The HCEO is Charging You "Interest" on the Debt

Under Section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 a creditor can apply for interest on the judgment debt.

This is not automatically granted if the creditor does not ask for it.

The interest rate is 8% of the sum due until the date the sum is paid.

Check whether you have any county court judgments via Trust Online (fee applies) then telephone the judgment court and ask whether the judgment includes an order for interest.

High Court Enforcement Officers often try to add interest to debts when there is no order allowing for interest to be charged.

If there is no order for interest and the HCEO is adding it to the debt, then he commits an offence of fraud by false representation under Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.

You can ask the HCEO for evidence the order was made and they should provide you with a copy free of charge.

If the HCEO resists your request to see the order then he is potentially committing an offence of fraud by concealment under Section 3 of the Fraud Act 2006.

If the HCEO tries to charge you a fee to have a copy of the evidence giving rise to interest then you can disregard the interest liability until the evidence is proved. See: Andrews v Bolton Borough Council [2011].

Some HCEOs try to charge a fee under a pretence that obtaining a copy of the order is a subject access request under Section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998, but this is a delay tactic and you can infer the HCEO is vexatious.

You have a right to make a written complaint to the police of offences being committed.

There is no obligation for the police to act on complaints made verbally, and if the order is genuine then the police have a power to recover a copy of the evidence during their investigation free of charge.

Make a complaint to police.

In addition to your written complaint, you can also anonymously report the fraud to Action Fraud online. These are investigated by the Serious Fraud Office who can investigate organised complex frauds. Police follow a list of criteria for deciding whether to investigate a fraud. You must learn the criteria and set out your complaint so it fits neatly into it. Otherwise police will summarily fob your complaint.