This month sees further disruption to us all with another lockdown, read on for updates on changes to the High Court Enforcement Agents rules. We also have some important fee updates to tell you about. Please do get in touch with the client services team if you would like any further information or assistance:clientservices@legalrecoveries.com
We would also like to extend a continued thank you to our clients for your support in these difficult times and give a warm welcome to our new clients.
New Fees
Due to an increase in fees to LRC, we are having to pass on the following increases, these will come into place from 1st January 2021.
- Letter before Claim fee. Increasing fee by £50
- Administration fee for debtor refunds. New fee of £12.50
- Company / business report. Increased fee of £20.00
- Administration fee for transfer of files – where a client terminates relationship with LRC and wishes to have its files transferred to another party. £12.50 per file.
We will be adding these fees on to your fee scales in due course.
High Court Enforcement Agents
Following the announcement by the Prime Minster regarding the national restrictions in England, we have now received further guidance from the Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP. Lord Chancellor.
‘Enforcement Agents are requested to not enter residential properties in England for the purpose of enforcement by taking control of goods’.
Since the lift of the restrictions at the end of August agents have been adhering to the above and will continue to do so until the restrictions are lifted. They will continue to wear full PPE and maintain social distancing. If when the agents attends the debtor confirms they are shielding due to COVID, they will leave the premises immediately. Also if the debtor confirms they are suffering from financial hardship agents will either set up a manageable arrangement or they will be referred to our welfare team for support.
Writs of Possession
The guidance for Writs of Possessions are as follows, they are not to attend residential properties in England for the purpose of enforcing a writ of possession or restitution, including serving a notice of enforcement, except in the following limited circumstances: illegal trespass or squatting by persons unknown, nuisance or antisocial behaviour, domestic abuse, fraud or deception and properties unoccupied following the death of the defendant. In other words, where the order for possession has been granted:
- Following a claim against trespassers to which rule 55.6 (service of claims against trespassers) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 applies;
- Under section 84A of the Housing Act 1985;
- On Ground 2, Ground 2A or Ground 5 in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1985;
- On Ground 7A, Ground 14, Ground 14A or Ground 17 in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988;
- Under case 2 of Schedule 15 to the Rent Act 1977; or
On Ground 7 in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 and where the person attending is satisfied that the dwelling house is unoccupied at the time of attendance.
If you have any questions please get in touch.
New cases
We are encouraging our clients to continue sending cases as normal. We still anticipate that once everything reverts to “business as usual”, there maybe a further uplift of instructions across the industry which could cause a considerable backlog at the courts. This way we can help to avoid potential lengthy delays.
Significantly, we have also been obtaining many payments in full and payment arrangements over the last few months due to our continued outbound activity of calling, messaging, emailing and lettering efforts.
Outstanding Instructions
We would greatly appreciate it if you get time to go through your outstanding instructions on workflow. If you need any help or advice please get in touch with the client services team.
Contact
When emailing the office, please use the team email addresses rather than (or as well as) individual ones, just to ensure that your email gets dealt with swiftly if the member of staff you are emailing is not available.
- Legal: legalteam@legalrecoveries.com
- Pre Legal: recoveriesteam@legalrecoveries.com
- Client Services: clientservices@legalrecoveries.com
- Finance: finance@legalrecoveries.com
- IT: it@legalrecoveries.com
We will endeavour to keep you updated with any significant changes. Please do not hesitate to contact client services with any concerns.
