CCJs hit high

Between April and June lenders brought 165,000 CCJs against people who had not paid their debt off, a rise of nearly a fifth on the same period a year before.

According to the Registry Trust figures, this increase in CCJs is the biggest since the recession of 1990 and the average judgment is for £2,386, up from £2,155 in 2005.

“The rise in the number and value of consumer CCJs is proof of their [the lenders] concern about the performance of the credit economy,” said Registry Trust chairman Malcolm Hurlston in This is Money.

“They are increasingly looking to the courts to recover bad debts owed by individuals.”

Unless a person pays off their debt within a month of the CCJ being issued, it will stay on records for six years and could affect credit ratings.