What is a County Court Judgement (CCJ)? debt-simple

County Court Judgement (CCJ)

What is a CCJ?

‘In England and Wales (Scotland has its own legal system), CCJs are legal decisions handed down by County Courts. Judgments for monetary sums are entered on the Register of County Court Judgments, which is checked by credit reference agencies to assess the credit-worthiness of individuals.'

If you fall into arrears with a credit agreement and come to no arrangements to repay your debt, a creditor may apply to the local court for a County Court Judgment. This means the creditor is taking legal action against you in order to recover the monies owed.

CCJ’s Explained

CCJ for 6 years.

A County Court Judgment will be registered on your credit file and will remain there for 6 years. If you repay the judgment before the 6 years are up, you can apply for a Certificate of Satisfaction. There is a cost of £10 for court fees. This will then be placed on your credit file that can be seen by any creditor/lender you apply to for credit.

Prevent a CCJ

To prevent a County Court Judgment from being registered on your credit file, you must to repay the full amount requested within one month.

County Court Claim Form

You will receive an Admission Form, or a County Court Claim form. This form gives you the opportunity to acknowledge you owe the debt. It also requests information regarding your current financial situation. On this form, you can make an offer of an amount you believe you can afford each month to repay the debt.

If you have been requested to repay the full amountYou can apply to vary the order to a monthly payment you can afford. This can be done by filling in a N245 Varied Order form which can be obtained either from the court, or downloaded online. There is normally a fee of around £30 which must be included with the form; however this can sometimes be waived if you are on a low income. This is your opportunity to inform the court of an offer of repayment you believe you can afford to repay each month.
The court will then pass this offer on to your creditor to review. If they accept, it will be set at that amount for you to repay every month. If they don't accept, then the court will set a monthly payment dependant on the information you have provided.

It is always important to seek debt advice if a creditor is taking legal action to recover the monies owed and this should be taken seriously.