Hi, first post here, please forgive me for it might be a long one - I've summarised at the end if you want to skip to the questions.
I recently won a small claims case against a car dealer a few weeks back, however, I feel that they have no intention of paying and I have a number of questions.
The judge gave a deadline for payment of next week but no paperwork has been received yet. I tried calling the courts today but it was late in the day and nobody answered, I'll try again tomorrow, hopefully they're not shut due to the weather.
With that in mind, if the payment deadline day comes and goes, I'll ask for the judgement to be enforced. The problem here is that the dealer could say that they have not received the paperwork (despite being given the deadline on the hearing day) and ask for it to be set aside.
I understand that time is of the essence in legal matters so I'm unsure whether I should wait for the paper work to come through? Then I'll ensure I forward it on to the various addresses I have as this'll give me evidence that the dealer has received it. Or should I apply for the judgement to be enforced regardless and get the HCEO on the case?
I ask this because I know they have no intention of paying and I foresee that they plan to mess me around and I want to try to stay ahead of the game.
Even then the above timing issue is resolved I think I'll have to get a HCEO on the case but I have a feeling the dealer has been through this process before so will undoubtedly make it such that there is nothing for them to take.
So, my next question is regarding the best possible route to getting my money back. I'm aware that there are a number of possible options:
1)HCEO (Shall be the first port of call)
2)Freeze bank assets (unclear on this one as I see them swindling out of this by changing accounts, using joint accounts etc)
3)Order for information (I think he'll lie, and the same goes for attachment of earnings)
4)Charging order - this is the one I quite like the sound of, however, I'm unclear about what happens when this is applied in the case of a car that has to go back to the dealer. Should the person not sell their house for the next X years, what happens to the car? Will it just need to sit around? I can't imagine there is any other option and this is what I'd like advice on please.
To summarise:
1) Should I wait for the court paperwork to come through before enforcing the judgement?
2) Is a charging order on property suitable when there is a two way transaction required - if the property isn't sold the car will have to sit around.
Many thanks.