Contents of this Part
| Title | Number |
|---|---|
| Scope and interpretation | Rule 75.1 |
| The centre | Rule 75.2 |
| Request for registration | Rule 75.3 |
| Electronic delivery of documents | Rule 75.4 |
| Functions of court officer | Rule 75.5 |
| Review of decision of court officer | Rule 75.5A |
| Enforcement of orders | Rule 75.6 |
| Local authority warrant of control | Rule 75.7 |
| Revocation of order | Rule 75.8 |
| Applications for enforcement | Rule 75.9 |
Scope and interpretation
75.1
(a) sets out the proceedings to which this Part applies; and
(b) may apply this Part with modifications in relation to any particular category of those proceedings.
(Rule 21.1(1)(c)(i) provides that Part 21 (children and protected parties) does not apply to proceedings under this Part where one of the parties is a child.)
(a) ‘the Centre’ means the Traffic Enforcement Centre established under the direction of the Lord Chancellor;
(a1) ‘enforcement agent’ has the meaning given in paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 12 to the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007(1);
(a2) ‘local authority warrant of control’ means a warrant of control issued by a local authority under article 5 of the 1993 Order;
(b) ‘no relevant return to the warrant’ means that –
(i) the enforcement agent has been unable to take control of goods because the enforcement agent has been denied access to premises occupied by the defendant or because the goods have been removed from those premises;
(ii) any goods seized under a local authority warrant of control are insufficient to satisfy the debt and the cost of enforcement; or
(iii) the goods are insufficient to cover the cost of their removal and sale;
(ba) ‘notice of enforcement’ has the meaning given in regulation 2 of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013(1 (opens in a new tab));
(bb) ‘order for recovery’ means an order drawn up by the authority under rule 75.3(4) on receipt from the court of the registered request under rule 75.3(3);
(c) ‘the 1993 Order’ means the Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts Order 1993;
(d) ‘relevant period’, in relation to any particular case, means –
(i) the period allowed for serving a statutory declaration or witness statement under any enactment which applies to that case; or
(ii) where an enactment permits the court to extend that period, the period as extended;
(e) ‘specified debts’ means the debts specified in article 2 of the 1993 Order or treated as so specified by any other enactment; and
(f) ‘the authority’, ‘notice of the amount due’, ‘order’ and ‘the respondent’ have the meaning given by Practice Direction 75.
The centre
75.2
(1) Proceedings to which this Part applies must be started in the Centre.
(2) For any purpose connected with the exercise of the Centre’s functions –
(a) the Centre is deemed to be an office of the County Court; and
(b) any officer of the Centre, in exercising its functions, is deemed to act as an officer of the County Court.
Request for registration
75.3
(1) The authority must file a request in the appropriate form scheduling the amount claimed to be due.
(2) The authority must, in that request or in another manner approved by the court officer
(i) that 14 days have elapsed since service of the notice of the amount due;
(ii) the date of such service;
(iii) the number of the notice of the amount due; and
(iv) that the amount due remains unpaid;
(b) specify the grounds (whether by reference to the appropriate code or otherwise), as stated in the notice, on which the authority claims to be entitled to claim that amount; and
(i) the name, title and address of the respondent;
(ii) the registration number of the vehicle concerned;
(iii) the authority’s address for service;
(v) such other matters as required by Practice Direction 75.
(3) On receipt of a request that meets the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2), the court officer will order that the amount due may be recovered as if it were payable under a County Court order by registering the request and returning it to the authority.
(4) On receipt of a registered request the authority may draw up the order for recovery and must –
(a) insert in the order for recovery the date by which the respondent must either –
(i) comply with the order for recovery; or
(ii) file a statutory declaration or witness statement; and
(b) attach to the order for recovery a form of statutory declaration or witness statement for the respondent’s use.
(5) The authority must serve in accordance with Part 6 the order for recovery (and the form of statutory declaration or witness statement) on the respondent within 15 days of the date on which the request is registered by the court.
Electronic delivery of documents
75.4
(1) Where the authority is required to file any document other than the request, that requirement is satisfied if the information which would be contained in the document is delivered in computer-readable form.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), information which would be contained in a document relating to one case may be combined with information of the same nature relating to another case.
(3) Where a document is required to be produced, that requirement will be satisfied if a copy of the document is produced from computer records.
Functions of court officer
75.5
(1) Practice Direction 75 sets out the circumstances in which a court officer may exercise the functions of the court.
Review of decision of court officer
75.5A
(1) Any party may request any decision of a court officer to be reviewed by a district judge.
(2) Such a request must be made within 14 days of service of the decision.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4), unless –
(a) the party requesting the review requests a hearing; or
(b) the court orders a hearing,
a request for a review under paragraph (1) shall be determined without a hearing.
(4) Where a court officer has made an order on an application for a longer period to file a statutory declaration or witness statement, a request for a review under paragraph (1) shall be determined without a hearing unless the court otherwise directs.
Enforcement of orders
75.6
Subject to the 1993 Order and this rule the following rules apply to the enforcement of specified debts –
(a) Parts 70 to 73;
(c) rule 83.2;
(ca) rule 83.4; and
(d) Part 89.
Warrant of execution
75.7
(1) An authority seeking the issue of a local authority warrant of control must file a request—
(a) certifying the amount remaining due under the order for recovery;
(b) specifying the date of service of the order for recovery on the respondent; and
(c) certifying that the relevant period has elapsed.
(2) The court will seal the request and return it to the authority.
(3) Within 7 days of the sealing of the request the authority must prepare the warrant in the appropriate form.
(4) No payment under a warrant will be made to the court.
(5) Where the address of the respondent has changed since the issue of the warrant, the warrant shall remain valid if a new notice of enforcement (as required by regulation 7 of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013) is given to the respondent.
(6) Where paragraph (5) applies, the warrant remains valid only for the remainder of the 12 month period beginning with the date it was originally issued.
(7) Where an authority’s warrant of control has been issued in accordance with this rule, any application made under rule 84.5 must be made to the Centre and will be determined by a District Judge.
Revocation of order
75.8
Where, in accordance with any enactment, an order for recovery is deemed to have been revoked following the filing of a statutory declaration or a witness statement –
(a) the court will serve a copy of the statutory declaration or witness statement on the authority;
(b) any warrant of control issued pursuant to the order will cease to have effect; and
(c) if appropriate, the authority must inform any enforcement agent instructed to exercise the enforcement power of the withdrawal of the warrant as soon as possible.
Applications for enforcement
75.9
(1) Where an authority applies for any of the following orders, it must send to the Centre a separate application for each order sought—
(a) a charging order;
(b) an attachment of earnings order;
(c) an order to obtain information;
(d) a third party debt order.
(2) An application under paragraph (1) may combine different orders for recovery made against the same respondent under rule 75.3(4).
(“Order for recovery” is defined in rule 75.1(2)(bb).)
(3) In respect of each order for recovery to which an application under paragraph (1) relates, the authority must—
(a) where it has not attempted to enforce the order for recovery by taking control of goods, state the reason why no such attempt was made;
(b) certify that there has been no relevant return of the warrant of control;
(c) specify the date on which the order for recovery was served on the respondent; and
(d) certify that the period required before making the application has expired.
(4) Where an application under paragraph (1) relates to more than one order for recovery, the information required by paragraph (3) must be provided in the form specified in Practice Direction 75.
(5) Before an application under paragraph (1) is issued, the Centre shall send—
(a) any application for a charging order or an attachment of earnings order to the Civil National Business Centre; and
(b) any application for an order to obtain information or a third party debt order to the appropriate County Court hearing centre,
together with any material relating to the application.
Updated: Thursday, 1 October 2026