County Court Judgments (CCJs)

If you owe money to someone (a 'Creditor'), it is possible for them to start County Court proceedings against you to try to recoup the money owed to them. The court will send you a form called a 'Claim Form' detailing the amount that you allegedly owe them and the particulars of the claim.

You will receive in the post a pack containing the following:

• The Claim Form containing details of the creditor's case.
• An Admission Form for completion if the claim is not contested.
• A Defence & Counterclaim Form for completion if the debt is disputed.
• An Acknowledgement of Service for completion & return if more time is needed.
• Notes and guidance on completing the forms.

If you want to pay the amount in full

If you accept that you owe the creditor the amount stated and have the funds to do so, you should pay the amount owed to the creditor immediately to avoid court actions. If you decide to pay in full, you must:

• Include the court fees, costs and interest (if specified) in your payment.
• Send the payment directly to the claimant (at the address shown on the claim form)
• Make sure the claimant receives your payment within 14 days (allowing at least two days for posting)

If you pay in full within the deadline you don't need to contact the court or complete any of the forms.

If you can't afford to pay all the amount at once

If you can't afford to pay the money all at once, you can ask for time to pay. You'll need to:

• Fill in the 'Admission Form' N9A
• Specify on the form how you want to pay (e.g. installments)
• Send the form directly to the claimant (at the address shown on the claim form)
• Make sure the claimant receives your form within 14 days (allowing at least two days for posting)

It's also a good idea to keep a copy for yourself. If you don't agree with the amount owed

If you do owe some money, but don't agree with the amount claimed, this is known as 'making a part admission'. You should:

• Return the 'Admission Forms' N9A and N9B to the issuing court
• Say on the forms how much you think you owe the claimant and why you don't consider you owe any more than that
• Make sure the court receives the forms within 14 days (allowing at least two days for posting)
• Either pay the amount you think you owe straight away, or ask for time to pay either by installments or by a certain date

If you want to defend the claim

If you want to defend against the claim you should:

• Return the 'Defence Form' N9B to the issuing court
• Answer all the points raised ('allegations') in the particulars of claim
• Make sure the court receives the form within 14 days (allowing at least two days for posting)

If you need more time to respond

If your defence is complicated and you need more time to respond, you can fill in the 'Acknowledgment of Service Form' N9.

Forms for CCJs

You can use the following links to download the PDF files needed for responding to the County Court proceedings:

CCJ Court Forms

• N9 - Acknowledgement of Service / Response Pack
• N9A - Admission (specified amount) (N9A)
• N9B - Defence / counterclaim (specified amount) (N9B)
• N9C - Admission (unspecified amount and non-money claims) (N9C)
• N9D - Defence/counterclaim (unspecified amount and non-money claims) (N9D)

• N56 - Form for replying to an attachment of earnings application (statement of means)
• N244 - Application notice
• N245 - Application for suspension of a warrant and / or variation of an instalment order

CCJ Useful Links

• Directgov - Useful information from the official government web site.
• Her Majesty's Courts Service - Information on what to do if you can't afford to pay your CCJ.

Please note that some of these links are to web sites that are not necessarily related to Moneyworries and as such we cannot accept responsibility for the content on these sites and for the accuracy of such content.

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