Third Party Debt Order
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What will happen if the judgment debtor or the third party objects to my application for a final third party order?
They must file their written evidence setting out their objections not less than 3 days before the hearing is due to take place. They must send copies to you and to each other. If they have raised objections, the judge will expect them to attend the hearing.
You should note that both the third party, and the judgment debtor, may apply to the court for the hearing to take place at a court nearer to their home, or place of business. If an application is made, the court will let you know.
Can the judgment debtor do anything else which will prevent me getting my money?
Where the judgment debtor is an individual, that is, not a firm, company or corporation, and the third party is a bank or building society, an application for a hardship payment order may be made.
What is a hardship payment order?
It is an order made by a judge. It tells the third party to release some of the money frozen as a result of the interim third party debt order to the judgment debtor or some other named person. The order will be in Form N37 (Hardship payment order).
The judge will only make this kind of order if the judgment debtor is able to prove that the judgment debtor and the judgment debtor's family, is suffering hardship in not being able to meet day to day living expenses as a result of an amount, or amounts being frozen.
The judgment debtor can make an application at any court - it does not have to be the court where you made your application for a third party debt order. If an application is made, a judge will decide how and when you are to be told about it. For example, the court may try to telephone you, or send you a fax message, since, from the judgment debtor's point of view, the situation will be urgent. A hardship payment order may allow the release of a single amount of money, but could allow the release of a specific sums over a period of weeks until the hearing.