If you are unable to reach an agreement with your creditor to pay back the money you owe at a rate that you can afford, the creditor’s main legal option to get their money is through a "money-only" claim in the county court.

If a creditor succeeds in a "money-only" claim, you will have a County Court Judgement (CCJ) registered against you. This will go on your credit file and will affect your credit rating, probably making it more difficult for you to you to get credit in the future. It will also increase the amount that you owe, because the court can make an order that you pay the creditor’s costs from taking the court action in addition to the outstanding debt.

You must pay what the Court orders. If you don’t there are several things that a creditor can do: -

• Warrant of execution;

• Attachment of earnings;

• Charging order; or

• High Court enforcement

There are advantages to a CCJ. In most cases it should mean that the creditor has to stop adding interest to what you owe and the court will usually set a payment arrangement at a rate that you can afford.

As long as you keep to the court order, the creditor cannot take any enforcement action (as listed above) against you.

After getting a judgment, the creditor can ask for you to be questioned in court about your circumstances so that they can find out how best to get the money that you owe.

In court you can be ordered to answer questions on oath about: -

• Your income
• What you spend your money on; and
• What things you own

If you to not go to the hearing, the court could issue a warrant for your arrest.