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What is a CCJ?
A CCJ - or County Court Judgement - is an order made by a County Court for a debt to be repaid in England and Wales.
A creditor can go to court for the repayment of a debt to be enforced. This is done by making a County Court Claim.
If a County Court Claim is made against you, the Court will write to you
with details of the claim and ask you to respond. You have 16 days from the date on the postmark to do so.
You have a number of options
open to you in response to a County Court Claim.
1. Pay the debt in full within 14 days
2. You can ask for time to pay by filling in the Admission Form (N9A)
3. You can challenge the amount owed by making what is called "making a part admission" by filling in the Admission Form and a Defence Form (N9A and N9B)
4.
You can defend the claim by filling in Defence Form N9B
5. You can issue a counter-claim by completing the counterclaim section of Defence Form (N9B) if you think you are owed money by the claimant that could offset some or all of the claim
For more details of your options please see What to do if a County Court Claim is made against you.
If you do not pay the debt in full within 14 days, there will be a simple court hearing in private. You can attend if you wish or you can just send the information the court asks for by post.
The court doesn't find anyone 'guilty' or 'innocent'. It looks at the facts and decides whether you owe any money, and if so, how you should repay it in a way that is fair to both parties.
At the court hearing, the court may issue an order saying you must repay the debt. This order is called a County Court Judgement or a CCJ and will either be for the amount agreed between you and your creditor or, if you can't agree, a payment set by the court.
If you choose to ignore the Claim, the hearing will still take place and the court may decide against you in your absence and may say you must pay either the full amount or make monthly payments.
If a County Court Judgement is made against you, your CCJ will be recorded on the Register of County Court Judgments for six years - unless you pay the full amount of the judgment within one month.
Organisations such as banks, building societies and loan companies use the registered information to help decide whether to give you credit or loans including mortgages.
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