IVAs and CCJs

IVAs and County Court Judgments (CCJ)

What is a CCJ?

A County Court Judgment (CCJ) can be applied for by any creditor you owe money to. This is a judgment ordering you to repay a particular debt. This judgment can order you to pay the debt in full immediately, or over a period of time. A CCJ is also recorded on your credit file for 6 years from the date it is issued.

Can my CCJ debt be included in my IVA?

A CCJ can usually be included in your IVA.

This means you will not need to worry about paying the CCJ in addition to your IVA.

How does an IVA affect my CCJ?

Once the creditors have accepted your IVA, the creditor with the CCJ cannot take any action against you during the IVA. This means you don’t have to make any payments to theCCJ because your unsecured debt repayments only need to be made through the IVA.

It is possible to stop any CCJs that have been applied for while your IVA is being put into place. This would mean that you won’t be issued with a CCJ. When you are in an IVA, your creditors are also unable to take legal action against you.

Can an IVA protect me from future CCJs?

Yes, an IVA stops all creditors who are part of the arrangement from taking further legal action against you.

What if I have an Attachment of Earnings in place?

An Attachment of Earnings is when your creditors receive an amount of the money you owe automatically from your wages, when you are paid each month.

If you have an IVA, normally the Attachment of Earnings will be removed. This is because your creditors can only receive repayments from you via your IVA agreement.

Can Charging Orders be included in an IVA?

An IVA cannot include a Charging Order or overturn it but it can prevent any future Charging Orders being issued against you, by your creditors.

A Charging Order will turn an unsecured debt into a secured one. If a Charging Order is granted before an IVA, an IVA will not be able to overturn the Charging Order.

The amount you pay towards your Charging Order will need to be included in your living expenses budget – which you and your Insolvency Practitioner put together. This ensures it is accounted for and you can continue to pay this whilst you complete your IVA.

If you require any further advice when it comes to IVAs and CCJs get in touch with a member of our team today who can offer you free impartial advice.

*In the case of a one-off lump sum settlement