Third Party Debt Order

Third Party Debt Order.

A Third Party Debt Order in most cases is used to stop the defendant taking money out of their bank or building society accounts. The amount of money that you are owed is then paid to you from their account(s).

A Third Party Debt Order can also be sent to anyone else who owes YOU money.

The Organisation or person that owes you money is known and referred to as the 'third party'. A Third Party Debt Order will prevent the accused from having access to any of their funds until the court makes a decision about whether or not the money should be paid to you. In these proceedings the 'third party' that owes you the money is referred to as the 'judgment debtor' and you are referred to as the 'judgment creditor'. The money held by the 'third party' must be held solely for the debtor. You are unable to, for example, apply for a Third Party Debt Order against a joint bank account unless judgment is passed states that the debt is owed by all of the account holders.

Always choose your time carefully when making your application

The court order, which is initially sent to the bank or building society, will ‘freeze’ the money held in an account on the day which it is served. It is vital that you must know when the tenant is paid as the 'freeze' will not apply to any money that is deposited in the tenant’s account after the day that the 'freeze' was introduced/served.

	Fill in Court Form N349 and send it off to the Court with the appropriate fee

	Judge will grant an Interim Order on Form N84 and send a copy to you and the third party (a copy of the order is not sent to the tenant until 7 days has lapsed)

	Within 7 days the bank or building society carries out a search to identify all the tenants accounts and provides you and the court with this information

	The Interim Order will include the date and time of the hearing at which the judge will decide whether or not to make a Final Third Party Debt Order (you must attend this hearing otherwise the judge may dismiss your application)

	At the hearing, if your application is successful, any fees you paid are usually recoverable from the tenant by being added to the judgment (an order will be drawn on Form N85 and you and the tenant will be sent a copy)
	END

After you send the Court Form N349, if the judge is satisfied with the information you have provided, they pass an Interim Third Party Debt Order on Form N84 and a copy will be sent to you and the defendant's bank or building society.

The tenant is not sent a copy of the Order until 7 days has lapsed after the bank or building society has received theirs. This process makes sure that the bank or building society ‘freezes’ the money before the tenant is made aware of the Order.

The Order will include the date and time of a hearing at which the judge will determine whether or not to make a Final Third Party Debt Order. At the hearing the judge will consider your application and any evidence provided by the tenant. If your application is successful then any fees that you have incurred, are usually recoverable from the tenant as they are added to the judgment. An Order will then be drawn on Form N85, copies of which will be supplied to you and the tenant.

Always BEWARE and prepare for the event that the tenant may ask the Court to make a Hardship Payment Order so that they can have some of the money to released from the money 'frozen' by the Interim Third Party Debt Order. In this case the tenant must prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that they will suffer hardship if they are unable to meet their daily day living expenses as a result of the ‘freeze’.