What if I do not have any money left over to pay my CCJ?
You can make an offer of a token payment if you do not have any money left over. It does not matter how small the offer is.
The court will record a 'judgment forthwith' if they decide you cannot afford a monthly instalment.
Judgement forthwith means:
- A court decided you must pay the full amount owed immediately, and
- The people you owe can take action to collect the money
The people you owe could take further court action such as:
- An attachment of earnings order, or
- Bailiff action
We do not recommend leaving the offer of payment session blank or writing '£0'. The court will give you a judgment forthwith in this case.
Can I change how much I pay towards a CCJ?
In most cases, you can ask the court to agree. But you must act quickly.
You can ask the court to:
- Change the payments if you cannot afford them. This is called "redetermination"
- Change the payments if your circumstances have changed. This is called "variation"
Redetermination
This is asking the court to:
- Review the payments to the CCJ and
- Change the payments if they are too high
You can apply for free if one of these apply to you:
The CCJ was a ‘judgment after determination’
It will say this on the CCJ letter. This means:
- You returned your forms on time
- The people you owe refused your offer
- The court made a decision or ‘determination’ about the rate of payment
- Your application for redetermination is received by the court in 16 days or less from the date of judgment on the CCJ judgment letter
You can do this by:
- Writing to the court and
- Enclosing a copy of your budget showing the amount you can afford to pay
We have an example letter you can use to do this.
Redetermination example letter: This is a Word document. You can use Google Docs and other programmes if you do not have access to Word.
A court officer decided your original CCJ payment:
- A District Judge will review your case
- They will decide what the rate of payment should be
- This will normally happen without a hearing
A District Judge decided your original CCJ payment
- The court will ask you to attend your local County Court hearing centre for a hearing
- The court will decide the new rate of payment at the hearing
Variation
This is asking the court to change the instalments if they are too high.
You can apply at any time if your circumstances change. But you will have to pay a £15 court fee.
You may be able to get support if you are on a low income. Use this online form to apply for help paying the fee.
There are different ways to change what you pay, depending on how your payment rate was set. If your creditor set the rate, you will need to fill in court form N245. You will know this because you and the creditor agreed the rate of payment.
This is similar to the N9A admission form you got when the people you owe started court action.
If the court has set the payment rate for you and the creditor, then you will need to fill in court form N244.
You need to share:
- Your income
- Living costs
- Debts
- What you are offering to pay
The process to vary what you pay works like this:
- You send the completed N244 or N245 form to the court. With your payment or proof you do not have to pay
- The court will send the N244 or N245 form to the people you owe. This is to check if they agree with the new payments.
- If they do not agree, the court will decide a fair payment. This will be done without a hearing in most cases
- The court will write to you with details of the new payment plan. This might be for a different amount than the one you offered
Read our guide to completing the N244 and N245 court forms.
Keep on paying what you owe until the new payment plan has been confirmed.
This could take a few weeks.
If you do not do this, action can be taken to collect what you owe.