County Court Judgement
County Court Judgements (CCJ)
You will receive a letter stating that someone (a creditor) is making a County Court Claim against you in order to claim the money that you owe.
If you pay the amount outstanding, a hearing or judgment can be avoided. If not, there?ll be a simple court hearing in private, which you can attend if you wish.
The court doesn't find anyone ?guilty? or ?innocent?. It looks at the facts and decides whether the person owes the money or not and if so how the money should be repaid.
At this point you will get the chance to make an offer of repayment and settle the debt.
After the court hearing, the court may issue an order saying that you must repay the debt. This order is called a CCJ and will either be, for the amount agreed between you and the creditor or, if you didn?t agree, a payment set by the court.
If you have judgments from more than one creditor, the court can combine your debts and make an ?administration order? - saying that you must make a single payment every month to be shared by all of your creditors.
County Court Judgment (CCJ) records
Unless you pay the full amount of the judgment within one month, a CCJ will be recorded on the Register of County Court Judgments for six years.
Organisations such as banks, building societies and loan companies use the registered information to help decide whether to give people credit or loans, like a mortgage.
Creditor
Someone you owe money to.
Unsecured lending
Total loan & credit card debts excluding your mortgage and any hire purchase.
Country
The country you currently live in.
Insolvency Practitioners
Also known as an IP, a person who specialises in formal insolvency cases.
Valuations
The process of determing the current value of an asset.
Equity
The difference between the market value of a property and the claims held against it.
Lender
Someone you owe money to.
Eviction Order
A court order by which a person may be evicted.
Arrears
An unpaid and overdue debt.
Disposable Income
The amount of income left to an individual after taxes have been paid, available for spending and saving.
Statement of Affairs
A financial report showing assets and liabilities at expected liquidation values and shareholders' equity.
Insolvent
Unable to meet debt obligations.
Secured Loan
Money borrowed using goods or property as a guarantee.