What is a financial CCJ - County Court Judgment?

Posted - 08/05/12

County Court Judgment - or to use it's acronym CCJ - is a legal decision passed by a county court in England and Wales. Legal judgments passed by county courts are in relation to monetary sums - usually the failure of a debt payment.

CCJ's impact negatively upon the credit worthiness of individuals: each decision is recorded on a register, which can be then checked by credit rating agencies who are employed on behalf of lenders.

The county court has the power to deduct money from employment wages to pay a debt, empower banks to pay a debt if the debtor has money held within their accounts, and finally to send a court appointed bailiff to seize goods owned by the debtor to pay the debt.

When a creditor issues a county court action against an alleged debtor, the alleged debtor is sent a CCJ claim form. The alleged debtor then has 14 days to either repay the debt, or to dispute the claim.