If you are owed money, and you have instructed us to act on your behalf to recover the debt this article will outline the controlled goods agreement, what it is and how it works in your favour.

Attendance of an enforcement agent

Enforcement agents will attend the property of the debtor after giving the required notice of 7 days with the intention of recovering the debt or alternatively listing items of value that can be sold to repay the debt. However, enforcement Agents won’t usually take possessions on the first time of entering a property, they will list any items of value in an inventory.

Creating an inventory

This creating of an inventory of goods that could be sold to repay the debt is known as ‘taking control of goods’ and is covered by the Taking Control of Good Regulations 2013. You can find the detail of this legislation here .

The inventory should be thorough and include makes, model numbers and serial number of the goods and identifying characteristics such as colour, size, and unique attributes.

What are the benefits of a controlled goods agreement?

A controlled goods agreement means that the items listed cannot be sold, transferred to new ownership or interfered with in any way and to do so would be a criminal offense punishable by up to 50 weeks imprisonment, a fine of up to £2,500 or both.

The enforcement agent will have the right to inspect the goods at any time and if the debtor were to default on the repayment then the enforcement agent has the right to re-enter the property and remove the goods so that they can be sold to cover the debt.

The items that are under control cannot be touched by any other creditors, so it is worth noting this as another significant benefit.

Company debt

If the debtor is a business, then having a controlled goods agreement in place means that they can continue to operate and service the debt payments, as High Court Enforcement Officers we understand that such leverage can mean payments are made sooner rather than later so that the business is not at risk of having operational equipment taken away and sold at auction.

High value items

If the debtor has a high value item that is worth more than the debt, this can be placed under a controlled goods agreement and if it does have to be sold, then any remaining balance after the debt and the associated fees and costs have been repaid will be returned to the debtor.