judge within three or four months. In Small Claims Track the costs in employing a Solicitor are not usually awarded to the successful party.

If your claim is valued between £5,000 - £15,000 it is likely to be allocated to the Fast Track. The Court will give directions and set out a timetable for the trial. The date of the trial will be no later than 30 weeks after allocation to the Fast Track and the timetable will be set for:

• Disclosure of documents - 4 weeks
• Service of Witness Statements - 10 weeks
• Expert evidence - 14 weeks
• Fixing the date of the trial or trial window - 22 weeks

As a general rule, at the end of a Fast Track trial the Court will make a Summary Assessment of costs of the whole claim and will award costs in favour of the winning party.

Once you have obtained your Judgment, there are a number of options you can consider to recover the money you are owed.

We can instruct the County Court Bailiff on your behalf to visit the debtor's property either to collect payment or to attempt to take away goods to the value of the debt for sale at auction. The threat of losing valuable items such as a car, jewellery or electrical goods will often prompt a debtor to settle the debt. If the amount outstanding is £600.00 or more, we may instruct the High Court Enforcement Officer (HEO) to recover the money. The HEO operates in a similar way to a Bailiff but has greater powers in relation to commercial businesses.

If it is believed that the Defendant owns a property in his or her own name then we may be able to apply for a Charging Order which will secure the Judgment debt against the property in much the same way as a mortgage, but without the contractual repayments. If the property is sold then the secured debt must be paid out of the sale proceeds, assuming that there is sufficient equity.

If the debtor owns a property jointly, e.g. with husband, wife or cohabitee, then still it is possible to register the Charging Order. Usually the debt will be paid out of the sale proceeds, however in some cases, you will only be notified after the property has been sold, and whilst you can then pursue the debtor further for the sale proceeds which they have received these may have been spent.

Consequently, we suggest applying for an Order for Sale immediately upon obtaining a charge, depending upon the size of the debt and an assessment of the equity in the property. If the debtor is owed money by a third party such as a business or a customer or has funds in a Bank or Building Society account then you may be able to obtain an Order of the Court that the money be paid to you directly by the Bank or by the third party. This is known as a Third Party Debt Order.

If the debtor is employed it may be possible to obtain an Order to deduct a sum of money directly from their salary each week or month until the debt is repaid, this is know as an Attachment of Earnings Order.

If nothing is known about the debtor's financial circumstances then we can apply for an Order that the debtor or officer of the company - if the debtor is a company or business - attends Court to give full details of their situation. A penal notice is attached to the Order for Attendance, so if the debtor fails to comply they will be arrested.

The various methods of enforcing a Judgment are set out earlier. If we continue to feel that there is merit in pursuing the debt then we would continue to act for you in enforcing the debt on the basis that if we were successful in recovering the debt, following enforcement, we would be entitled to payment of a percentage, for our success, calculated in accordance with the scale set out earlier. This would be in addition to our fixed costs on the issue of the claim and our fixed costs on entry of the Judgment. Certain costs associated with enforcement can be added to the Judgment Debt, for example, any Court fees, County Court Bailiffs' fees and High Court Enforcement Officers' fees as well as our fixed costs allowed by the Court.

The Court fees applicable will vary according to the type of enforcement action taken. We will advise you of the most suitable method of enforcement and the fees applicable if you choose an alternative method.