What can I do to reduce payments on a CCJ?

If you cannot afford the payments on a county court judgment (CCJ), apply to reduce them as soon as you can. Keeping up to date with payments stops creditors from using most kinds of enforcement. This includes sending bailiffs and taking money from your wages.

When asking the court to reduce the payments on a CCJ, you can apply for a redetermination or a variation, depending on the situation you are in. Which application you should make depends on how the decision about how much you should pay was made.

Budgeting

The court will only reduce payments on a CCJ if you can prove that you cannot afford them. Work out how much you can afford to pay by doing a budget. You can use our Digital Advice Tool to work out your budget.

Redetermination of the CCJ

You can only apply for a redetermination if all the following apply:

• you cannot afford the payments that you have been asked to make.
• you admitted the claim and made an offer of payment, but the creditor did not accept your offer.
• after the creditor did not accept your offer, the court set the rate of payment, but there was no hearing.

Once you have been served with an order to pay the CCJ, you only have 14 days to ask for a redetermination.

Varying the CCJ

You can apply for a variation if:

• you did not reply to the claim form;
• you replied admitting the claim, but did not make an offer to pay;
• you replied admitting the claim, and the creditor accepted your offer of payment; or
• you defended the claim but lost.

It is up to the court to decide to vary a payment. They do not have to do this. The court will decide if changing the payment is fair to both you and the creditor. The court will only vary the payments if you cannot afford the payments you have been asked to make.