Six Things you Should know about a CCJ


(County Court Judgement) From KSA Business Recovery


What will a CCJ involve? A judgement will be entered on a public Register of County Court Judgments. A creditor can choose how to enforce the judgment. This could involve a charging order on your property, bailiffs removing goods, money seized from your accounts or a petition to wind up your company.


How do you deal with a CCJ?


Once you receive the judgment, if you were aware of the claim, and do not dispute the debt, you should pay it. If you are unable to pay the full sum, try to negotiate a lower sum with the judgment creditor. If you dispute the debt, but did not have the opportunity to defend it, you must immediately apply to the court to have the judgment set aside.


What effect will a CCJ have?


Since the register is open to the public, anyone can see that your company has a CCJ. Having a CCJ registered against your company's name will prevent or restrict your ability to obtain credit and affect your credit agency rating. It can also be damaging to your reputation in the marketplace.


How long will this continue? If you pay the debt within one month of the judgment, and apply to court, the entry will be entirely wiped from the register. If you do not pay, and the judgment is not enforced, the entry stays on the register for six years. If you pay after one month and apply to court, the entry is marked as satisfied, but still remains on the Register for the full six years. If you can demonstrate to the court that the judgment was entered in error, it will be removed.


Indirect effects for directors


If you are a director of a small business which receives a CCJ you may be affected personally even if your company is limited.


Where your business is a limited company, you will not normally be personally liable for an unpaid debt unless you have given a personal guarantee. As such, if a county court judgement is issued, this will not effect on your personal credit rating. However, if you are running a small company, its limited liability will not always protect you from the effects of receiving a CCJ. This is particularly the case if your personal account is held with the same bank as the business bank account. If your personal affairs are managed by the same bank and you want to apply personally for additional credit, this may be rejected on the basis that your source of income is deemed as being unstable. It is conceivable that a bank may use a similar argument as the reason for reducing personal borrowing facilities such as an overdraft or credit card limit.


Sole trader's liability


If you are a sole trader and the business receives a CCJ, you are personally liable for this debt. This means that the judgement will be recorded on your personal credit file and will have a negative effect on your credit rating. If you want to apply for any further borrowing either in the name of the business or personally, the fact that a CCJ has been issued will be highlighted. This may prevent your application from being successful and may also trigger alarm bells at your bank about the sustainability of your income.


KSA Business Recovery are licensed insolvency practitioners. If your business is currently suffering with debt issues, then we can help. There are a number of solutions available that will enable you to manage or reduce your debt and continue to trade.


Why not seek some advice? We do not charge for initial advice over the phone or face to face and your information is confidential.


Please call Isobel Brett or


Debbie Cockerton on 0800 169 3227 or email us at enquiries@ksabr.com


If your organisation hires temporary or casual staff through an agency, to cover busy periods, or as an additional resource on a more frequent basis then you need to know about the changes to the law about to come in to effect.


New regulations will give agency workers the entitlement to the same treatment as other employees with respect to basic employment and working conditions, after they complete a qualifying period of 12 weeks in a particular job.


These conditions include the same basic hourly pay rate, overtime, shift allowances, unsocial hours' premiums, payments for difficult or dangerous duties, lunch vouchers, bonuses for the quality and quantity of work, rest breaks and annual leave allowance.


Employment Tribunals can impose fines on employers found to have breached the new laws or not followed the detail of the new regulations.


Acas has issued guidance on the Agency Worker Regulations and what


the changes will mean for employers. Please visit www.acas.org.uk for more information. (Click 'Advice & Guidance/ Agency Workers).


SIX


Ashford based toolmaker and injection moulder The Plasticom Group had a very successful stand recently at Interplas, the UK's largest plastics show. Over 1000 customers and potential customers discussed their needs with Plasticom staff over the three days of the event.


The Plasticom Group were promoting the concept of customer productivity; demonstrating how working with Plasticom will increase customer productivity in areas such as capacity utilisation, downtime reduction, and margin improvement.


A new company, Plasticom Innovations, was also launched at the show. Plasticom Innovations has been formed to help entrepreneurs and inventors develop and commercialise their ideas, and combines the expertise of The Plasticom Group with outside start-up and small company growth specialists.


Plasticom Group,


Hilton Road, Cobbs Wood Industrial Estate, Ashford. TN23 1EW. Tel: 01233 621601.


Website: www.plasticomgroup.com.


New Agency Worker Regulations will come in to force on 1 October.


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