Constant & Co: Evictions, Travellers and High Court Writs

If this name has contacted you, the useful first questions are which of those services is involved and, unusually for this sector, which Constant & Co company is actually writing to you.

Get the company right first

The operating enforcement business is Constant & Co (Bedford) Limited, registered at Companies House under company number 07234350, incorporated on 26 April 2010 and originally registered under the placeholder name Yellow 55 Limited for a few weeks before taking its trading name. Its registered office is First Floor, Woburn Court, 2 Railton Road, Woburn Road Industrial Estate, Kempston, Bedford, MK42 7PN. A separately registered Constant & Co Limited (company number 07745194) also exists, so confirm the exact name and number on your letter rather than assuming the two are interchangeable.

The firm's own account dates the business to 1973, well before the 2010 incorporation of the current company. Treat that as the firm's own history rather than something this page has verified against an earlier company record; if a limitation or continuity point turns on it, get the underlying dates confirmed.

What Constant & Co actually does

Its published services are commercial and civil rather than household: High Court enforcement of transferred judgments, commercial rent arrears recovery and lease forfeiture, eviction of travellers, squatters and trespassers, site clearance, planning enforcement support, security including canine, and process serving. Council tax and parking do not appear among them. That mix matters because the different services run under quite different legal regimes, and the rules that protect you depend on which one you are facing.

Is Constant & Co a bailiff or a debt collector?

For the enforcement it takes on it is well past mere collection: it acts under a writ of control, a CRAR notice or a possession order, each carrying court or statutory authority a collector never has. A debt collection agency, by contrast, can only ask for payment. See bailiffs and debt collectors for the distinction.

Evictions and site clearance are not a debt fee scale

A large part of Constant & Co's caseload is removing people from land or premises, and this is the point most worth getting right: an eviction proceeds under a possession order granted by the civil courts, not under the Schedule 12 goods-enforcement scale. If you have received an eviction or clearance notice, the correct response is to examine the possession order itself with the court that made it, because its notice periods, grounds and remedies are different from anything to do with an unpaid money debt. Planning enforcement work similarly rests on a local authority notice or injunction rather than a writ.

Commercial rent arrears (CRAR)

CRAR applies only to a business tenant under a lease evidenced in writing, and only where at least the minimum of seven days' net unpaid rent is outstanding, tested both when notice is given and again when goods are first taken control of, under sections 74 and 77 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and regulation 52 of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013. It cannot be used against a residential tenant. Its purpose is to recover the arrears while the tenancy continues, which is different from forfeiture, which ends the lease.

High Court writs, and the officer behind them

Where the case is a High Court writ of control, the underlying debt is usually a County Court Judgment transferred up. Under article 8 of the High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order 1991, a judgment below £600 stays in the County Court and one of £5,000 or more must go to the High Court, while a judgment on a Consumer Credit Act regulated agreement cannot be transferred at all. A writ can only be executed under the authority of a named High Court Enforcement Officer; Constant & Co advertises High Court work but this page could not verify an individual HCEO, so ask the firm to name the authorising officer and confirm them on the HCEOA's public register before relying on their status.

If you genuinely cannot pay, or enforcing now would be unfair, you can apply to the court for a stay of execution under CPR rule 83.7, and the court's permission to issue the writ may itself be needed under CPR rule 83.2 where six years have passed or a party has changed.

Can Constant & Co force entry?

Not into a private home on a first visit for an ordinary civil debt. Entry must be peaceable there. Business premises are different: paragraph 18A of Schedule 12 allows reasonable force to enter where the debtor trades on the premises and the debt is not a traffic penalty, and paragraph 19A allows re-entry by reasonable force after a broken controlled goods agreement, with paragraph 17 supplying the force once either applies. Given how commercial this firm's work is, the business-premises power is often the relevant one. Only goods of the debtor can be taken under paragraph 10, and regulation 4 still exempts essential household items, pets and assistance dogs, a disabled person's vehicle, and work equipment up to £1,350. See when bailiffs can force entry.

What a High Court case costs

High Court enforcement uses its own scale, with two enforcement stages and a £1,200 percentage threshold: £79 at compliance, £200 plus 7.5% above £1,200 at the first enforcement stage, £520 at a second stage, and £550 plus 7.5% above £1,200 on sale, for instructions from 1 May 2026. Evictions, CRAR and planning work do not run on this scale; each carries its own cost basis under the order, the lease or the court fees for the application.

Where to complain, given the firm is not ECB-accredited

This is where Constant & Co differs from most firms profiled on this site. It is a CIVEA member but does not appear on the Enforcement Conduct Board's accredited-firms register, so the ECB oversight route that applies to accredited firms is not available in the same way. In practice that leaves the firm's own complaints procedure first, then the instructing creditor or landlord, then its CIVEA membership, and, where a High Court writ is involved, the authorising officer and the HCEOA. A challenge to an individual certificated agent's certificate remains a separate application to the County Court that issued it, and the debtor's remedy for an enforcement agent's breach under paragraph 66 of Schedule 12 is a court claim in any event.

If you cannot pay, or are vulnerable

Say so early and with figures; a witness statement disclosing your means is central to any stay of execution. Tell the firm and the creditor in writing if illness, disability, bereavement or caring responsibilities apply. Individuals can get free help from National Debtline, StepChange and Citizens Advice, and a business facing enforcement or forfeiture should take specialist insolvency and property advice quickly.

What to do next

1. Confirm the exact Constant & Co company and service involved before responding.
2. If it is an eviction or clearance, examine the possession order with the issuing court.
3. If it is a High Court writ, check the £600 and £5,000 thresholds and ask for the authorising HCEO.
4. If it is CRAR, test the written-lease and seven-days-rent conditions.
5. Note that the ECB route may not apply, and use CIVEA, the court or the HCEOA instead.
6. If you cannot pay or are vulnerable, put it in writing and get advice now.