Sherforce: Shergroup's Writs, Fees and Force Entry

Sherforce and Shergroup: same group, different job

Shergroup Limited trades as Sherforce specifically for enforcement work, from a London base, operating nationwide. Its High Court Enforcement Officer, Claire Sandbrook, is named on the High Court Enforcement Officers Association (HCEOA) member directory, a listing you can check for yourself.

One caution worth flagging directly: nothing in the evidence gathered for this page places Shergroup or Sherforce on either the CIVEA membership list or the Enforcement Conduct Board's accreditation directory. That is not the same as saying the firm lacks those accreditations, only that this page cannot confirm them, and register listings do change. If that distinction matters to your situation, CIVEA and the ECB both publish searchable directories worth checking directly.

Similarly, no Companies House number, registered office or director list beyond the named HCEO appears here, because none has been independently verified for this build. Match the company number on your own letter to the public register if that reassurance matters to you.

So are they bailiffs, or debt collectors chasing you?

Neither label fits perfectly, but "enforcement agent" is closer to the truth for anything involving a writ of control. Unlike a debt collector, who can do nothing more than ask and would first have to win a court case, Sherforce is instructed only once that fight is already over: a judgment exists, it has moved up to the High Court, and a writ has been issued. From that point, Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 sets the rules for taking control of goods.

Possession work, evictions and commercial rent recovery run on entirely separate legal footing, covered further down. Treat the "enforcement agent, not debt collector" label as applying specifically to writ of control cases. See bailiffs and debt collectors for the general distinction if your letter does not fit neatly into any of these categories.

Three different Sherforce letters, three different rulebooks

Shergroup's own marketing covers commercial and residential possession, writ enforcement and applications to stay execution, so a single group letterhead genuinely can mean any of these three things. Read the document itself for the phrase that tells you which: writ of control, CRAR notice, or writ of possession.

When does a debt actually reach the High Court?

Not every County Court judgment can be handed to Sherforce. Article 8 of the High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order 1991 draws the line by amount:

That final row catches people out. A large credit card or loan judgment does not automatically graduate to the High Court just by exceeding £5,000, because article 8(1A) keeps regulated consumer credit debts in the County Court whatever the amount. If your underlying judgment came from a credit agreement and Sherforce have nonetheless issued a High Court writ, that discrepancy is worth raising urgently. Our High Court enforcement officers guide walks through this threshold in more depth.

Commercial rent through CRAR

CRAR exists for one relationship only: a commercial landlord chasing a business tenant. It is unavailable against anyone occupying premises as their home, whatever a letter implies.

Two statutory tests decide most CRAR arguments. Section 74 requires the lease to be in writing. Section 77, read alongside regulation 52 of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013, requires at least seven days' rent to remain unpaid both when notice is given and again when goods are actually seized. Anyone living at the address rather than trading from it should not be facing CRAR at all.

Possession is a different animal entirely

Where Sherforce's job is recovering a property rather than money, a writ of possession, not a writ of control, does the work. Everything about it differs: it is not the taking-control-of-goods scheme this page mainly explains, it carries none of the fee stages set out below, and its notice and access rules are governed elsewhere.

If your paperwork says possession rather than control, the fee tables and the force-entry section that follow simply do not apply to your case. Get advice specific to possession and eviction instead.

The High Court fee scale

Money owed under a writ of control is recovered using a different fee table from the one used for county-court-only work such as council tax.

This table reflects instructions taken on under the scale that took effect 1 May 2026. The threshold for the percentage element sits at £1,200 here, a lower figure than the £1,900 used for ordinary county-court enforcement, so do not assume the two scales are interchangeable when checking a bill.

Holding several writs against the same person

Regulation 11 of the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 lets the £79 compliance charge apply separately to each enforcement power, but restricts the first enforcement stage fee and the sale fee to being charged once only, provided the debts could reasonably be enforced together. Being billed the full enforcement-stage fee twice, on one visit covering two writs, is not correct and is worth querying.

Getting through the door: what force is and isn't allowed

Sherforce cannot simply walk into a private home to enforce a writ of control on the first attempt. Entry has to be peaceable, meaning you let them in or a door was already open; there is no requirement to answer at all.

Two situations change that. First, paragraph 18A of Schedule 12 permits reasonable force where the debtor runs a trade or business from the premises, a provision written for commercial settings rather than someone's house. Second, paragraph 19A allows forced re-entry, but only after a controlled goods agreement has been made and then broken. Outside those two situations, the first visit to an ordinary home carries no forced-entry power. Full detail sits in when bailiffs can force entry.

None of the above touches possession cases: a writ of possession operates under its own separate access rules.

What can, and cannot, be seized

The goods have to belong to the person named in the judgment. A flatmate's laptop, a partner's jewellery, or stock belonging to a supplier on business premises, is off limits, though you may need to demonstrate ownership rather than simply assert it.

Regulation 4 of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 carves out a fixed list regardless of debt size: everyday clothes and bedding, the basic equipment a household needs, anything required for a child's, a disabled person's or an older person's care, pets and assistance dogs, and any vehicle carrying a valid disabled badge. Work tools and equipment are protected too, but only up to a combined £1,350, a total across every item claimed rather than per item.

Cars sit in a grey area worth understanding: a Motability car belongs to the scheme, not the driver; one still being paid off on finance may legally belong to the lender; and a vehicle registered to someone else in the house is not fair game. See what bailiffs can take and can bailiffs take my car for how those arguments are actually made.

Coming to an agreement instead

Where money is genuinely owed under a writ of control, most people end up signing a controlled goods agreement: certain items are listed, you keep using them, and enforcement pauses while you keep to the payment terms. Read the list carefully before signing, ownership, exempt status and the underlying figures all need checking. Our controlled goods agreements guide explains what the signature actually commits you to.

None of this applies to a possession case, where the order concerns who occupies the property rather than a sum that can be repaid over time. Delaying or challenging an eviction date is a matter for the court that granted possession, not a negotiation with Sherforce.

When paying in full simply isn't realistic

Tell them, and do it with numbers rather than a bare statement that you cannot pay. A properly worked-out income and expenditure position carries far more weight. National Debtline, StepChange and Citizens Advice will help build one, free of charge.

If the underlying figure looks wrong

The judgment itself is not Sherforce's to reopen; that conversation belongs with whoever sued you and won. What you can ask Sherforce for is the writ number, which judgment it enforces, the date it was issued, and a complete breakdown of every fee added so far. Put your dispute in writing to them at the same time you raise it elsewhere.

Flagging vulnerability

Do this in writing, as soon as you can. There is no fixed checklist; illness, disability, bereavement, pregnancy, age, language barriers, recent trauma and a household in crisis are all examples that have been recognised as relevant, often more than one at once.

Possible responses include more time, a different way of communicating, a workable payment plan, or a temporary pause. A possession case needs the same information put to the court itself, since the court, not Sherforce, controls the eviction date.

Confirming a Sherforce letter is real

Claire Sandbrook's listing on the HCEOA directory is a reasonable sign the enforcement operation behind the letter is genuine, though it says nothing about whether a specific letter you've received is legitimate.

Find contact details through Sherforce's own website rather than trusting a number printed on paperwork that arrived unexpectedly. Before handing over money, get clear on which writ or account it settles, where the case currently stands, and secure a reference and a receipt. Anyone at your door can be paid without being let inside.

Raising a complaint

Go to Sherforce directly first, laying out the date, the agent involved, your case reference, and precisely which rule you believe was broken.

If that gets nowhere, and given the absence of confirmed ECB accreditation noted earlier, the next step is the High Court Enforcement Officers Association. A complaint specifically about the enforcement officer's own conduct can instead be taken to the court that issued the writ.

Hold onto every date, message, photo and name of anyone you dealt with throughout.

Your next steps

1. Pin down exactly which document you're holding: writ of control, CRAR, or possession, since the rules diverge sharply.
2. For control or CRAR cases, match the stage and fees you've been charged against the tables here.
3. For possession, none of the fee or force-entry material above applies; get advice built for eviction cases specifically, urgently.
4. Challenge a wrong judgment or debt with the original creditor or the court, not Sherforce.
5. If the figure is right but unaffordable, build a financial picture and put forward a genuine offer.
6. Tell both Sherforce, and the court for a possession matter, about any vulnerability, in writing, now.