Strikes HCE: Writs, Fees and Force Entry

The company, and its previous names

Strikes HCE Limited is registered at Companies House under company number 12559669, incorporated on 16 April 2020. Its registered office is 197 to 201 Manchester Road, West Timperley, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 5NU. The firm's own site and the High Court Enforcement Officers Association's directory both give a different, correspondence address for the business itself: Chancery House, Chancery Lane, Holborn, London, WC2A 1QS. A registered office and a trading address being different is ordinary company practice, not a sign of anything wrong.

The company was not always called Strikes HCE. It traded as CJB Commercial Solutions Limited from incorporation until November 2023, then as Property Inventory & Inspections Ltd until it became Strikes HCE Limited in April 2025. Christopher Paul Phillip John Bane has been a director throughout, since 2020. Andrew McDermott and Jason Gary Meaden joined as directors on 6 May 2025, shortly after the rename, and the HCEOA directory names Andrew McDermott as the firm's authorised High Court Enforcement Officer. The firm's own site describes it as part of the "Strikes Property Services Group", a claim taken from the company's own marketing rather than confirmed against a separate Companies House record for that group name.

Checked directly, Strikes HCE does not appear on the Enforcement Conduct Board's accredited firms register or on CIVEA's published member list. It does appear on the HCEOA directory under Andrew McDermott.

What Strikes HCE says it handles

Its own site lists judgment enforcement over £600 through the High Court, writs of possession for removing squatters or tenants, delivery of goods orders, enforcement of employment tribunal awards and ACAS settlements, enforcement of foreign judgments, and process serving.

Judgments over £600, and the High Court line

Article 8 of the High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order 1991 sets the boundary: below £600 the case stays in the County Court, £5,000 or more must go to the High Court, and anything in between can go either way. A judgment from a regulated Consumer Credit Act agreement stays in the County Court whatever the amount, which is worth checking if a High Court writ has arrived on what looks like an ordinary credit debt.

What a Strikes HCE case costs

This scale applies to instructions taken on from 1 May 2026. Under regulation 11 of the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014, a separate £79 compliance fee can apply to each enforcement power involved, but the enforcement and sale fees are usually charged once only, where the debts can reasonably be dealt with on the same visit. Delivery of goods orders, tribunal award enforcement before it reaches a writ, and process serving do not run on this fee scale.

The two routes to lawful force

Entry into a home to execute a writ of control must be peaceable on a first visit, through a door voluntarily opened. Paragraph 18A of Schedule 12 allows reasonable force onto premises where the debtor carries on a trade or business, provided the debt is not a traffic contravention and a writ already exists. Paragraph 19A allows forced re-entry only once a signed controlled goods agreement has been broken.

Writs of possession specifically

Removing a squatter, trespasser or former tenant runs under a writ or warrant of possession, a different process from taking control of goods. Civil Procedure Rules rule 83.8A usually requires a notice of eviction at least 14 days before the writ is executed, or 7 days before a repeat attempt. That notice period does not apply to a trespasser who had no right to be there, and under rule 55.1 a former tenant is never treated as a trespasser regardless of how the tenancy ended, which affects which procedure applies to their case.

What is exempt, and vehicles

Only goods belonging to the debtor can be taken. Regulation 4 of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 exempts everyday clothing and bedding, equipment the household needs, items for medical or child care, pets, assistance dogs, and a vehicle displaying a valid disabled badge, along with work tools up to £1,350 combined. A vehicle on a finance agreement may still legally belong to the finance company rather than the debtor.

Arranging payment or disputing the case

A controlled goods agreement lets listed items stay with you while payments continue, but check every item is genuinely the debtor's before signing, since breaking the agreement is the route to forced re-entry. The underlying judgment, tribunal award or foreign judgment recognition itself is a matter for the originating court, not something Strikes HCE can revisit on its own account.

Raising a vulnerability with Strikes HCE

Raise a genuine vulnerability in writing as early as possible, addressed to whoever instructed the enforcement. Illness, disability, bereavement, age, language barriers and a household crisis have all been treated as relevant elsewhere, sometimes together. None of it cancels a debt genuinely owed, though it can change the pace of enforcement.

Checking the letter or the firm is genuine

Given the company's rename history, it is worth confirming a specific case through the issuing court's own reference rather than relying on the company name alone. Use contact details found independently through the court or the HCEOA directory, not only a number printed on the letter.

The complaints route that actually applies

Start with Strikes HCE's own complaints procedure, citing the case reference and the exact issue. Checked directly, the firm is not on the ECB's accredited firms register or CIVEA's member list, so those routes do not apply here. It is listed on the HCEOA directory under Andrew McDermott, so a complaint about his conduct as the authorised officer can go there once the firm's own process is exhausted. Enforcement under a defective writ, or a breach of the Schedule 12 rules, is separately something the debtor can raise with the court under paragraph 66 of Schedule 12, which can order goods returned or damages paid.

Before you reply, check this

1. Work out whether the paperwork is a writ of control, a possession order, a tribunal award or a foreign judgment, since each follows different rules.
2. Check the fee stage reached against the table above, if it is a writ of control.
3. For a possession case, check whether a 14-day eviction notice applies.
4. Query the underlying judgment with the originating court, not Strikes HCE.
5. If the debt is correct but unaffordable, prepare figures and make an offer early.
6. Put any vulnerability in writing now.