All you have to do is turn on your television, skip a few channels and you will almost certainly find a program that is following High Court Enforcement Officers (“HCEO”) recovering unpaid debts for people who have gone to court and obtained a judgment.

So, what are their powers? There are various pieces of legislation that govern this. The main tome is the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 (“the Regulations”).

HCEO’s, when dealing with taking possession of goods, must generally give seven days notice before taking control of goods. They can attend any address where the debtor either lives or carries out some kind of business.

As is generally known, HCEO’s can use reasonable force to force entry into commercial premises if they consider that there are seizable goods inside. However, the position is infinitely more complicated when HCEO’s attend domestic residences.

Generally speaking HCEO’s are not permitted to use force to enter into domestic premises. They are allowed to use peaceable means to enter a residence, for example walking in through an open door, etc. They can climb fences but cannot break windows. The first point to make is never to allow HCEO’s entry of your own volition as they then have greater powers to force entry if and when they return on a later date.

There are a very limited number of situations where HCEO’s may apply to the court for a warrant to use reasonable force to gain entry to domestic premises. No matter what a HCEO tells you, this is extremely rare and requires special court permission at all times. Typical examples of such situations would be where a debtor has deliberately hidden otherwise seizable goods in a residence to prevent recovery or if certain fines are not paid (council tax arrears etc). A HCEO never has the power to force entry into a residential property off of their own volition.

So, when a HCEO attends and tells you that you have to pay sums of money or else bad things will happen, you would be forgiven for wondering what you can do.  The answer is to speak to us as soon as possible.

We have experience of obtaining emergency stays of execution preventing enforcement, drafting statutory declarations to prove ownership and also experience of arguing that goods are exempt from being seized under the Regulations (typically tools of the trade and other items needed for a basic domestic standard of living).

It is worth remembering that harassment by the HCEO, by the frequency or method of making the demand, may be a criminal and civil offence under the Administration of Justice Act 1970.

Failure to abide by the rules contained within the Regulations may result in damages being awarded against the HCEO personally.