The latest figures released by the Registry Trust have shown a substantial drop in Business CCJ’s. This is CCJ’s registered against Businesses in England and Wales for the last quarter of 2019.
The decline in Business CCJ’s mainly affected Limited (incorporated) companies in England and Wales. The figures showed a twenty seven per cent decrease compared with the same period in 2018.
There were a total of 21,373 Business CCJ’s issued in Q4 of 2018 and this dropped to 15,626 in Q4 of 2019.
Despite the large drop in CCJ’s issued, the average value remained roughly the same. This saw only a two per cent decline.
In stark contrast, the number of High Court judgments rose eighty per cent for England and Wales. There were only 15 issued in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared with 27 for 2019.
The total amount claimed as per the orders issued in the high court rose to £7,545,465. This was a sixty two per cent increase when compared with £4,655,373 for the same period of time in 2018.
The percentage amount of unpaid Business CCJ’s remains fairly steady. The latest figures would suggest that Businesses are having to use the High Court for larger debt values.
The drop in Business CCJ’s could also reflect a growth in the Commercial Debt Collection sector. The increase in Court Fees for Businesses seeking to recover debt will have deterred many Small Businesses from pursuing this route for debt recovery.
Recent surveys have suggested that there has been an increase in late payment for SME’s which is at odds with these new figures.
Statistics
| 2018 Q4 | 2019 Q4 | Change (compared with 2018) | |
| CCJs against all businesses | |||
| volume | 29,303 | 23,418 | -20.08% |
| total value | £117,546,664 | £92,311,503 | -21.47% |
| Average* value | £4,011 | £3,942 | -1.72% |
| median | £1,064 | £1,494 | 40.41% |
| CCJs against incorporated businesses | |||
| volume | 21,373 | 15,626 | -26.89% |
| total value | £96,220,707 | £68,549,570 | -28.76% |
| Average* value | £4,502 | £4,387 | -2.56% |
| median | £1,029 | £1,672 | 62.49% |
| CCJs against unincorporated businesses | |||
| volume | 7,930 | 7,792 | -1.74% |
| total value | £21,325,957 | £23,761,933 | 11.42% |
| Average* value | £2,689 | £3,050 | 13.40% |
| median | £1,134 | £1,235 | 8.86% |
| High Court judgments against all businesses | |||
| volume | 15 | 27 | 80.00% |
| total value | £4,655,373 | £7,545,465 | 62.08% |
| Average* value | £310,358 | £279,462 | -9.95% |
| median | £28,709 | £3,741 | -86.97% |
* Average value refers to the ‘mean’. The mean average tends to be higher than the median, as it is more likely to be distorted by outlying, high value cases.
Registry Trust is the Registrar of Judgments, Orders and Fines in England and Wales (on behalf of the Ministry of Justice). In addition, it collects court judgment information across the UK and Ireland.
