How to enforce a Tribunal Order for Costs

[dave103]

Dear Colleagues,

I successfully won an appeal at the Upper Tribunal Lands Chamber ( as the appellant ) in May 2016,and the Respondent was ordered to pay 700 pounds to me. To this date, he has not paid anything. I wanted to ask how I enforce the order for payment ?.

1) Do I send a letter before action to the Respondent asking for payment within a certain time frame ?.
2) If the above letter is ignored, do I apply to the County Court 'money claim' on line for a fixed /specified amount of money (700 pounds plus interest)?, or do I reapply to the Upper Tribunal Lands Chamber ?.
3) How much time do I have left to enforce this debt ?.

Thanks

 

[Jeffrey Shaw]

I am not a litigation specialist, so my response is based only on general principles.

The Tribunal/Court will not itself be pro-active in enforcement. That falls to you, the winning party. The Order should have fixed a timescale or date for the loser to pay. You need to verify this and then commence enforcement action. I have no idea if this involves a further Order.

As to 'how much time', this turns on what the Order states. The right to enforce could be subject to a deadline imposed by the Limitation Act 1980- usually six years (for a money debt) or twelve years (otherwise).

If the loser is the registered proprietor of land or a registered estate in land, you can seek a Charging Order to tie the debt to what he owns- similarly to how a mortgage is secured by a registered charge.

Sorry but that's about all I can say. You may well need specialist litigation advice at this stage.

 

[dave103]

Dear Jeffrey,

One final question, if at the time the Tribunal Order was made, it was against the Defendant personally ( in his name ), and then subsequently to the Order, the property is then managed by a company, should the Order be enforced against the Defendant personally or enforced in the name of the management company ?.

Thank you.

 

[Jeffrey Shaw]

An Order can be enforced only against the Defendant (D), the person against whom it was made.
The fact that D uses a company (C) to manage his property is irrelevant. C is not itself bound by the Order.