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A county court claim is just that, a claim. You have the opportunity to defend yourself if you believe you do not owe the creditor any money or alternatively, suggest a repayment plan.
If you choose to defend yourself there will inevitably be a court hearing, the attendance of which is not compulsory. If on the otherhand you agree to repay the creditor you can avoid the hearing and possibility of a judgement by simply agreeing to repay the debt.
The outcome of a county court claim will be decided by the court if you choose to defend the allegations made against you. The court has no other interest than to promote what is fair and reasonable based on the information submitted by debtor and creditor.
You will receive a letter informing you of a creditors claim against you, after which the court will send you a Claim Form. A Claim Form will explain how much the creditor claims you owe them.
Your Claim Form will ask you to detail income and outgoings and will be accompanied by an Admissions Form. On the Admissions Form you can do one of two things:
1) Make an offer to repay the debt, or 2) Offer to pay a lower amount if you think the creditor’s claims are inaccurate.
If having considered both viewpoints, the court decides in favour of the creditor, you will be ordered to repay the debt. Depending on the circumstances and the amount owed, you will either be forced to repay the debt in full or in monthly instalments.
Note: The court allows 16 days from the date of the postmark to return the Claim Form. Alternatively, you may want to submit an Acknowledgement of Service or a Defence Form (N9B) depending on how you want to proceed.
In the event you have decided to defend the claim against you in court, you should understand the implications of losing. If the court sides with the creditor, you will incur a Country Court Judgment ordering you to repay the debt. The debt will either have to be paid in full or in part if you can negotitate with the creditor. If you cannot agree the court will decide how much the creditor should receive.
A CCJ is extremely bad news for your credit rating and will seriously hamper you ability to obtain a credit card, loan or mortgage.
Note: If you have judgments from multiple creditors the court may combine your debts and into an Administration Order. If this is the case your monthly payments will be shared by all creditors.
You pay the creditor who made the claim against you, or their solicitor will accept your payments on their behalf. For more information download Paying My Judgment PDF
If you do not adhere to the repayment agreement set by the court, you will be subject to penalities and that means more costs. If you simply can’t afford to make the repayments you can ask the court to:
1) Lower the amount of payments, or 2) Suspend the the order until you can afford to pay.
For more information download Cannot Pay Judgment PDF
Unless you pay the full amount of the judgment within one month, your CCJ will be recorded on the Register of County Court Judgments for six years.
Most banks/building societies consult the register before agreeing to any credit applications. For more information download Recorded Judgments PDF.
It must be emphasised that you should have a solid reason to object to a CCJ. If you disagree with the order you can ask the court to ‘lay it aside’ which will grant you another opportunity to reply to the Claim Form. If you cannot demonstrate a genuine reason for the objection you may be accused of wasting court time, the consequences of which are a fine at best and at worst a prison sentence.
If you are confident of overturning the court’s decision and object to the CCJ, the record will be removed from the County Court Register until a new judgment is made.
For more information download Disagreeing with a Judgment PDF
There are companies who claim to be able to remove CCJs from the County Court Register, many of them are unscrupulous and charge a high fee for the ‘service’.
Debts advise you to consult the Citizens Advice Bureau at www.adviceguide.org in the first instance for free advice on such companies.
If on the other hand you have been mistakenly added to register you can have incorrect information removed by paying £2 to see your credit file and asking for errors to be corrected.
A judgment, however is only removed from the register under two conditions:
1) You paid the order in full within one month
2) The order has been suspended, ie set aside by the court.
For details on how to improve your credit rating, visit www.debts.org/credit_reports
Many organisations, such as the ones listed here, don’t charge for guidance - always get free, independent advice before using a commercial service.
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