How Does A County Court Judgment Work?

When it comes to reclaiming money from debtors, there’s a lot of information out there regarding the different approaches you can take and their likelihood of success. Many of those options centre around county court judgments, which can be enforced by the court and give creditors legal backing to take action. But it you’ve never had to go down that route before, the whole process can seem a bit daunting. So today we’re going to go through what a county court judgment is, and what the process is for getting one.

What Is A County Court Judgment?

A county court judgment (also known as a CCJ) is a type of court order issued in England and Wales by the county court. The court will issue these if a person or company owes you money, and numerous attempts to seek repayment have failed. In other words, if you have a client who is refusing to pay you, even after you’ve tried repeatedly get them to, then it can be incredibly effective.

How Does The Process Work?

If you have made attempts to claim payment from your client and they have still refused to pay, then you can make an application to the court and request a CCJ. You should have followed the Pre-Action Protocol for debt collection before issuing court proceedings.  You will need to complete a Claim Form, setting out the details of the debt and how it arose.  You can also include any interest and costs that you are claiming and on what basis they are claimed (statutory or contractual).  You can state that they have failed to pay the sums due. Therefore, it is best to have attempted recovery through correspondence before taking legal action.

Once you have sent the Claim Form and paid the court issue fee to the court, the court will serve the Claim Form upon the debtor, now known as the Defendant.  If they do not respond to the claim, you can request a CCJ. Once one is issued against the debtor, they will be ordered by the court to pay the money back. The CCJ will set out when they should pay.  They could be ordered to make payment in full, immediately. Or they may be ordered to pay by instalments if they have admitted the debt but stated that they cannot pay it in one go.

The CCJ will be registered against the debtor, which will have an impact on their credit rating.  If they make payment in full within 30 days of the CCJ, then they can make an application to have it cancelled and it will no longer show on their credit file.  This can be a good incentive to get payment.  If they pay after 30 days, then the debtor can apply to have the CCJ marked as “satisfied”.  It will still show on their credit file but it will also show that it has been paid.

If a debtor does not make payment as ordered by the CCJ, then enforcement action can be taken against them. Examples of enforcement are instructing a High Court Enforcement Officer (Sheriff), applying for a Charging Order against their property or even an Attachment of Earnings order.

Do You Need A CCJ?

Honestly, it depends. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that a CCJ is the only way to get your money back if a debtor isn’t playing ball. And while it is a useful and effective tool, there are other ways you can go about reclaiming debts without a CCJ in place. Ultimately, getting a CCJ issued can cost both time and money for your business, and there is always a risk that the claim may be defended, or they may not pay even after obtaining a CCJ. That’s why many people seek out the help of a debt collector first.

A professional debt collector can help you understand your rights and the courses of action you could take, and then support you in seeking repayment in the most cost-effective way. Debt collection agencies are on your side, and our job is to contact your customers on your behalf and negotiate repayment. In many cases, being contacted by a third-party debt collector can be an incredibly effective method all on its own – sometimes all we need to do is write a letter!

At Debtcol we understand the frustration that comes with not being paid. And when a client is refusing to co-operate, it can get incredibly confusing to work out what to do next. That’s why our advisors are on hand to explain your options to you and guide you through every step of the collection process. If you’re struggling to reclaim money owed to you, we would love to chat about how we can help. For more information, just get in touch with the team today.