Writ Of Control

This page is specifically about a High Court writ of control in England and Wales. A County Court warrant of control is a different instrument, with a different enforcement route and fee scale. If your paperwork says warrant, use the warrant of control guide.

Confirm that the document is a writ

An enforcement company's name or the words “court enforcement” do not prove that a High Court writ exists. Check the document and ask for enough information to identify:

• the judgment creditor and judgment debtor
• the court and claim number
• the date and amount of the judgment
• the writ number and issue date
• the authorised High Court Enforcement Officer
• the enforcement company and its reference
• the amount claimed for judgment debt, interest, court costs and enforcement fees

A writ of control is for a money judgment. It is not a writ of possession for an eviction, a writ of delivery for particular goods, a search warrant, or a County Court warrant of control. Those instruments have different purposes and may engage different rules.

Writ of control versus warrant of control

The similar names cause expensive mistakes. The distinction is the court process, not the size or branding of the enforcement company.

Council tax liability orders, parking warrants and magistrates' court fines also have their own routes. Seeing the word “warrant” does not make them County Court judgment enforcement.

How a money judgment reaches the High Court

A writ may enforce a judgment made in the High Court. A qualifying County Court judgment can also move into the High Court enforcement route. HM Courts and Tribunals Service describes form N293A as the combined certificate of judgment and request for a writ of control or writ of possession.

For a County Court money judgment being enforced against goods, the court thresholds come from article 8 of the High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order 1991:

The Consumer Credit Act exception is not optional. A large judgment arising from a regulated agreement does not qualify for High Court goods enforcement merely because it exceeds £5,000.

Do not decide the point from the creditor's business name or the original type of borrowing alone. Check the agreement and the proceedings from which the judgment arose. If the High Court route appears unavailable, seek urgent advice about the writ and a stay rather than asking the enforcement agent to decide the legal issue at the door.

Who is acting under the writ?

The roles are separate:

• the judgment creditor is owed the judgment sum
• the judgment debtor is the person against whom the judgment is enforced
• the authorised HCEO is the officer to whom the writ is directed or allocated
• the enforcement company administers the case
• a certificated enforcement agent may attend and take control of goods under the HCEO's authority

The fact that an agent, rather than the named HCEO, attends does not by itself invalidate the visit. The High Court Enforcement Officers guide owns the detailed explanation of authorisation, companies and powers. This page concentrates on the writ and the decisions it creates.

Individual profiles of firms that enforce writs of control, including Equivo, Just, High Court Writ Recovery and The Sheriffs Office, set out each firm's registers and complaint route.

Check the judgment before focusing on the fees

Ask four questions:

1. Is the judgment against the correct person or legal entity?
2. Did you know about the claim and judgment?
3. Has the judgment been paid, varied, appealed or set aside?
4. Was the judgment eligible for High Court enforcement?

If the claim went to an old address, you may need to investigate a set-aside application. CPR 13.2 requires a default judgment to be set aside in specified cases where it was wrongly entered. CPR 13.3 gives the court discretion where there is a real prospect of successfully defending the claim or another good reason, with promptness a relevant factor.

Applying to set aside does not automatically stay the writ. If enforcement is live, consider a separate urgent stay application at the same time.

If the judgment has been paid, send proof to the creditor and enforcement company and ask for written confirmation of the writ's status. A payment reaching one system may not immediately update another, and existing fees can remain disputed even when the judgment sum has been settled.

Notice before a writ-of-control visit

The enforcement company should give a Notice of Enforcement before goods are taken into control. Under the rules applying from 1 May 2026, the minimum is normally 14 clear days.

Unless the debt is a non-eligible business debt, a recognised debt advice provider can request an extension so the minimum period reaches 28 clear days, if the statutory conditions are met and the request is made before the original period expires.

The notice should let you identify the debtor, enforcement power, debt, costs, contact route and payment deadline. Use the Notice of Enforcement guide to check its contents and delivery. If no notice arrived, ask the company when, how and to which address it says notice was given.

The rules that changed on 1 May 2026 are tied to the timing of the enforcement instruction. An older writ or instruction may remain on the former notice and fee regime, so confirm the relevant date before alleging an overcharge.

High Court writ fees

For High Court instructions under the scale applying from 1 May 2026, the statutory fixed fees are:

This is not the County Court scale. In particular, a High Court writ has two enforcement stages and uses a £1,200 threshold for the percentage element.

If the £520 second-stage fee appears, ask the company to identify the event and date relied on for moving the case into that stage.

Request a written statement separating the judgment debt, interest, court costs, each enforcement stage and any disbursement. A general total does not show whether the correct scale or stage has been used.

Ways to stop or pause a writ

Different problems need different remedies. A complaint about an agent's conduct does not decide whether the judgment should exist, while a court challenge to the judgment does not automatically stop an agent who has not received a stay.

Pay or agree terms

Payment in full can bring the money enforcement to an end once the sum required under the writ is settled and the relevant parties are notified. Confirm the settlement figure and obtain written confirmation rather than assuming a payment to the original creditor has closed the enforcement file.

If full payment is not possible, make a realistic proposal supported by income and essential outgoings. The creditor's instructions and the enforcement stage may affect whether it is accepted. Ask for the arrangement, due dates and effect on enforcement to be confirmed in writing.

Apply for a stay of execution

CPR 83.7 allows a debtor or another party liable to execution to ask the court for a stay. The court may grant relief where special circumstances make enforcement inexpedient or where the applicant is unable to pay, and an inability-to-pay application must disclose the debtor's means.

For a High Court writ, the application is usually made on form N244 with a witness statement and evidence. The court that should receive it can depend on how the judgment reached the High Court, so check the court details promptly.

Filing an application is not a stay. Until a judge makes an order, assume the writ remains enforceable. If action is imminent, ask the court about urgent consideration and send any sealed stay order to the enforcement company immediately.

The separate stay of execution guide explains the evidence and the difference between N244 and N245.

Challenge the underlying judgment

A set-aside application addresses whether a default judgment should stand. An appeal addresses an alleged error in a judgment through a different procedure. Neither should be presented as a fee complaint to the HCEO.

Where the judgment itself is challenged, ask whether a stay is also required. The practical aim is to prevent enforcement while the court decides the substantive application, not merely to tell the enforcement company that an application has been filed.

Check Breathing Space

If the judgment debt is a qualifying debt, a debt adviser may be able to start a Breathing Space moratorium. Once an enforcement agent is notified or otherwise aware that it applies, regulation 12 restricts giving notice, visiting to take control of goods, taking control and selling goods.

There is an important exception: goods already taken into the agent's possession before the moratorium starts may still be sold. Breathing Space also pauses rather than cancels the judgment. See the Breathing Space guide for eligibility and timing.

Disclose vulnerability

Tell the creditor and enforcement company if illness, disability, mental health, bereavement, pregnancy, age or another circumstance affects your ability to engage. Ask for reasonable adjustments, welfare review and time to obtain advice.

Vulnerability does not automatically cancel a writ, but it may materially affect how the case should be handled. Keep the disclosure factual and provide evidence where reasonably possible.

Entry to a home under a money writ

The words “High Court” do not create a blanket right to break into a home on the first visit for an ordinary money writ.

The Schedule 12 rules still govern entry. Force can arise through specific gateways, including qualifying trade or business premises and lawful re-entry after breach of a controlled goods agreement. Those exceptions are why a general statement that High Court agents can never force entry would also be wrong.

For an ordinary first residential visit, keep the door locked while you identify the case if you do not want the agent inside. Do not use force or obstruct an agent. A vehicle on a highway or accessible land may be dealt with without entry to the home.

Use can bailiffs force entry for the full debt-specific rules. If the paperwork concerns possession or eviction rather than a money writ, do not rely on this section.

Goods the writ can reach

Schedule 12 permits control only of goods of the debtor. Goods belonging solely to a partner, landlord, employer or finance company are not made the debtor's property merely because they are at the same address.

Some goods are also exempt. Ownership, finance and exemption disputes are evidence-led, so gather receipts, finance agreements, registration records or employer letters before removal if possible. The detailed categories are covered in what bailiffs can take and can bailiffs take my car.

If an agent proposes a controlled goods agreement, check every listed item and the payment terms before signing. A breach can create a stronger re-entry position, so an unaffordable agreement can make the situation worse rather than resolve it.

How long a writ remains usable

A common shortcut says a writ lasts 12 months from issue. For a writ using the taking-control-of-goods procedure, CPR 83.4 instead links validity to the period in regulation 9, normally 12 months beginning with the date of the Notice of Enforcement.

If a repayment arrangement made after notice is breached, regulation 9 can restart the period from the date of breach. The court may extend the period by 12 months on one occasion if the statutory conditions are met.

A separate rule applies when six years or more have elapsed since the judgment or order: CPR 83.2 generally requires court permission before specified writs or warrants are issued. That does not mean every judgment disappears after six years. Ask for the issue, notice, arrangement and extension dates before drawing a conclusion about validity.

What to do today

1. Verify the company using independently obtained contact details.
2. Ask for the judgment, court, claim and writ details.
3. Check whether the judgment was eligible for High Court enforcement.
4. Record the Notice of Enforcement date and deadline.
5. Separate the debt, interest, court costs and High Court fees.
6. Decide whether your route is payment, an affordable proposal, a stay, a judgment challenge or formal debt advice.
7. Put disputes and vulnerability in writing to both the relevant decision-maker and the enforcement company.

If the deadline is close, an agent is attending or goods are listed for sale, seek advice urgently. A general complaint or an unsealed court application should not be treated as if it had already paused the writ.