CCJs (County Court Judgements) are usually issued from organisations or local authorities if you don’t pay a bill such as council tax.
Once you receive a CCJ you will need to make arrangements to pay it back, even if you pay it back in instalments, as you could be taken back to court and forced to pay it.
Being issued with a CCJ will also have a detrimental effect on your credit score. This may mean that you’re not able to access certain financial services, such as ethical loans from a regulated financial service like a credit union, so any threats of being issued one should be taken seriously.
Most local authorities or organisations will be prepared to work with you in receiving instalments if you ever find yourself in a position where you can no longer pay a bill, especially if you’re in a situation where you have lost your job or had a change in benefits. This is because it costs both the organisation and you to go to court and there will be additional costs.
If you have outstanding bills that you can’t afford to pay back then make contact with either the company directly or via a third party such as Citizens Advice as the earlier you respond, the more flexible they will be in helping you.
They may ask you to fill out a simple budgeting sheet detailing your incomings and outgoings so that they can see what you can afford – even if it’s only £5 a week.
You may also want to consider applying for an Ethical Debt Consolidation Loan to pay back any debts to avoid a CCJ . Once you have been served with a County Court Judgement, then you will no doubt find yourself being restricted from applying for any further finance.
However you decide to pay off your debts, do what you can to stop being issued with CCJs and lowering your credit score.
