This isn’t a full fact find, Thrifty Family doesn’t give advice. We work with The Debt Advice Service who provides information about your options.
For free & impartial money advice you can visit MoneyHelper. We work with The Debt Advice Service who provide information about your options. This isn’t a full fact-find, some debt solutions may not be suitable in all circumstances, ongoing fees might apply & your credit rating may be affected.
My name’s Janine, and I’m a mum of two who’s always been passionate about trying to cut down spending costs. I am now sharing as much financial knowledge as I possibly can to help your money go that little bit further.
For free & impartial money advice you can visit MoneyHelper. We work with The Debt Advice Service who provide information about your options. This isn’t a full fact-find, some debt solutions may not be suitable in all circumstances, ongoing fees might apply & your credit rating may be affected.
Did you lose a case in a small claims court? Are you anxious about a judge’s order to pay? You may be asking yourself, ‘what happens if I don’t pay a small claims judgement’?
If you’re facing this dilemma, this post is for you! I will explain what happens when you can’t afford to pay and what to do when you find yourself in this situation.
To find out more, read on!
What is a small claims judgement?
A judge will issue an order to pay when you lose a civil case in a small claims court. Although the court handles claims that involve smaller amounts of money, you could be ordered to pay high court fees!
It’s also worth noting that a small claims court in one area of the country may be part of a magistrates’ court. However, in another town, it could be part of a county court.
Do you have to pay?
There are ways to have debt written off in the UK.
If you genuinely can’t afford your debt repayments then looking into whether you could have your payments lowered or written off might be just what you need.
If you want to find out whether you qualify for having debt written off or payments lowered then fill out the short form below.
This isn’t a full fact find, Thrifty Family doesn’t give advice. We work with The Debt Advice Service who provides information about your options.
How does the small claims court work?
When you can’t agree on a settlement with someone you owe money to, the case could go before a small claims court. The case is heard by a judge who listens to the evidence provided by both the defendant and the claimant.
The judge will then rule on who wins the case. If it’s the claimant and you’re the defendant, you’d get an order to pay what’s owed.
In short, there’s no getting out of paying the claimant!
A small claims court handles cases that involve individuals or firms where the amounts claimed are up to £10,000.
What if you don’t respond to a summons?
The claimant has the right to ask a small claims court to order you to pay if you don’t respond to their claim within a deadline.
You have 28 days to respond to a claim made against you in a small claims court. If you don’t respond the claimant could get a judge to issue an order for you to pay!
Once the court issues an ‘order to pay’ by default, you’ll have a legal obligation to settle what’s owed. Or face the consequences!
Check out what happened to one person who posted this message on a popular forum:
How do claimants get judgements issued by the courts?
A claimant can ask a small claims court to issue a judgement against you in several ways because it depends on how the case is raised.
For example, the claimant may:
File a case against you online. In this instance, when you ignore things, the claimant asks for a judgement to be issued against you online Use what’s known as an N225 Form to claim a fixed amount
Use an N227 Form to claim an unspecified sum of money
It’s worth noting that claimants can use the same online process and forms even when they admit liability!
Can you lower your repayments?
If you’re struggling to pay back your debt, then you might qualify for a debt solution. Some solutions lower your monthly payments while others write off a portion of your debt.
To find out whether they could work in your situation, hit the button below.
You may have to attend a court hearing if you want to contest a claim made against you by a creditor, debt collection agency or another claimant.
The judge will hear both sides and consider the evidence before deciding whether to issue a judgement against you.
You should seek legal advice beforehand or you may find you lose the case from the outset. Why?
Because the legal process would likely be unfamiliar to you a simple legal mistake could see you lose the case on a technicality
Can a judgement be enforced?
Yes. A judgement can be enforced when the court issues an “order to pay” against you!
So, when you don’t pay, things escalate and you could end up paying more and having to deal with more stress!
The claimant can ask the courts to collect what you owe them. You’ll incur more fees if this happens, although if you’re on a low income or receiving benefits, the fee could be waived.
You’d have to fill out the relevant form to have the fees waived!
How long do you have to pay a small claims judgement?
You’ll have to settle what’s owed within 14 days of the hearing once a judgement is issued against you. However, you can ask for more time but you’ll need to provide details of your financial circumstances.
Moreover, the claimant could ask the judge to issue an order for you to disclose your income and liabilities.
Like this, they’ll see whether you can afford to pay or not.
If it’s found that you can afford to pay the amount you owe, but you still don’t, an enforcement order could be issued by the courts against you.
You should try to resolve things before this happens whether you pay or not. In short, stay in touch with the courts and let them know if you can afford to pay the full amount or not!
How does a court enforce payment?
A court could enforce a judgement made against you in several ways. For instance, the court could:
Instruct court-appointed enforcement officers (previously known as bailiffs) to recover what you owe
Enforcement officers could seize some of your possessions and sell them at auction to recover the amount you owe. However, they must tell you of their impending visit before they come to your home.
You’d get a letter known as an Enforcement Notice asking you to pay the full amount within 7 working days.
If you don’t respond or pay within the deadline, the enforcement officers pay you a visit at your home.
What’s an Attachment on Earnings?
A court may issue an Attachment on your earnings to collect the money you owe. Your employer would be notified by the courts and would dock a specific amount of money from your earnings.
Your boss would send the docked wages directly to the courts and would continue to do so until the debt is paid off.
How does freezing assets work?
Although not very common, a court could decide to put a ‘freeze’ on your bank account and other financial products you have.
After this, the court would decide whether the money you hold in a bank or savings account should be used to pay off your debt to the claimant.
What is a Charging Order?
Lastly, a court may issue a Charging Order on your home or other property you may own. When your home or other property is sold, some of the money is used to pay off your debtor.
It’s worth noting that you could be forced to sell your home so the debt is repaid quickly!
You should seek legal advice if you can’t pay the money owed even when a court has issued a judgement against you. Don’t ignore things just because you don’t have the funds to pay!
It’s far better to seek advice from one of the debt charities if you’re struggling with your finances. Also, you can ask the court to give you more time to pay.
However, you’ll be asked to provide sufficient proof of why you can’t settle what’s owed.
Can you appeal an order to pay?
Yes. But you must get a court’s permission to appeal an order to pay! Also, you must file an appeal within 21 days. If you miss the deadline, you can’t appeal the judge’s ruling against you!
Moreover, the success of your appeal depends on whether the judge made a legal mistake in their ruling against you! Which, unfortunately, is highly unlikely.
Plus, if you win your request to appeal the first ruling, you can’t include any new evidence in your appeal. You have to stay with the original evidence you provided in the first case file against you.
Is there any free debt advice available?
Yes. Several UK charities provide free debt advice to people who fall into debt and can’t pay their creditors.
Their advice could be invaluable when it comes to court matters and the legal process. A debt adviser could also help you calculate how much you could afford to pay.
It could make the whole situation a lot less stressful!
I’ve listed four of the leading UK debt charities in the table below:
Lastly, what happens when you don’t pay a small claims judgement?
Things will escalate and get harder to resolve when you don’t pay a small claims judgement levied against you.
It’s far better to stay in touch with the courts and let them know about your personal circumstances when you can’t pay!
Ignoring the judgement won’t make it go away.
You should seek advice from a debt adviser if you can’t pay the claimant what you owe them and you’ve received an order to pay!
Their advice could be invaluable more especially as you’re probably not aware of the legal process involved in the claim. It could make the situation a lot easier to deal with when you have a debt adviser in your corner!
“It will only get worse” 😩
It’s cliché to say, but with debt it’s true; the longer you leave it, the worse the problem gets.
There are straightforward and effective ways to deal with debt, but you have to know your options.
Fill out the short form to find out about the debt solutions that could reduce your monthly payments or even write off some of your debt.
My name’s Janine, and I’m a mum of two who’s always been passionate about trying to cut down spending costs. I am now sharing as much financial knowledge as I possibly can to help your money go that little bit further.
How much could you write off? 