What is a County Court Judgment (CCJ)?

What should I do about a CCJ?

1. Respond to any letters you get from the court. You will first get a ‘letter of claim’
2. Check the details of the claim – if anything is wrong you need to say
3. If you agree it is your debt, get a repayment plan in place to pay it back
4. Get free debt advice to work out your budget (to show what you can afford to pay) and your options for dealing with this and other debts. There may be ways to add them to a debt solution, which could be easier for you to manage

How to check if you have a CCJ

The first step in the process is for a letter to be sent to you about it. It lists details of the debt and is always sent by post.

This is called a 'letter of claim' and it is usually sent by Northampton County Court. The creditor (the person or company you owe money to) must send this to you before they can go ahead with a county court claim.

I haven’t had a letter of claim. Do I have a CCJ?

You will be able to find out for sure by checking your credit file. All CCJs are listed on there. You can do this through credit reference agencies. Many allow you to check your details for free.

Debts that are regulated by the Consumer Credit Act

With debts that are regulated by the Consumer Credit Act you must get a default notice first. This must happen before creditors can start getting a CCJ.

These are debts like credit cards and buy now, pay later.

Find out more about how default notices work.

Completing county court claim forms

Our step-by-step video guide below explains how to complete the CCJ forms. Read our County Court claim process guide.

Click for sound

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Admission form

Dependents section

Employment details

Bank accounts

Where you live

Your income

Living with someone?

Your outgoings

Priority debts

Court orders

Credit debts

Offer of payment

Declaration

Responding to letters of claim for CCJs

You must respond to all letters of claim

You have 30 days to respond and avoid further action being taken against you. Responding quickly is the best way to make a CCJ go away quickly. And this gives you the chance to tell the court if you think you do not need to pay what the claim says you owe.

Use the reply form to:

• Say if you agree you owe the debt or not
• Fill in the financial statement to show what you can afford to pay – this will be used for the court to set a repayment plan
• Let the creditor know you are seeking debt help
• Ask for more information about the debt – if you think some of the details are wrong

• You have 14 days to get the completed N9A or N9B back to the creditor
• The court allows a few extra days for the claim pack to get to you
• The exact deadline depends on which court issued the claim
• You can usually reply online if you cannot reply by post
• You can also apply for an extension using the ‘acknowledgement of service’ form

After you return the forms:

• The creditor or court look at your N9A Admission form
• They agree a payment amount based on the information provided
• This usually gets paid in monthly instalments
• As long as you pay on time, there is no further action except:

If you are a homeowner, the creditor can apply for a charging order. This secures the debt against your home

Not responding to a letter of claim

The court will assume you chose not to respond. This means the court believes you owe the money and will take further action to recover the debt. They will tell you to pay it in full, along with any added court costs.

This is why you should always respond to CCJ letters and find some way to pay them or get them set aside.

Read more about what can happen if you ignore a CCJ.

Identifying Northampton and other county court forms

Creditors often act against debtors in large batches.

The only place they can do this is through the County Court Judgement Bulk Processing Centre in Northampton. This means many CCJs come from Northampton County Court, but not all.

Use our checklist to check the letter you have been sent is a real court form.

The forms are usually printed on white or blue-and-white paper. They should have the form name at the top and the form number in the bottom right-hand corner.

There should be four forms in total. They should have these titles:

• N1 - Claim form
• N9 - Response pack
• N9A - Admission (specified amount)
• N9B - Defence and counterclaim

The top right corner of the N1, N9A and N9B should have:

• The court name, often Northampton County Court
• Your name
• The creditor name, and usually their account number or debt reference number
• A 'claim number' which identifies your case

The N1 claim form should state what you owe. A section called ‘particulars of claim’, which explains the debt

If you do not see particulars of claim on the N1, they may have been sent separately.

About orders to obtain information

The people you owe use an Order to Obtain Information to find out more about your circumstances when you get a County Court judgment.

Form N39 ‘Order to attend court for questioning’ gives you a hearing date in at least 14 days’ time.

You must attend the hearing or tell the court if you cannot make it. If you do not:

• The court sends you a new hearing date
• They can arrest you and take you to court if you miss the second hearing

At the hearing, you answer some questions under oath and make an offer to repay the debt. The questions are shown in form EX140 'Record of evidence'.

The people you owe use this information to decide what to do next.

They may consider a third party debt order if you miss CCJ payments but have savings

Questions people ask us about county court judgments (CCJs)

Can you get a CCJ for rent arrears

Yes, any creditor can apply to get a CCJ. If you are struggling to pay rent arrears, the best way to avoid a CCJ for rent arrears is to:

• Contact the landlord or letting agency and explain you are having trouble with money at the moment. It helps to give them a reason. Such as ill health
• Share a monthly budget with them that shows how much you can afford to pay each month on your arrears. We can help you make a budget when you come to us for debt advice
• Keep to the new payment arrangement and pay off the arrears in time

Read our guide to rent arrears.

Can a CCJ be included in a debt relief order (DRO)?

Yes, it be included, but only if you meet the other guidelines for a debt relief order.

Find out how DROs work and how to apply for one

Do CCJs get written off?

There are different ways to write off a CCJ:

• Pay it in full immediately and it will not be recorded on your credit file
• Apply for it to be ‘set aside’. There is a fee to do this and you have to prove you did not know about it or the creditor did not apply using the process properly

Read our guide to writing off debt.

Can you help me with a CCJ?

We have helped millions of people since 1993 and we are here to help you. We will start by finding out more about your finances and anything else that is making it hard for you to manage them. Then we recommend ways to deal with your debt.

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