Default Judgment

Default Judgment (CCJ)

This section covers the questions you are most likely to want answered about what a Judgement For Claimant In Default is.

If you don’t reply to court documents, the county court will issue a default judgment.

With no evidence about what you can afford, it may order you to pay the amount in full.

Default judgments: When they happen

If someone (the claimant) thinks you owe them money, they apply to the court for a judgment. You’ll be sent a claim form, together with other court forms to complete.

You must send these back within 14 days (28 days if you apply for more time).

If you don’t, the claimant can apply to the court for a judgment in default. This means that only the claimant’s side of the story is heard.

The claimant is likely to demand the full amount plus fees and interest is ordered to be paid immediately.

A default judgment is binding – the claimant can take steps to have it enforced.

Setting aside a default judgment

You may be able to get a default judgment set aside. This may be possible if you never received the documents, or were in hospital and didn’t know they’d arrived.

You’ll be expected to prove these facts, and pay a fee.

Cases when the court must set aside a default judgment are when you’ve:

• already paid everything you owe (so no judgment is necessary);
• submitted a defence on time ;
• asked for more time to pay (within the time limit for doing so).

This doesn’t mean the case is over – it just means the court will listen to your side of the argument before deciding.

It’s far better – and cheaper for you – to reply to the forms as soon as you get them. If you have a CCJ and are being threatened with enforcement action, or you have received notice of a CCJ application then you need to get professional advice as soon as possible.

Default judgment vs default notice

A default notice is different to a default judgment.

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