In the first quarter of 2015, the number of county court judgments (CCJs) against consumers in England and Wales increased, compared to last year, by more than 20 per cent. There were over 209,000, which is the first time that there has been more than 200,000 consumer CCJs in the first quarter of a year since 2008. However, the average value of a CCJ in the three months to March fell for the sixth consecutive year to £2,171.

The Registry Trust, which runs the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for the Ministry of Justice, pointed out that a higher proportion of consumer debt was now in the hands of debt buyers rather than the originating lenders.

This indicates that where debt is sold on by the originating buyers, the new owners of the debt are adopting a more hard-line attitude by obtaining more CCJs for smaller sums of money and thereby giving the right to enforce CCJs by bailiff action or charging orders on the property. This CCJ timebomb could explode and debtors are advised to take early advice to avoid unwanted action by creditors and debt purchasers. Contact us.