Enforcement of Judgements office (Northern Ireland only)

In Northern Ireland, if the debtor refuses to pay, in order to obtain a court order or judgment, you must go through:

• The Small Claims Court for debts less than £2,000
• The County Court for debts of £2,000 to £15,000
• The High Court for debts in excess of £15,000

If, after the court order or court order or judgment has been issued, the debtor still refuses to pay, then the only option is to have the order or judgment enforced through the Enforcement of Judgments office.

The Enforcement of Judgments Office (EJO) can use the following enforcement methods:

Attachment of Earnings Order:

If the debtor is currently in employment and cannot afford to pay the debt in full, the EJO can attach an attachment of earnings order against their employer. This means that the debtor’s employer will be obliged to deduct a sum, specified by the EJO, from the debtor’s wages and forward to the EJO, for onward payment to the creditor.

Instalment Order:

If a debtor is self-employed, his income cannot be subject to an attachment of earnings order. The EJO will instead request payment by way of an Instalment order and will specify the date and amount of payment. Should the debtor default for no good reason, the main option, (unless any other orders can be obtained), is to issue committal proceedings (i.e. seek to have the debtor imprisoned). However, this may require separate proceedings which can be expensive.

Seizure order:

This order directs the EJO to seize sufficient goods or assets from the debtor to secure payment for the debt. The following goods cannot be seized:

• The debtor's clothes and household furniture
• Any goods subject to HP agreements
• Tools of the trade to the value of £100
• Any goods in the hands of a Receiver which have been appointed by Court

Order Charging Land:

If a debtor owns property, whether jointly or otherwise, or has an interest in property, the debtor can petition the EJO to issue a charge on the land, in an effort to secure payment. Only when the order has been registered against the property and the property sold/remortgaged, will the creditor be paid from the net proceeds of the sale. An order forcing sale can only be made if there are no other legal equitable interests in the property (e.g. where the property is owned jointly with a spouse). Please note that the order charging land only survives for a period of 12 years from the date of Judgment. If the debt isn’t paid within this period, the creditor will have other options through the EJO but won’t be able to re-issue the charge order.

Order Appointing Receiver:

Should the debtor receive additional monies from a third party (e.g. from a personal injury claim or in a re-mortgage situation), the EJO can serve this order on the third party, thereby making them the Receiver. Once this order has been served on the Receiver, the Receiver is obliged to forward the net monies to the EJO, who will forward payment to whichever creditor has priority.