What if I do not know to how to pay a CCJ?

Can I pay my CCJ in stages?

You might be able to if you cannot afford to pay in full. Ask the court to agree to you making payments based on what you can afford. You do this by completing the N245 form.

Fill in the form and share information about:

• Your income, including benefits, and
• Spending

This shows the court you are offering to pay what you can afford.

Read our guide to completing the N245 County Court judgment form.

How much should I offer in a CCJ payment plan?

The amount you offer depends on your situation, and what you can afford to pay each month.

You must:

• Make sure your offer of payment is realistic
• Not offer more than you can afford. This could lead to you missing or falling behind with payments

To work out how much you can afford to pay

Start with working out your ‘disposable income’. This is what you have left over once you have paid for your essential living costs, such as:

• Rent or mortgage
• Council tax
• Food
• Utility bills
• Transport costs

You must cover any payments to ‘priority arrears’ too. These are the payments you need to make as there are serious consequences if you do not pay.

Then work out a fair share for your CCJ payment and any other debts.

Need help with working out what to pay? Use our online budgeting guides or get in touch with us.

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:

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1. A court decided you must pay the full amount owed immediately, and
2. 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.

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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.

If you are on a low income, fill in this online form to apply to not pay the fee.

To apply, fill in court form N245.

This is similar to the N9A admission form you got when the people you owe started court action. You need to share:

• Your income
• Living costs
• Debts
• What you are offering to pay

The process goes like this:

1. You send the completed N245 form to the court. With your payment or proof you do not have to pay
2. The court will send the N245 form to the people you owe. This is to check if they agree with the new payments.
3. If they do not agree, the court will decide a fair payment. This will be done without a hearing in most cases
4. 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 N245 form.

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.

Can I get a CCJ removed?

You may be able to. This is called 'setting aside a CCJ'. It means:

• You go back to the position you were in before the judgment happened
• You will get a chance to put forward a defence against the CCJ if you missed your chance to do this when you received the forms

You may be able to do this if:

1. You were not aware of the CCJ. Such as, the court sent the claim form to an old address
2. You have a good argument against the CCJ. Such as, you had already paid the debt off
3. You acted as soon as you found out about the CCJ

What if I do not know how to pay a CCJ?

We can help if you are:

• Finding it hard to pay your CCJ
• Not sure how much to offer towards payment

Get free online debt advice at any time that suits you.