What Happens If You Ignore a County Court Judgment?
A County Court Judgment (CCJ) that is ignored will affect your credit rating and can be enforced through several increasingly serious methods.
Quick Answer
Ignoring a CCJ is one of the worst things you can do. It will be registered on the Register of Judgments and damage your credit rating for six years. The creditor can then use enforcement methods — including bailiffs, an attachment of earnings order, or a charging order on your property — without returning to court for permission in many cases.
Full Explanation
A County Court Judgment (CCJ) is a court order that requires you to pay a debt. If you ignore a claim form issued against you and do not file a Defence, a default judgment will be entered against you automatically. If you receive a judgment and do nothing, the creditor can enforce it through a range of methods, each progressively more serious.
The judgment is registered on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines (maintained by Registry Trust) for six years. This will seriously damage your ability to obtain credit, a mortgage, or a tenancy during this period. The register is checked by banks, mortgage lenders, landlords, and utility companies. If you pay the judgment in full within one month of it being made, you can apply to have it 'set aside' — cancelled entirely — from the register. If you pay after one month, you can have it marked as 'satisfied', but it remains on the register for the six-year period.
If the creditor wishes to enforce the judgment, they have several options without needing to return to court in most cases: sending county court bailiffs (civil enforcement agents) to seize and sell your goods; obtaining an attachment of earnings order (directing your employer to deduct payments from your wages); obtaining a third party debt order (freezing money in your bank account and directing it to the creditor); obtaining a charging order against your property (which creates a form of security, potentially enforceable by sale of the property in serious cases); or issuing a writ of control in the High Court (if the debt exceeds £600, giving High Court Enforcement Officers greater powers).
If you cannot pay, the best course of action is to engage with the creditor and seek an agreed payment plan. You can also apply to the court to pay by instalments (Form N245 — Application for a Suspended Warrant or Variation of an Order). Seeking debt advice from StepChange or National Debtline is strongly recommended.
Legal Basis
- §Civil Procedure Rules, Part 12 (default judgment)
- §Courts Act 2003, section 98 (Register of Judgments)
- §Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (enforcement)
- §Charging Orders Act 1979
What To Do
Do Not Ignore the Claim Form
If you have received a court claim form (N1), respond within 14 days. You can acknowledge service, admit the claim, or defend it. Ignoring it will result in a default judgment being entered against you.
Pay Within One Month if Possible
If a CCJ has been entered and you can pay the full amount, do so within one month. Apply to the court to have the judgment cancelled (Form N443). You will need the creditor's confirmation of receipt of payment.
Apply to Pay by Instalments
If you cannot pay in full, complete Form N245 to apply to pay by instalments. The court will set a monthly payment order based on your income and expenditure. Paying by instalments does not remove the CCJ from the register but reduces the risk of further enforcement.
Apply to Set Aside the Judgment
If the default judgment was entered without your knowledge (e.g., if you did not receive the claim form), you can apply to set it aside (Form N244). You need to show you have a real prospect of successfully defending the claim and that you acted promptly on finding out about the judgment.
Seek Debt Advice
Contact StepChange, National Debtline, or Citizens Advice for free debt advice. If debts are unmanageable, options such as a Debt Relief Order (DRO), Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA), or bankruptcy may be worth considering.
Important Deadlines
Important Warnings
A charging order does not automatically mean your property will be sold — the creditor must obtain a separate 'order for sale', which courts are reluctant to grant where this would make you homeless.
High Court Enforcement Officers (HCEOs) have wider powers than county court bailiffs — if a CCJ over £600 is transferred to the High Court for enforcement, the powers of entry and seizure are more extensive.
Continuous failure to respond to court correspondence can ultimately lead to committal proceedings for contempt of court in some enforcement contexts.