Big fall in number of county court judgments against businesses

The number of county court judgments (CCJ) against businesses has fallen to its lowest level since before the financial crisis, according to figures released by the Registry Trust.

The Trust’s research shows that there were 21,860 CCJs recorded against businesses in England and Wales during the first three months of 2016, a 17% fall on the same period the previous year and the lowest first quarter since the financial crisis high of 71,867 judgments in Q1 2009.

Similarly, the total value of CCJs against businesses in England and Wales fell 11% from £87m in Q1 2015 to £78m in Q1 2016, the lowest Q1 result since the crash.

However, the average value of a business CCJ in the first quarter of the year increased 6% to £3,554.

The number of high court judgments (HCJs) against businesses fell 47% to just 16, the lowest figure since before the financial crisis. The total value fell slightly by 2% to £16.5m, while the average value of a HCJ rose 85% to just over £1m.

However, smaller businesses, which were not incorporated, fared much worse with the number of judgments against them rising rather than falling.

The Registry Trust Chairman, Malcolm Hurlston, CBE, said: “There is a stark difference this quarter between the performance of companies and smaller enterprises. It will be easier to interpret this information when the VAT Register information is made available.”

Please contact Neil O’Callaghan and Gavin O’Donovan if you would like more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of debt collection and litigation.