High court enforcement digital marketplace launched

The firm, founded by Jamie Waller, allows creditors to manage and oversee the collection of their debts through a network of high court enforcement agencies that operate under ISO-approved performance standards across all of England and Wales.

The platform is paid for by panel member companies, with no cost to the creditors who place their debts on the platform.

It also identified five areas in the space it hopes to address:

• Application of VAT on fees: Due to a change in regulation, there is industry wide uncertainty on the application of VAT on enforcement fees. People and businesses in the UK may have been wrongly charged VAT for some years
• Renting of Authority to Act: Some Authorised High Court Enforcement Officer’s (AHCEO’s) are simply charging enforcement agents a fee for using their authority to act under the authority of the High Court and have almost no oversight of the actions taken in their name, putting the most vulnerable people and the entire industry at higher risk
• Proof of delivery on Notices of Enforcement: The first step of the enforcement process requires a Notice of Enforcement to be sent to the debtor, giving them the opportunity to pay. The sending of this notice is challenged time and time again, with many debtors claiming to never receive any notice prior to the enforcement agent’s visit
• Using data science and behavioural insights to protect the vulnerable: Attempting to collect debts at the wrong time with the wrong approach increases the cost to debtors and reduces collections for creditors
• Safeguarding and privacy issues with proposed video law: The proposed mandatory filming of enforcement visits may put even more people at risk.

Dominic Briggs, managing director at Just, said: “When an officer arrives to collect an unpaid debt they are representing not just our company but our client’s company, as well as engaging with people who may be having a difficult time.

“It is not enough for them to simply be compliant with the law. We need to go over and above, to equip each officer with the training and information they need to engage with debtors in the right way, at the right time, and with the emotional intelligence required to achieve the right outcome.”