Over the past year, the number of business and consumer County Court Judgements (CCJ) issued have risen by 70% and 116% respectively.
According to the latest data from Registry Trust, there were 241,952 consumer CCJs registered in Q3 2021 compared to 111,931 for the same period in 2020. The number of CCJs registered against businesses increased from 15,970 to 27,073 in the last year.
£108m owed in business County Court Judgements
The value of debt owed by companies on CCJs also continued to rise and is up by over a third since Q3 2020. Businesses now owe £108 million, from £81 million last year. However, the average value of business CCJ debt decreased by more than 20% to £3,975.
There was a rise of 91% in the number of County Court Judgements issued against larger incorporated companies. This figure rose from 10,756 in Q3 2020 to 20,559 for Q3 2021. The total value of debt against these businesses also increased to £89 million from £63 million. However, the average value of CCJ debt in this sector decreased by 26% to £4,332.
The latest data also shows a rise in CCJs against smaller unincorporated businesses. These increased by 25% to 6,514, with the total value of CCJ debt rising by £500,000 to £18.5m. The average value of these County Court Judgements fell from £3,452 to £2,846 (almost 18% down).
Mick McAteer, Chair of Registry Trust, said: “Judgments against businesses in England and Wales saw large increases this quarter compared to the same period last year. At that time, Covid interventions by government and regulators, and forbearance by creditors, had kept judgment numbers at historically low levels.
“But, numbers have begun to rise again. It looks like Covid economic crisis is far from over for many businesses. This will be worth monitoring as recent Registry Trust research found a link between judgments and subsequent insolvencies”.
Consumer CCJs not at pre-Covid levels
The number of CCJs issued against consumers saw the second largest quarter on quarter rise in the past five years, which is worrying for those in financial difficulties. The total amount owed by consumer County Court Judgements rose from £227 million in Q3 2020 to £378 million this quarter. However, these figures are yet to reach the same level as before the pandemic.
There was a fall in the average value of consumer CCJ debt over the past year. This decreased by 23% to £1,560. However, there was also a drop of 23% in the number of consumer County Court Judgements marked as ‘satisfied’ (from 52,740 to 40,606).
Mick McAteer, said: “We saw another large increase in the number of judgments recorded in this quarter compared to the same period last year. At that time, interventions by government and regulators, and forbearance by creditors, in response to the Covid crisis kept judgment numbers at historically low levels. But, as these measures were wound down, numbers began to rise again.
“The fall in the number of judgments marked as satisfied – or fully paid off – is worrying given the need to build financial resilience. The Covid economic crisis is far from over for financially vulnerable households”.