CES: what a letter means and what to do

A letter from CES is not a debt collection letter. It usually means a creditor already has a court judgment against you, has transferred it to the High Court, and has a writ of control that lets enforcement agents take control of your goods. You still have options, including paying, agreeing a plan, asking the court to pause the writ, or challenging the judgment if you never knew about the claim. This guide covers England and Wales.

Who are Court Enforcement Services?

Court Enforcement Services is registered at Companies House as COURT ENFORCEMENT SERVICES LTD, company number 08397825. It is an active private limited company, incorporated on 11 February 2013, with its registered office in London. It describes itself as a provider of High Court enforcement and commercial rent arrears recovery.

Is CES part of CDER Group?

Yes. Since 4 September 2018, Court Enforcement Services Ltd has been owned (75% or more of the shares and votes) by CDER Group UK Limited. The same company owns CDER Group Limited (formerly JBW), the enforcement firm Rundle & Co and the debt collector Advantis Credit. CDER’s website names CES as one of its partner companies and says CDER’s High Court work goes through it. See our guides to CDER Group and Rundle & Co if your letter is from one of those firms.

Is CES regulated?

Court Enforcement Services has been accredited by the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) since October 2023. Court Enforcement Services Limited is a corporate member of CIVEA, the Civil Enforcement Association. The High Court Enforcement Officers Association (HCEOA) directory lists two High Court enforcement officers working with CES. CES says both are directors of the company.

High Court enforcement officers are individuals authorised by the Lord Chancellor, but the firms they work through are private companies. The ECB is independent but voluntary, and the HCEOA and CIVEA are trade associations: there is no statutory regulator for bailiffs yet. We found no FCA register entry for Court Enforcement Services.

Why are Court Enforcement Services contacting you?

CES lists High Court enforcement of County Court Judgments over £600, commercial rent arrears recovery, service charge and insurance arrears, forfeiture of commercial leases, residential evictions, removal of trespassers, employment tribunal awards and ACAS settlements, and international orders. It lists its clients as including solicitors, utility companies, debt collection agencies and debt purchasers, landlords, local authorities, businesses and individuals.

A High Court writ of control

This is how most CES cases reach you:

1. A County Court Judgment (CCJ). The creditor sued you and got a judgment.
2. Transfer to the High Court. If the judgment is not paid, the creditor can ask for it to be enforced in the High Court. Judgments of £5,000 or more must be enforced there; judgments under £600 must stay in the County Court; between the two, the creditor can choose.
3. The writ. The High Court seals a writ of control (the creditor pays an £82 court fee) and it is passed to a High Court enforcement officer at CES.
4. Notice, then visits. You get a notice of enforcement, then agents can visit to take control of goods.

A writ of control lasts 12 months and can be extended by the court.

Two rules protect you. First, any judgment on a regulated consumer credit agreement, such as a credit card, personal loan or catalogue account, can only be enforced in the County Court, whatever the amount, so it cannot be passed to a High Court enforcement officer. Because CES works for debt purchasers and collection agencies, check what the original debt was. Second, if 6 years or more have passed since the judgment, the creditor needs the court’s permission to issue a writ. Our guide to High Court enforcement officers explains the process, and the guide to the warrant of control sets out how County Court enforcement differs.

Commercial rent, possession and tribunal awards

• Commercial rent arrears recovery (CRAR) lets a landlord’s enforcement agent take control of a business tenant’s goods without a court order. It only applies to commercial premises, never to a home.
• A writ of possession is used to evict. If your letter is about possession of your home, get housing or debt advice straight away.
• Employment tribunal awards can be enforced by a High Court enforcement officer without the £600 minimum.

Is the debt yours, and is it right?

Check the claim number, the court, the creditor and the judgment amount. CES says it cannot consider complaints about whether a writ was properly issued or the amount on it, because those are matters for the court or the creditor. If you never knew about the court claim, for example because it went to an old address, you may be able to apply to have the judgment set aside. See how to remove or set aside a CCJ.

If a letter is for someone who does not live with you, CES says it needs proof of who lives at the address, such as a dated and signed tenancy agreement or a mortgage statement, before it will remove the address.

What can CES do, and what can they not do?

Notice

You must get a notice of enforcement at least 14 clear days before an agent can take control of your goods. If a debt adviser asks on your behalf before those days run out, this extends to at least 28 clear days (not for some business debts). For cases that started before 1 May 2026, the old 7-day notice period still applies. Some older guidance, including firms’ own FAQs, may still mention 7 days.

Fees

Enforcement fees are fixed by law, not by CES, and are added to what you owe. High Court writs have their own, higher scale, and CES’s FAQs show VAT being added to the compliance fee.

For example, on a £4,000 judgment in a new case, the compliance fee is £79. A first visit adds £200 plus 7.5% of £2,800 (£210), so £410. A second visit adds £520. Contacting CES before the first visit avoids most of this.

Enforcement that is not under a High Court writ, such as commercial rent arrears recovery, uses the standard scale:

The old scales apply to cases started before 1 May 2026, because the 2026 regulations do not affect enforcement action taken before that date. Ask CES for a written breakdown if the charges do not match these tables. If you think the fees are wrong, you can ask the court to assess them.

Entry and goods

CES says its agents may visit between 6am and 9pm. You usually do not have to let an enforcement agent in. They cannot come in by pushing past you, when only children under 16 or vulnerable people are present, between 9pm and 6am, or through anything except a door. They can only force entry to a home to collect criminal fines, Income Tax or Stamp Duty, as a last resort, and a High Court writ for an ordinary debt is not on that list.

If you let them in, they can take control of goods you own that are not protected. They cannot take essentials such as clothes, beds, a cooker or fridge, work tools and equipment together worth less than £1,350, or anything belonging to someone else. They could take a car you own from outside. Different rules apply to business premises. Our guide to what bailiffs can and cannot do has the full rules.

Vulnerable people

CES says it has an in-house welfare team that can review your circumstances, pass them to the creditor and point you to free advice. Tell CES and the creditor about illness, disability, mental health problems or anything else that makes things harder, with evidence if you have it.

What should you do at each stage?

When the notice of enforcement arrives

Note the date and act before the notice period ends. Contact CES with an offer you can afford. CES says all offers go to the creditor for approval, and that failing to keep to an agreed plan will lead to further enforcement.

If you cannot pay, or the judgment is wrong

You can ask the High Court to stay (pause) the writ if you are unable to pay or there are special circumstances. Your witness statement must set out your income, spending and assets. You apply on form N244, and a court fee applies, although you may be able to get help with fees. If you never knew about the original claim, apply to set the judgment aside as well. Tell CES as soon as you apply.

If an agent visits

Ask for identification. A genuine notice will name the court, the claim number and the High Court enforcement officer; you can check the officer in the HCEOA directory, and certificated enforcement agents on the official register. If you sign a controlled goods agreement, only agree to payments you can keep up.

Is this letter or visit really from CES?

• CES warns that fraudsters have been phoning people and posing as enforcement agents.
• Use the contact details on your own paperwork, or on the creditor’s or CES’s official website, and check that the creditor has instructed CES. This page deliberately does not list the firm’s contact details.
• Check that the court, claim number and officer named on the notice match your case.
• Be wary of pressure to pay at once into an account you do not recognise.

How do debt solutions affect CES?

• Breathing Space pauses enforcement action and stops creditors contacting you about included debts for up to 60 days. A creditor cannot enforce a judgment during it.
• A debt management plan is informal; creditors can still take action even if you keep up the payments.
• An IVA is a legally binding agreement under the Insolvency Act 1986. Creditors bound by it cannot take further action to recover the debts included in it; secured debts, and debts that cannot be included, are outside it.
• During a debt relief order, a creditor owed a listed debt has no remedy for it without the court’s permission. DROs are free, for people with debts under £50,000, less than £75 a month spare, assets under £2,000 and a vehicle worth less than £4,000.
• After a bankruptcy order, creditors owed debts in the bankruptcy have no remedy against your property or you personally for those debts. Bankruptcy costs £680 to apply for.

Each has costs, conditions and long-term effects on your credit file. The debt solutions comparison sets them side by side.

How do you complain about Court Enforcement Services?

1. Complain to CES first, in writing or using the form on its website, with your reference number and any evidence. CES says it acknowledges complaints within 2 working days, tries to resolve them informally within 5 working days, and otherwise gives a final written response within 20 days of moving to the formal stage.
2. The Enforcement Conduct Board: for events from 1 January 2025, you can then refer the complaint to the ECB. You have the longer of 3 months from when you could reasonably have known about the problem, or 1 month from CES’s final response.
3. The HCEOA: you can also complain to the High Court Enforcement Officers Association about a High Court enforcement officer.
4. The creditor and the court: complain to the creditor too, because CES acts on its instructions. For serious misconduct, GOV.UK says you can ask a High Court judge to consider whether the officer should carry on working.

Our guide to dealing with debt collectors covers your rights with collection agencies, which follow a different route.

What to do next

1. Read the notice of enforcement. Check the court, the claim number, the creditor, the amount and whether the debt was a regulated credit agreement.
2. Contact CES before the notice period ends, using the details on your paperwork, and offer what you can afford. Get any agreement in writing.
3. Get free, impartial debt advice from MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice or National Debtline. An adviser can ask for the 28-day notice period and help with a court application. See where to get free debt advice.