A Day in the Life of a High Court Enforcement Agent (HCEA)
29th August 2019
With the high profile success of Channel 5’s “Can’t Pay? We’ll Take It Away!”, which exclusively features DCBL High Court Enforcement Agents going about their business, we are often asked about the real day to day duties of an HCEA.
We decided to ask two of our High Court Enforcement Agents to document a typical day on the road, serving writs and collecting unpaid debts.
HCEAs Hit the Road Early
Most mornings involve preparing various tasks to effectively execute writs and court orders on behalf of judgement creditors. As a High Court Enforcement Agent, I start each day by making sure I have all the necessary paperwork and equipment with me to effectively target judgement debtors and defaulters, or complete orders required throughout the day.
This involves checking and sorting electrical devices, phones and iPads, body-worn CCTV cameras, all protective equipment such as heavy boots and stab vests and identifiable High Court Enforcement jackets.
The days usually commence around 05:30 am, whereas a High Court Enforcement Agent I would have prepared a route the night before of all required attendances to maximise the result in clients’ best interests.
I would ordinarily seek to arrive at my first address between the hours of 06:00 and 06:30 am, as this is the time when I would find most people are at home either preparing to start their day or asleep giving a greater likelihood of the judgement debtor being at home to resolve the issue.
The day would then usually revolve around various other tasks and orders, these can include forfeitures of tenancy or lease agreements on behalf of landlords, removal of travellers from illegal encampments or trespass on private land, and more commonly the enforcement of High Court Writs on behalf of judgement claimants.
A Day in the Life of a High Court Enforcement Agent (HCEA)
Days and times of activities can vary upon client instruction requirement or request: for example, if a business doesn’t open until 9 am to attend before it is open logically would make no sense, therefore planning and preparation are key to the successful execution of a task.
Many Miles Covered
Most days involve travelling between multiple different debtor premises, and usually, this means several motorway miles between locations towns and areas. Traffic management also comes into play logistically as an agent it is always beneficial to maximise daily attendance to meet client service levels.
As a High Court Enforcement Agent on a standard day, I would ordinarily visit between 6 and 10 addresses between the hours of 06:00 am and 4:00 pm working an average of 10 hours and covering approximately 200 miles.
Daily enforcement duties are usually very demanding since most if not all judgement debtors react in the same way. A debtor hardly appreciates the attendance of a High Court Enforcement Agent in the early hours looking to make them pay or do something they have been avoiding or evading. Agents are regularly met with hostility, abuse and threats.
Occasionally judgement debtors can become violent towards the agent and the enforcement process. On one day last week the brandishing of an unsheathed Samurai sword in an attempt to intimidate, a lump hammer behind the desk of a shopkeeper who clearly did not want to lose his stock or takings, angry dogs preventing entry to a home or Travellers refusing to leave the land they have committed trespass upon until the private parking company agree to remove any tickets they accrued within their 4 days illegal occupancy of private land… this being a stereotypical day of enforcement!
Working for such a well-known company in DCBL is also a major positive in the job we do.
Both of us as High Court Enforcement Agents have worked for various other enforcement companies over the years and with DCBL’s routes and ethics firmly set with the client’s best interest and customer focus at heart, this benefits us as High Court Enforcement Agents knowing we act righteously in efforts to recover money and sums due to those who are wronged.
Instruct our High Court Enforcement Agents Today
Do you require the services of our hard-working and effective High Court Enforcement Agents? Contact us today to find out more about our services.
