Registry Trust, the not-for-profit organisation which maintains the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for the UK & Ireland, has released its monetary judgment statistics for Q1 2022.
The report shows that county court judgments (CCJs) against consumers in England & Wales fell by 17% from 234,891 in Q1 2021 to 194,744 in Q1 2022. The total value of consumer CCJs also fell by 15% from £394 million in Q1 2021 to £331 million in Q1 2022, while the average value of each judgment rose slightly by 1.4% from £1,680 in Q1 2021 to £1,704 in Q1 2022.
However, the number of consumer CCJs that were marked as ‘satisfied’ rose by only 0.41% from 44,504 in Q1 2021 to 44,690 in Q1 2022. Registry Trust believes that the requirement for consumers to notify the courts of full payment and seek formal ‘satisfaction’ means that many settled judgments remain as outstanding on the Register.
Registry Trust Chair, Mick McAteer, said:
“The number and value of debt judgments against consumers in England & Wales saw a welcome fall in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year. However, the proportion of judgments marked as ‘satisfied’ remains very low, which could hinder consumers’ ability to repair their creditworthiness and overall financial health. We continue to call for regulators to require creditors to inform the courts when a judgment has been settled in the interests of treating consumers fairly.”
Read Registry Trust’s full Q1 2022 stats report here.
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