How to Serve & Enforce a County Court Judgment (CCJ)?

We realize it’s not always possible to work out the best way forward in terms of enforcing your judgment but don’t worry we will give you straightforward advice on your options so that you make an informed enforcement decision. If you are a legally trained person reading this blog post, you will know how frustrating enforcement can be. If issuing claims and entering judgment is not your “day job” then you have probably found the whole process of enforcing your judgment VERY frustrating. In a nutshell, the enforcement process is not automatic, and you have to decide how best to compel payment if your debtor won’t part their cash.

What is a County Court Judgment (CCJ)?

A County Court Judgment (CCJ) is a type of court order in England, Wales that might be filed against you if you fail to return the money you owe. A CCJ is also known as a County Court Summons.

How do you enforce a county court Judgment?

Enforcement is very much like a game of Roulette. People are betting on the court system to deliver a result. Like any bet, there are ways to increase the odds in your favour. Information is a key part of getting a better outcome from the enforcement process. Before you sue anyone, you should have enough information about them (or “it” if it’s a company) to know if they have some form of asset(s) to pay your judgment when you eventually get it. It may be they have a job, their own business, a house or property, or goods in the form of a car, or a business with assets.

These are all indicators that a person has the means to pay. Today there are plenty of ways to verify what you think you know. Use Google, and social media to verify the information. Professional credit people will have systems that check a person or business for credit. Use your ingenuity to build a picture of how your target debtor is going to pay you once the court issues its judgment.

If you can’t do that, and if you know nothing about your target debtor, before you start your claim, then at least go into the process knowing that the odds are not on your side. You can improve the chance of recovering your money by suing a person or business who can pay eventually, rather than getting a CCJ which is unenforceable because the debtor is insolvent, impecunious, or has vanished!

Don’t worry we’ve heard it all – and we have developed our services to meet the easy and the difficult enforcement situations. It’s all about improving your chances of recovering your money back after the court has ordered a CCJ in your favour.

Sometimes people do get lucky! Only this month a person who started her own claim on MCOL, received the £10,000 CCJ she had been trying to enforce for months. She fell in the group of not knowing very much and had a slippery debtor on the other side. She came to us in desperation and we sent a High Court Enforcement Agent to the wilds of Norfolk to meet the debtor and remind him of his obligations. He paid there and then. Our MCOL client was delighted and so were we – but she was lucky!

Now if you feel you are stuck on what to do next with an unpaid CCJ, the good news is we know how to play this game of Roulette and we can help you increase your odds of winning. If you have an unpaid CCJ saved as a PDF on your computer, or a paper form of CCJ stuck in a drawer, we can offer you a totally free and no-obligation review to check the options open to you.

Our Business Solutions TEAM are ready to take your call or check an uploaded form of CCJ. We will guide you on what options you have, and where we think you can increase your odds of payment we can advise you on an enforcement strategy that works for you.

Take a look at our pick list of situations you may fall into and see if a FREE review will work for you

You CCJ that went to the County Court Bailiff and is over £600 but you didn’t get any money back
You have a CCJ or High Court Judgment for costs and haven’t done anything with it
You have a CCJ that went to a High Court Enforcement Officer and you didn’t get a result
You have a CCJ that needs to be enforced in Scotland or Northern Ireland and don’t know how to transfer it
You have a Scottish decree or Northern Ireland judgment that needs to be enforced in England and Wales – we know what to do
You have a European Enforcement Order (EEO) that needs enforcing – we can help
You have a court judgment relating to another country – no problem – our international panel is waiting to help you