Warrant of Control: What It Allows and How to Suspend It

It is the document that turns a County Court Judgment from a court record into something that can bring somebody to your door.

If you have received one, or been told one has been issued, the useful questions are what it permits, what it does not, and what you can still do. All three have clearer answers than most people expect.

What a warrant of control actually authorises

It authorises a County Court enforcement agent to take control of goods belonging to the judgment debtor, and to sell them to satisfy the judgment.

It does not authorise forced entry into your home on a first visit. Entry must be peaceable, through a door you open or leave unlocked, and you are not obliged to open it.

It does not permit the taking of goods that belong to someone else, or goods that are exempt by law.

And it does not last indefinitely. A warrant has a limited period of validity, and while that period can be extended by the court, an old warrant is not automatically live.

Warrant of control or writ of control?

These are different instruments and the difference decides who turns up and what it costs.

A warrant is issued by the County Court and enforced by its own agents, who are court employees.

A writ is the High Court equivalent, enforced by High Court Enforcement Officers working through commercial firms, and it carries a different and generally more expensive fee scale with two enforcement stages rather than one.

Which applies depends on the sum and the type of debt. Under article 8 of the High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order 1991, as amended: judgments under £600 are enforced in the County Court; £5,000 or more in the High Court; and sums in between can go either way. Crucially, judgments arising from an agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 stay in the County Court whatever the amount.

That last rule catches most ordinary consumer debts. See High Court enforcement officers if your paperwork says writ.

How a warrant of control comes about

A warrant does not appear on its own. Something has already happened.

1. A creditor issued a County Court claim.
2. You did not respond, or judgment was entered against you.
3. A County Court Judgment was made, specifying what you must pay and when.
4. The judgment was not paid on its terms.
5. The creditor applied for a warrant of control to enforce it.

If any of that is unfamiliar, particularly the claim itself, that matters. A judgment entered because papers went to an old address is a different situation from one you knew about and could not pay, and there is a remedy for the first.

What a warrant of control costs

The statutory fee scale applies, and it is identical for every County Court enforcement agent:

These apply to instructions under the rules in force from 1 May 2026. Before an agent attends, you must be given a Notice of Enforcement allowing at least 14 clear days.

That notice period is the cheapest point in the process. Acting inside it costs £79; a visit costs at least £326.

See our guide to the Notice of Enforcement.

Can you stop a warrant of control?

Yes, and there are more routes than people realise.

Apply to suspend the warrant

You can apply to the County Court to suspend the warrant, usually on the basis that you will pay by instalments you can actually afford.

The application asks the court to hold enforcement while you pay at a rate it approves. You will need to set out your income and outgoings honestly, because the court sets the instalment based on what you can genuinely manage rather than what you offer.

Filing an application is not the same as having it granted. Until the court makes an order, assume enforcement can continue.

Apply to set aside the judgment

If the warrant rests on a judgment that should not have been entered, the warrant is not really the problem.

You may be able to apply to set aside the County Court Judgment, particularly if you did not know about the claim because papers went to an old address, or you have a genuine defence you were never able to put.

Set-aside is fact-sensitive and has its own procedure and time expectations. It is worth advice where the sum is significant, and it is a stronger remedy than negotiating with the enforcement agent, because it goes to the root.

Pay or agree terms

Paying the judgment in full ends the warrant. An arrangement the creditor or agent accepts will normally suspend enforcement while you keep to it.

Vary the judgment

Separately from suspending the warrant, you can ask the court to vary the instalment order on the judgment itself if your circumstances have changed.

Applying to suspend a warrant, step by step

This is the remedy most people need and fewest people use, so it is worth setting out properly.

You apply to the County Court that issued the warrant, asking it to suspend enforcement and allow payment by instalments. The application is made on a court form and normally carries a fee, though fee remission is available if you are on a low income or certain benefits, and it is worth checking before assuming you cannot afford to apply.

The court will want a full picture of your finances: income from all sources, essential outgoings, other debts and dependants. Be complete and honest. Courts see optimistic figures constantly and an offer that collapses in two months helps nobody.

The court then decides whether to suspend the warrant and on what terms. It may suspend on the instalments you propose, on different instalments, or refuse.

Two practical points. Applying does not by itself stop enforcement, so if a visit is imminent say so on the application. And if the court grants a suspension, send the sealed order to the enforcement agent immediately and keep proof you sent it, because they act on what they have been told.

If an agent has already attended

The enforcement stage fee of £247 attaches once an agent attends or takes steps to take control of goods, plus 7.5% of any sum above £1,900.

That fee is not a charge for successful entry. Keeping the door closed does not by itself prevent it, which surprises people who assumed nothing happened because nobody came in.

If you believe it was added without the statutory stage being reached, or before the notice period expired, ask for the date and event relied on, in writing, and raise it with the court if it is not resolved.

Controlled goods agreements under a warrant

If an agent attends and you reach an arrangement, it will usually take the form of a controlled goods agreement: listed goods stay with you, under legal control, while you keep to agreed payments.

Before signing, check that every listed item is actually yours, that none is exempt, that the valuation is credible, and that the balance and fees are right.

Breaking the agreement is materially more serious than missing an ordinary payment. Breach can create a power of re-entry that did not previously exist, and in defined circumstances that re-entry can involve reasonable force. Contact the agent before a payment is missed rather than after.

What happens if goods are removed

Removal is not sale, and there is usually time between them.

The Taking Control of Goods Regulations generally provide for a minimum of seven clear days from removal before sale, subject to exceptions, and controlled goods must be sold for the best price that can reasonably be obtained.

Act immediately if any goods are exempt, belong to somebody else, or if the judgment has been paid or the amount is wrong. Do not wait for the auction date, because the practical remedy shrinks once goods are sold.

Sale proceeds are applied to the outstanding judgment and the recoverable costs of enforcement, and any surplus must be returned to you. Ask for the valuation, the sale details, the fees and a final statement showing how the money was allocated.

If there is nothing worth taking

An enforcement agent cannot create value that does not exist. If your household contains only exempt essentials, third party property and low value goods, the agent may return the warrant to the court unsatisfied.

That does not cancel the judgment. The creditor may then consider other enforcement methods: an attachment of earnings order, a third party debt order freezing money in a bank account, or a charging order securing the debt against property you own.

If your real position is that the debt is unaffordable rather than that you are avoiding it, documenting that is worthwhile. It supports an application to suspend the warrant on instalments, and it is more useful than an unsuccessful visit followed by another enforcement route.

Complaining about a County Court enforcement agent

The route differs from private enforcement firms, and using the wrong one wastes time.

County Court enforcement agents are court employees, so a complaint about their conduct goes through HM Courts and Tribunals Service, not to a company complaints department or a trade association.

Set out the date and time, the agent's name, the warrant or claim number, what happened, and the specific rule or factual error you rely on. A complaint that cites the regulation is materially stronger than one describing how the encounter felt.

Where the issue is the fees rather than the conduct, raise it with the court, because fees on a warrant are a matter of the statutory scale and the court can consider whether the correct stage was reached.

What enforcement agents can take under a warrant

Only goods of the debtor. Property belonging to someone else in the household is not available simply because it is there, though you may need evidence to establish it.

Exempt goods include clothing, bedding, furniture and household equipment reasonably required for basic domestic needs, such as a cooker, fridge, washing machine, table and chairs and beds; items or equipment necessary for the debtor's own work or study up to an aggregate value of £1,350; items reasonably required for medical care or for the care of a child, a disabled person or an older person; domestic pets and assistance dogs; and a vehicle displaying a valid disabled person's badge used for the carriage of a disabled person.

A vehicle is often the first thing considered, because it can be taken without entering the home. Ownership is where most vehicle disputes are decided: a Motability vehicle is leased, a car on hire purchase or PCP may not be yours to take, and a vehicle needed for your own work may fall within the tools exemption.

See what bailiffs can take and can bailiffs take my car.

County Court enforcement agents are not the same as private bailiffs

This surprises people, and it matters for how you deal with them.

An enforcement agent acting on a County Court warrant is a court employee, not a commercial enforcement firm. They enforce the court's own process.

That does not change the entry rules or the exemptions, which come from the same Schedule 12 framework. It does change the complaints route: a complaint about a County Court enforcement agent goes through HM Courts and Tribunals Service rather than to a private company's complaints department or a trade association.

How long a warrant of control lasts

This is the most commonly mis-stated fact about warrants of control, including on pages that otherwise look authoritative.

You will often read that a warrant is valid for 12 months from the date it was issued. For a warrant of control, that is not the rule. The 12-months-from-issue rule in CPR 83.3 applies to writs of execution, warrants of possession and warrants of delivery. A warrant of control is governed by CPR 83.4, which ties its validity to a different clock entirely.

Under CPR 83.4(3) a warrant of control is valid for the period in which an enforcement agent may take control of goods, and that period is set by regulation 9(1) of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013:

> the enforcement agent may not take control of goods of the debtor after the expiry of a period of 12 months beginning with the date of notice of enforcement

So the clock starts at the Notice of Enforcement, not at the warrant's issue. If the notice was sent months after the warrant was issued, the period runs from the notice.

Breaking an arrangement restarts the clock

This is the part that catches people out, and it is worth reading twice.

Regulation 9(2) provides that where the agent has entered into a repayment arrangement after giving notice of enforcement, and the debtor breaches it, the 12-month period begins again with the date of the breach.

An arrangement made two years ago and broken last month does not leave a time-expired warrant. It leaves a fresh 12 months running from the breach. If you are considering letting an arrangement lapse in the hope that the warrant simply runs out, it will not.

Extension by the court

Under regulation 9(3) and (4) the court may extend the period by 12 months, but only on application by the enforcement agent or the creditor, only on one occasion, and only if satisfied there were reasonable grounds for not taking control of goods within the original period.

So there is a ceiling. A warrant of control cannot be rolled forward indefinitely by repeated extensions.

Old judgments need permission

Separately, under CPR 83.2(3) a warrant of control must not be issued without the court's permission where six years or more have elapsed since the date of the judgment, or where the parties entitled to enforce or liable to have it enforced have changed, for example on a death or an assignment of the debt.

If enforcement has appeared long after a judgment you had stopped hearing about, two questions are worth asking in writing: when was the warrant issued, and was permission required and obtained.

Applying on form N245

The court form for suspending a warrant is N245, officially *"apply to suspend a warrant or vary payments made by a court order"*. HM Courts and Tribunals Service describes it as being used to *"ask the court to change the amount you must pay to a person or business you owe money to, or to suspend a warrant issued by a court."*

One form does two jobs, and you can ask for both at once: suspend the warrant, and vary the instalments on the judgment to an amount you can sustain.

What to prepare before you start. The claim or case number and the court that issued the warrant; your income from every source including benefits; your essential outgoings, rent or mortgage, council tax, utilities, food, travel to work, childcare, insurance; your other debts and what you pay on each; anyone financially dependent on you; and the instalment you can genuinely maintain.

There is normally a fee, and fee remission through Help with Fees may cover it if you are on a low income or certain qualifying benefits. Check that before assuming the application is out of reach.

What N245 does not do. It does not challenge whether the judgment should have been entered, that is a set-aside application, usually on form N244. It does not dispute the amount owed. And it does not by itself stop enforcement: until the court makes an order, the warrant remains live.

What the court is deciding

The underlying power is in CPR 83.7. Where the application is made on the grounds of inability to pay, the rule requires the debtor's means to be disclosed. The court may stay execution if satisfied either that there are special circumstances rendering it inexpedient to enforce, or that *"the applicant is unable from any reason to pay the money"*, and it may do so absolutely, or for a period, and on conditions.

That is a genuinely broad power, and it is the reason an honest, complete income and expenditure statement matters more than a persuasive covering letter. Understating your outgoings to look responsible does not help you; overstating them to look desperate is worse, because the court sees the figures constantly.

If the court grants a suspension, send the sealed order to the enforcement agent straight away and keep proof you sent it.

More than one warrant for the same debt

Under CPR 83.29, two or more warrants of control may be issued concurrently for execution by different enforcement agents. But there are two protections: no more may be levied under all the warrants together than could be levied under one of them, and unless the court orders otherwise the costs of more than one warrant are not allowed against the debtor.

So concurrent warrants should not multiply what you owe. If you are being pursued by two agents on the same judgment and both are adding fees, that is worth raising with the court.

Breathing Space and warrants of control

If you are eligible for the Debt Respite Scheme, commonly called Breathing Space, enforcement in respect of a qualifying debt is paused for the duration of the moratorium, and interest and most charges are frozen.

A standard moratorium is accessed through a debt advice provider, not by applying to the court yourself. There is also a mental health crisis moratorium, available while a person is receiving crisis treatment, which lasts for the duration of that treatment plus a period afterwards, and which can be applied for by an approved mental health professional.

Breathing Space is not a way of writing off the judgment, and it does not replace an N245. What it does is create a protected period in which advice can be taken and a realistic arrangement built without a visit landing in the middle of it. See our guide to the Breathing Space scheme.

If the debt is not yours, or the amount is wrong

Raise it with the creditor and, where appropriate, the court, not only with the enforcement agent. An agent enforces what the court has authorised and cannot alter the judgment.

If the named debtor does not live at your address, tell the agent promptly and provide proportionate evidence of who lives there now: a council tax bill, tenancy agreement or utility bill. Do not pay someone else's judgment debt to make the problem go away.

If goods that are yours are at risk because the debtor lives with you, gather ownership evidence now rather than at the doorstep.

If you are vulnerable

Tell the enforcement agent and the court as early as possible, in writing where you can.

Vulnerability is not a fixed list. Serious physical or mental illness, disability, bereavement, pregnancy, age related difficulty, language or literacy barriers, recent trauma and severe household crisis can all be relevant. The question is whether your circumstances make it harder to understand, engage with or withstand enforcement.

Adjustments can include additional time, communication changes, a more affordable arrangement, or a hold while evidence is assessed.

What to do now

If the judgment is right and you can pay, do so before the enforcement stage attaches.

If it is right but unaffordable, apply to the court to suspend the warrant and set instalments, with an honest income and expenditure statement.

If you never knew about the claim, consider applying to set aside the judgment, and get advice if the sum is significant.

If the debt is not yours, write to the creditor and the court with evidence, and tell the enforcement agent in writing.

If a vehicle is at risk and it is not yours to take, get the finance or lease documents ready today.