JP Dawkins: Forfeiture, CRAR and Writ Fees

(its own site, checked 22 Aug 2026) Knowing which one applies to your case changes what rights you actually have.

Who are JP Dawkins?

J.P. Dawkins Limited is registered at Companies House under company number 02945968, incorporated on 6 July 1994, classified under SIC code 82911, activities of collection agencies, with its registered office at Castle House, Park Road, Banstead, SM7 3BT. Its own site describes over thirty years trading, full insurance cover, and work for major landlords, solicitors, property companies and managing agents across England and Wales (checked 22 Aug 2026).

The HCEOA member directory lists the firm at the same Banstead address and phone number, 0208 661 0210, naming Andrew McDermott as its authorised High Court Enforcement Officer. The same directory entry groups Mr McDermott with three other business names: Strikes High Court Enforcement, Absolute Enforcement and JTR Collections Limited. That grouping reflects which certificated officer of record serves as HCEO for each firm, a routine industry arrangement where one certificated individual can act for several separately owned companies, not shared ownership. Checked against Companies House, JP Dawkins Limited shares no officer, director or registered address with Absolute Enforcement Limited, and the two are independently owned businesses, even though a search on the shared HCEO's name can sometimes make them look connected at first glance.

Where JP Dawkins sits on the registers

As of a direct check in August 2026, JP Dawkins does not appear on the Enforcement Conduct Board's accredited firms register, nor on CIVEA's published member list. It is listed with the HCEOA, the body representing authorised High Court Enforcement Officers, which is the register presence relevant to its High Court work.

Forfeiture, CRAR and enforcement: three different powers

JP Dawkins's own services page separates forfeiture by peaceable re-entry, securing premises against unlawful occupation, CRAR and High Court writ enforcement. These are not interchangeable labels for the same visit.

Lease forfeiture ends a commercial tenancy where the tenant has broken its terms, letting a landlord retake vacant possession of the premises themselves; it depends on the lease and the general law governing forfeiture, not on the Schedule 12 taking-control-of-goods regime that applies to debt enforcement. Securing against unlawful occupation is a related but separate task, changing locks and controlling access once possession has been retaken or where occupation was never authorised.

CRAR and writ enforcement are debt-recovery powers by contrast, working under Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. CRAR lets a commercial landlord instruct enforcement for unpaid rent without first suing, provided the lease is evidenced in writing under section 74 of the 2007 Act and at least seven days' rent is unpaid at each relevant point under section 77 and regulation 52 of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013. A County Court judgment of £600 or more can separately be transferred up for High Court enforcement under article 8 of the High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order 1991.

What each stage costs

Fees for High Court and CRAR enforcement under Schedule 12 follow the same regulated scale wherever an authorised High Court Enforcement Officer carries it out: £79 at the compliance stage before any visit; £200 once an agent has attended and begun taking control of goods, plus 7.5% of anything recovered above £1,200; a further £520 if the conditions for a second enforcement stage are met; and £550, plus the same 7.5%, if goods are removed and sold. These figures apply to instructions taken on from 1 May 2026, with older cases potentially still sitting on the previous scale. Where JP Dawkins holds more than one writ against the same debtor, regulation 11 of the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 allows the £79 compliance charge to be repeated per writ but caps the enforcement and sale charges at one occurrence where the writs can reasonably be dealt with together. Forfeiture and unlawful occupation work is not part of this fee scale at all; costs for that are a matter of the landlord's instruction and the lease, not statutory tariff.

Forced entry: writs versus forfeiture

Not into a private home on a first visit under a writ of control: entry must be peaceable, through a door voluntarily opened or already unlocked, and staying inside carries no penalty. Paragraph 19A of Schedule 12 allows forced re-entry only once a signed controlled goods agreement has been broken. Forfeiture and possession work follows different rules again, since it concerns vacant commercial premises rather than a debtor's home, and the specific method of retaking possession depends on the individual lease and whether the premises are occupied.

Exempt goods and third-party property

Where debt enforcement is involved, only goods belonging to the named debtor can be taken into control. Regulation 4 of the 2013 Regulations protects clothing, bedding, household essentials, medical and care items, pets, assistance dogs and a vehicle displaying a valid disabled badge, whatever the sum owed, and tools of trade up to £1,350 in total. None of this applies to forfeiture, where the question is possession of the premises rather than ownership of goods inside them, though goods left behind after forfeiture still cannot simply be disposed of without following the correct process.

Vulnerability and disputes

Put any vulnerability in writing as early as possible, since the response should be a change in how a case is handled, not a change to the underlying debt or lease breach. A dispute over the debt itself belongs with the original claimant or landlord and the relevant court, not with JP Dawkins; ask in writing for the writ or lease reference and a full breakdown of what is claimed.

Checking a letter and making a complaint

Confirm any letter independently, through the writ or lease reference and the issuing court, or by contacting JP Dawkins through details found separately from the letter itself, since a scam letter can otherwise look convincing at a glance. Complaints start with the firm's own procedure; because it is not on the ECB's register, an unresolved complaint about a certificated agent's conduct goes to the county court that issued their certificate rather than to the ECB.