How to enforce a county court judgment (CCJ)

Summary

Understand your options if the civil court has ordered that someone else must pay you money but they have not paid you when they should. This kind of order is often known as a county court judgment or ‘CCJ’. Sometimes the money owed is called a ‘judgment debt’. You can take fresh court action to try and make the other person pay. Lawyers call this ‘enforcement’. This guide will help you work out if you can enforce your county court judgment, if it is worth enforcing, and how to go about enforcing it, if you decide that is what you want to do. This guide is about the law in England and Wales. 1 Getting started 2 County court judgments – the basics 3 Working out if you can and should enforce your order 4 The different ways you can enforce your order 5 How to enforce your order – the basics 6 How to enforce your order - warrants and writs of control 7 How to enforce your order - attachment of earnings orders 8 How to enforce your order - third party debt orders 9 How to enforce your order - charging orders 10 How to enforce your order - bankruptcy proceedings 11 What does it mean? 12 More help and advice 13 About this guide * you have a county court judgment that you may need to.

Key information

• •you have a county court judgment that you may need to enforce against the other person, company, or organisation in your case,
• •your county court judgment was ordered in England and Wales, and
• •you are representing yourself without the help of a lawyer (you are a litigant in person).
• •you can enforce your order,
• •you should enforce your order - if it is worth spending more time and money on the case, and
• •how to enforce your order – known as ‘enforcement proceedings’ by lawyers. There are different options on how to enforce your order and some will be better than others depending on your particular situation.
• •check that the order has been complied with and you have been paid what you are due, or
• •take any steps to enforce the order unless you ask it to.
• •Standard breathing space protects people who have problem debt enforcement action for up to 60 days. So, if your debtor has this protection in place this will delay your application to enforce the judgment debt by at least 60 days.
• •Mental health crisis breathing space protects someone who owes money and is also having mental health crisis treatment. It lasts as long as the mental health crisis treatment takes, plus 30 days. If this type of breathing space is in place for the person that owes you money it means it is hard to predict when you will be allowed to start enforcement proceedings.
• •the debtor has had the chance to pay in the timeframe given by the court. This is usually 14 days. Or, if you have had the order for some time, make sure you are within the 6-year time limit to enforce the order,
• •the debtor knows about the judgment made against them, and

Practical guidance

• •Source: [How to enforce a county court judgment (CCJ)](https://www.advicenow.org.uk/get-help/going-court/small-claims-and-civil-court/how-enforce-county-court-judgment-ccj)

Related topics