If you have been threatened with a County Court Judgment (CCJ), your best advice is to try and avoid it escalating into a court claim, if at all possible. CCJs can have a negative impact on your credit score, leading to difficulties when obtaining a mortgage or other forms of finance in the future.
When Notice Of A Court Claim Is Served: What Should I Do?
If you receive an N1 Claim Form, you are required to fill in an acknowledgement of service form and return this to the court within 14 days. If you need more time to consider your position or prepare a defence, you can ask for more time using Form N9. The N9 documentation may be able to grant you 28 days to respond.
If you decide to pay the claim or part of the claim, you should fill in Form N9A advising the court and the claimant of this. You can include details of your income and expenditure, which will help the court decide at what rate you are able to repay the debt. If you feel that the rate the court sets is too high, you can request a redetermination, explaining to the court why you will struggle to make the payments.
Alternatively, if you wish to raise a defence or make a counterclaim, you should complete Form N9B.
You are advised to take action and seek legal advice if you need it. You may be able to negotiate with the claimant and come to an agreement over repayment of the sum owed. If you do not respond to a Claim Form, you may lose the right to ask the court to set aside the county court judgment if it includes errors.
What Happens If I Ignore A County Court Judgment?
If you do not respond to a Claim Form, you should be sent a default notice. This is a warning that legal action will be taken to recover the debt from you and you should receive it at least 14 days before court action begins.
If you do not appear in court to explain your circumstances, you could find that the judgment against you requires the debt to be paid back in a way that you cannot manage. By engaging with the process, you will have the opportunity to ask to pay in instalments.
Appealing A County Court Judgment
If a CCJ has been made against you and you do not agree with it, you can apply to the court for it to be set aside.
You will need to fill in Form N244. It is important to make sure that you have the right grounds for asking for the judgment to be set aside, otherwise, you could be penalised when it comes to legal costs.
Examples include failure by the claimant to follow the correct process, such as not sending the claim form to your correct address, or the claimant not giving you sufficient notice of the proceedings.
Your application will be put before the court at a hearing which you should attend. This is your chance to explain why you believe the CCJ should be set aside. If you are concerned that a CCJ has been made against you when it should not have been, you are advised to speak to a solicitor as soon as possible. A solicitor will be able to ensure that your rights are upheld and that you have the chance to have the CCJ set aside.
What Happens If I Don’t Pay A CCJ Debt?
If you do not pay the debt after receiving a county court judgment against you, the claimant can ask the court to enforce it. They can do this in a range of ways, including:
- Sending bailiffs to your home to recover goods to the value of the amount owed;
- Obtaining a charging order against your property, if you are a homeowner. This means you would have to repay the amount owed under the CCJ plus interests plus legal costs if you were to sell or remortgage the property. In some cases the claimant could even force a sale of the property;
- Asking the court for an attachment of earnings order, meaning your employer would pay some of your pay directly to the claimant to settle the debt plus interest plus legal costs.
Can A County Court Judgment Affect My Credit Rating?
A county court judgment is entered in the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines which credit agencies monitor. This means that if you have a CCJ against you, your credit score will be significantly impacted and it is likely to affect you if you apply for a mortgage or credit card.
If you pay your debt within one month of the county court judgment being made, you can apply for the entry on the Register to be removed, otherwise, it will remain there for six years.
Contact Our Civil Litigation Solicitors
At Witan Solicitors, we represent clients in civil litigation cases in a wide range of areas, including the following:
- Civil disputes
- Commercial disputes
- Professional negligence claims
- Property disputes
- Trust disputes
- Civil fraud cases
- Employment claims (employee)
- Employment disputes (employer)
- Will disputes
If you need advice in respect of a debt claim or a county court judgment, get in touch with our solicitors today. You can contact us by sending an email to info@witansolicitors.co.uk or filling in our contact form online. No matter how you get in touch, our team will be happy to assist your case.
For more information about the civil legal process, see our Civil Court Guide.
