Registry Trust Limited Public Statistics September 2017
Contents Contents Introduction Background Commentary Graphs and statistics Annex A: Data sources Annex B: Explanatory notes Annex C: Contacts 2 3 3 4 9 35 39 40 2
Introduction This report contains statistics on records received by Registry Trust Limited and added to the registers which it maintains. For England and Wales this is the statutory public Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines. For Scotland, Northern Ireland, Jersey, the Republic of Ireland and the Isle of Man these are registers separately maintained by agreement with the authorities in those jurisdictions. The commentary below provides an overview of the key results followed by graphs and statistics of the latest results. Annex A: Data sources contains an explanation of the data sources and a brief description of the types of data supplied by that source. Annex B: Explanatory notes contains further information about the registers, the records held on them and the publication of the statistics. Annex C: Contacts contains contact details for feedback, questions or requests for further information about this report. Background Established by Parliament in 1852, the Registry of County Court Judgments was part of the Lord Chancellor s Department holding details of money judgments registered by the County Courts of England & Wales during the preceding six years. In January 1986, Registry Trust Ltd (RTL) was set up as a not-for-profit company to maintain this statutory public Register under contract to the Lord Chancellor. In 1993, the Register was extended to cover details of administration orders registered by the county courts and in 1998 details of Child Support Agency liability orders granted in the magistrates courts were included. On 6th April 2006, the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines superseded the Register of County Court Judgments and RTL continued to be contracted to the Lord Chancellor to maintain this Register. In April 2009 the Register was once more extended to include tribunal awards. Since the 1990 s RTL has reached agreement with authorities in other jurisdictions of the British Isles to maintain similar registers. This enables equivalent data to be available and managed for throughout the region as it is for England and Wales, a service which is vital to financial services. 3
Commentary These statistics reflect the types of activities within the courts which lead to the addition of entries to the register. The data in this report reflects the records received during the previous fifteen months and the analysis is made each quarter as part of this publication. Seasonal variations affecting the workload of the courts and differing economic conditions may have an impact on the statistics and the variations between the periods. Where there are factors known to have influenced the volume or value of the statistics in this report these are commented on within this section. England & Wales In Q3 2017, 317,793 consumer CCJs were registered in England and Wales rising 24 percent compared with the same period of the previous year. This followed the general trend of the past five years where, except for Q3 2012, the number of consumer CCJs increased when compared with the previous year. The value of consumer CCJs rose 11 percent to 467,861,240, compared with Q3 2016. At 1,472, the average value of a consumer CCJ was down 10 percent to a historic low. The Q3 value peaked at 3,680 in 2009 and has decreased year on year since. During Q3 2017, 45 consumer high court judgments were issued, 17 fewer than in Q3 2016. Collectively the total value of judgments in both county and high courts also fell when comparing the two periods, by 3.7 percent, from 489,987,967 to 471,960,510. Nearly 12 percent of debt judgments were marked as satisfied during the third quarter of 2017, down from 15 percent in 2016. During Q3 2017, there were 24,698 CCJs against businesses in England and Wales, 27 percent more than the equivalent quarter a year prior. This broke the trend of the past eight years during which figures had decreased year on year. The total value of business CCJs rose by 13 percent to 80,506,210; the first time since Q3 2011 that a relative increase occurred. The average value of business judgments decreased 12 percent to 3,260. This follows the general pattern for the last six years, where, except for Q3 2016, average values have fallen. 4
The extent of the increase in business judgments was largely down to a 40 percent rise, to 16,479, in the total number of CCJs registered against companies. There was a smaller increase of eight percent, to 8,219, in CCJs against the generally smaller unincorporated businesses over the same period. The number of business high court judgments (HCJs) fell to 14, the lowest on record for a third quarter. The value of business judgments in the High Court fell 96 percent to 1,041,640, while the average value of these judgments was 74,403, 93 percent less than a year prior. The number of tribunal awards registered in England and Wales fell to a record quarterly low during the third quarter. The average value of a tribunal award rose 12 percent to 6,456 when compared with Q3 2016. At 8,721 the average value of a business tribunal award increased by 14 percent; the average consumer tribunal award rose 17 percent to 5,411. Scotland Between July and September this year, a total of 5,334 debt decrees were registered in Scottish courts, one percent lower than the same period the year before. The average value of a consumer decree rose three percent to 2,836 compared to a year ago, and, at 15,127,874 the total value of consumer decrees increased by two percent. The number, total value and average value of small claims and summary cause decrees remained close to Q3 2016 s figures, with less than a one percent change occurring for each measurement. In contrast, the average value of an ordinary cause decree rose by 20 percent to 16,816 compared with a year ago. Only 3.82 percent of decrees were marked as satisfied in Q3 2017, far lower than the 11.98 percent of satisfied debt judgments in England and Wales, where satisfaction rates are generally higher owing to legal differences. There were 561 decrees against all businesses in the third quarter 2017, down 43 percent compared with the same quarter a year ago. The total value of all business decrees, at 2,384,008, was 91 percent lower than Q3 2016 s figure. 5
Decreasing 84 percent, the average business decree s value also sharply dropped. Two large corporate judgments in 2016 totalling 21.5m skewed the figures. Discounting these judgments, the total value of decrees against companies (incorporated businesses) fell by 35 percent and the total value of all business judgments was down 45 percent. Similarly adjusted, the average value of a business decree fell by five percent. Likewise, the typical corporate judgment decreased by a quarter. In contrast, the average value of an unincorporated business decree rose 32 percent during the same period. The September quarter was strong for Scottish business, said Malcolm Hurlston CBE, chairman of Registry Trust. There should be some concern about whether smaller businesses are at more risk, which will be clearer in the final quarter. Northern Ireland The number of default and small claim judgments recorded in Q3 2017 rose by a quarter, to 2,186, compared with the same period a year ago. Rising 85 percent, the total value of judgments soared to 5,910,515. The average value of a judgment increased 47 percent to 2,704, compared to a year prior. In the High Court, 14 judgments were issued, three fewer than in the third quarter of 2016. In general, the number of judgments issued for the third quarter has fallen year on year since 2011, during which 217 High Court judgments were issued. During Q3 2017, 4.52 percent of judgments were marked as satisfied. This contrasts with 11.98 percent in England and Wales, where satisfaction rates are generally higher owing to differences between legal systems. Under a new initiative developed by Registry Trust, lenders are being encouraged to notify the Trust directly when a judgment has been settled to their satisfaction. This would make an immediate difference in Northern Ireland, helping transform access to credit for thousands of consumers. Chris Pond, chairman of the Lending Standards Board, welcomed this initiative. Mr Pond said: I am glad to see voluntary initiatives which improve the financial experience of many people. Registry Trust should get a good hearing for promoting consumers interests. Announcing the quarterly figures, Registry Trust chairman Malcolm Hurlston CBE said: We are looking closely at where additional judgments are coming from: whether from traditional lenders, debt buyers or elsewhere. Any decision to take legal action is worth taking seriously whether taken by a lender or another agency reclaiming money. 6
Republic of Ireland The number of debt judgments recorded in the Four Courts fell during the third quarter of 2017. Of the 655 judgments recorded, 503 were against consumers and 152 against businesses. Consumer judgments were down nine percent compared with the same period last year. Business judgments rose slightly from 148 to 152. The total value of consumer judgments fell 21 percent to 45,248,952 when compared with a year ago; the average value of consumer judgments was down 14 percent at 89,958. With business judgments, a single judgment to the value of 6,364,978 greatly skewed the figures. As a result, judgments against unincorporated companies increased 2,414 percent in value, to 6,735,145 and 1,973 percent in average value to 118,160. However, discounting the anomalous judgment, the value of judgments against unincorporated businesses rose 38 percent and average value increased by 16 percent. By contrast there was a significant decline in the number and value of judgments against companies (incorporated businesses) compared with a year ago. Falling for the fourth year in a row, 95 corporate judgments were registered. The average value of corporate judgments declined by 83 percent to 14,549; the total value fell to 1,382,168, 84 percent lower than Q3 2016. All three of these figures were record lows for any quarter. The figures are based only on judgments registered at the request and cost of creditors at the Four Courts in Dublin and therefore provide only a partial picture of unmanaged debt judgments in the country. By comparison, in the much smaller economy of Northern Ireland, where judgments from all courts are registered, there were 2,102 judgments in Q3 2017. Malcolm Hurlston as Registrar commented: Extrapolating from Northern Ireland we see that some 5000 judgments in smaller courts may not have been registered - their absence is a serious matter for the efficient working of the credit market. Jersey In Q3 2017, a total of 403 judgments were made, a six percent decrease from the same quarter last year. The number of debt judgments against consumers fell seven percent, while the number made against businesses rose by three to 44. There were 3.9 judgments issued per 1000 people in Jersey, compared with 5.9 per 1000 people in 7
England and Wales, during Q3 2017. In contrast to the fall in numbers, the total value of debt judgments stood at 1,953,318 for the period, up 129 percent, but this was heavily affected by two business judgments totalling over 800,000. These also influenced the average value of judgments which increased by 142 percent to 4,847. The average business judgment s value rose by 243 percent to 23,096; but there was a fall of 30 percent if we discount the two outliers. The average consumer judgment was 2,610, 1,115 higher than a year ago. Nonetheless, this was well below the average value of consumer judgments over the past ten years, which stand at 4,202. During the period, 12.9 percent of Jersey s judgments were satisfied. This contrasts with 9.84 percent in 2016. Registrar Malcolm Hurlston CBE said This quarter figures present a mixed picture for the Jersey economy. But comparisons with England and Wales are generally favourable. 8
Graphs and statistics The following section contains graphs and tables for the following jurisdictions and data types: England and Wales county court judgments England and Wales high court judgments England and Wales administration orders England and Wales fines England and Wales tribunal awards Scotland.small claims and summary cause decrees Scotland.ordinary cause decrees Northern Ireland..default and small claims judgments Northern Ireland..high court judgments Republic of Ireland.registered judgments Jersey...petty and royal court judgments Isle of Man default judgments All jurisdictions..volumes of register search requests (See Annex A for further information about the data sources.) Each set of information in this section contains data covering the previous fifteen months. Consumer data is shown in blue and uses the left hand axis while commercial data is shown in orange and uses the right hand axis, where there are two axes. (See Annex B for further explanation of the terms consumer and commercial.) Each set of information shows the following: The total number of records for that category by month. The total value of all the records in that category by month. The average value of the records in that category by month. The value distribution for all records received during the last fifteen months for that category of data.
England and Wales County Court Judgments Consumer 77,008 86,109 93,730 100,776 84,111 70,507 116,750 89,241 92,910 73,030 102,604 117,987 119,252 106,299 92,242 Commercial 6,213 6,056 7,110 6,243 7,450 6,078 10,081 9,964 9,766 7,228 8,036 8,312 7,128 8,902 8,668 Consumer ( ) 124,808,834 146,117,268 150,736,303 168,741,948 130,308,877 107,255,512 163,250,654 132,290,151 151,367,568 107,954,421 157,927,318 181,476,776 175,596,759 150,549,950 141,714,531 Commercial ( ) 24,642,738 21,117,425 25,680,349 22,290,850 23,518,200 20,321,804 27,195,525 23,781,059 29,874,684 24,203,220 23,434,390 24,070,596 24,019,792 27,669,778 28,816,640 10
England and Wales County Court Judgments Consumer ( ) 1,620 1,696 1,608 1,674 1,549 1,521 1,398 1,482 1,629 1,478 1,539 1,538 1,472 1,416 1,536 Commercial ( ) 3,966 3,487 3,611 3,570 3,156 3,343 2,697 2,386 3,059 3,348 2,916 2,895 3,369 3,108 3,324 <100 100-500 500-1000 1000-1500 1500-2000 2000-3000 3000+ Consumer 3,795 498,754 438,917 162,820 81,014 93,885 143,371 Commercial 1,066 31,253 22,057 12,009 9,421 11,773 29,656 11
England and Wales High Court Judgments Consumer 38 12 12 15 15 11 12 13 10 6 2 8 15 14 16 Commercial 7 17 2 8 3 5 6 4 4 1 1 8 4 6 4 Consumer ( ) 59,383,591 7,447,738 1,494,233 8,575,122 2,309,247 3,959,897 7,963,338 7,153,866 503,582 1,997,230 171,305 6,406,467 1,314,838 1,173,586 1,610,846 Commercial ( ) 2,250,239 1,341,655 22,690,648 9,561,675 80,944,263 94,147,203 95,675,867 775,234 175,352 12,259 1,401 7,160,118 80,269 268,965 692,406 12
England and Wales High Court Judgments Consumer ( ) 1,562,726 620,645 124,519 571,675 153,950 359,991 663,612 550,297 50,358 332,872 85,653 800,808 87,656 83,828 100,678 Commercial ( ) 321,463 78,921 11,345,324 1,195,209 26,981,421 18,829,441 15,945,978 193,809 43,838 12,259 1,401 895,015 20,067 44,828 173,102 <2500 2500-25,000 25,000-50,000 50,000-100,000 100,000-200,000 200,000-500,000 500,000+ Consumer 15 57 22 16 28 32 29 Commercial 13 19 4 9 8 11 16 13
England and Wales Administration Orders Consumer 8 5 16 9 19 10 16 14 13 18 18 15 15 12 19 Commercial 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Consumer ( ) 24,912 14,503 60,735 31,689 55,232 30,943 89,919 38,905 42,874 53,681 68,201 50,965 60,481 41,148 62,434 Commercial ( ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14
England and Wales Administration Orders Consumer ( ) 3,114 2,901 3,796 3,521 2,907 3,094 5,620 2,779 3,298 2,982 3,789 3,398 4,032 3,429 3,286 Commercial ( ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <500 500-1000 1000-2000 2000-3000 3000-5000 5000-10,000 10,000+ Consumer 11 11 28 29 90 37 1 Commercial 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15
England and Wales Fine Defaults Consumer 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 Commercial 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Consumer ( ) 0 689 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,751 0 0 0 0 Commercial ( ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
England and Wales Fine Defaults Consumer ( ) 0 689 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 292 0 0 0 0 Commercial ( ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <100 100-200 300-400 400-500 500-1000 Consumer 2 1 1 1 2 Commercial 0 0 0 0 0 17
England and Wales Tribunal Awards Consumer 13 10 14 16 8 16 8 12 19 11 4 21 6 8 12 Commercial 10 6 6 8 12 6 4 2 1 7 3 9 3 3 6 Consumer ( ) 52,917 73,978 44,062 43,979 28,518 31,577 17,430 15,198 146,953 23,701 8,550 38,977 12,166 40,650 87,868 Commercial ( ) 62,218 17,315 88,898 126,371 63,124 34,702 9,204 1,418 2,842 59,285 12,025 36,589 5,854 72,589 26,208 18
England and Wales Tribunal Awards Consumer ( ) 4,071 7,398 3,147 2,749 3,565 1,974 2,179 1,267 7,734 2,155 2,138 1,856 2,028 5,081 7,322 Commercial ( ) 6,222 2,886 14,816 15,796 5,260 5,784 2,301 709 2,842 8,469 4,008 4,065 1,951 24,196 4,368 < 500 500-1000 1000-1500 1500-2000 2000-3000 3000-7500 7500+ Consumer 23 30 32 26 25 24 18 Commercial 9 6 11 8 9 17 26 19
Scotland Small Claims & Summary Decrees Consumer 1,277 1,977 1,621 1,845 1,861 666 1,536 1,667 3,123 985 1,402 1,275 1,223 1,637 2,020 Commercial 213 309 259 282 243 94 182 182 231 65 152 146 142 169 159 Consumer ( ) 1,931,151 3,034,865 2,555,492 2,801,929 2,981,914 964,995 2,164,327 2,395,927 5,700,149 2,672,924 2,212,076 2,078,640 2,062,810 2,446,635 2,983,827 Commercial ( ) 357,054 537,258 422,039 474,706 421,193 142,456 272,511 254,894 404,706 82,078 254,266 259,102 209,548 258,774 246,236 20
Scotland Small Claims & Summary Decrees Consumer ( ) 1,512 1,535 1,576 1,519 1,602 1,449 1,409 1,437 1,825 2,714 1,578 1,630 1,687 1,495 1,477 Commercial ( ) 1,676 1,739 1,629 1,683 1,733 1,515 1,497 1,401 1,752 1,263 1,673 1,775 1,476 1,531 1,549 <100 100-500 500-1000 1000-1500 1500-2000 2000-3000 3000+ Consumer 74 3,545 6,518 4,803 3,024 3,398 2,753 Commercial 16 492 583 518 374 447 398 21
Scotland Ordinary Cause Decrees Consumer 178 161 184 132 204 136 255 119 179 145 117 164 178 143 133 Commercial 76 52 67 49 63 36 54 37 37 39 19 54 45 31 15 Consumer ( ) 2,137,716 1,579,332 3,582,693 1,929,098 2,699,838 1,573,635 3,978,744 1,561,204 2,719,795 2,498,657 3,047,034 1,871,987 3,611,506 2,020,227 2,002,869 Commercial ( ) 2,005,920 21,414,615 1,149,999 825,864 783,389 427,041 768,803 998,113 374,113 749,636 307,717 2,872,219 761,494 636,892 271,064 22
Scotland Ordinary Cause Decrees Consumer ( ) 12,010 9,810 19,471 14,614 13,235 11,571 15,603 13,119 15,194 17,232 26,043 11,415 20,289 14,127 15,059 Commercial ( ) 26,394 411,820 17,164 16,854 12,435 11,862 14,237 26,976 10,111 19,221 16,196 53,189 16,922 20,545 18,071 <5000 5000-7500 7500-10,000 10,000-12,500 12,500-15,000 15,000-20,000 20,000+ Consumer 20 1033 527 263 167 164 254 Commercial 24 240 109 67 47 65 122 23
Northern Ireland Default & Small Claims Judgments Consumer 584 536 490 578 581 558 596 529 641 497 713 743 476 747 816 Commercial 40 51 45 50 89 55 59 43 57 40 108 75 44 56 47 Consumer ( ) 935,048 1,002,358 847,395 806,213 1,550,084 1,016,888 1,004,125 1,070,852 1,451,650 780,121 1,815,535 1,262,373 1,139,769 1,968,121 2,446,457 Commercial ( ) 94,396 184,494 139,011 110,528 224,156 172,534 140,445 76,590 200,384 118,522 283,555 125,422 77,906 140,250 138,012 24
Northern Ireland Default & Small Claims Judgments Consumer ( ) 1,601 1,870 1,729 1,395 2,668 1,822 1,685 2,024 2,265 1,570 2,546 1,699 2,394 2,635 2,998 Commercial ( ) 2,360 3,618 3,089 2,211 2,519 3,137 2,380 1,781 3,516 2,963 2,626 1,672 1,771 2,504 2,936 <100 100-500 500-1000 1000-1500 1500-2000 2000-3000 3000+ Consumer 107 2781 2065 1100 611 707 1714 Commercial 8 242 166 98 75 99 171 25
Northern Ireland High Court Judgments Consumer 7 6 1 7 12 6 17 11 9 13 5 7 8 3 1 Commercial 1 0 2 1 1 1 2 3 3 0 1 4 1 1 0 Consumer ( ) 350,303 631,402 16,107 567,465 1,188,047 1,556,906 5,494,108 634,970 2,008,562 1,960,114 1,258,569 546,419 341,148 153,631 40,000 Commercial ( ) 83,123 0 261,692 32,334 64,829 97,086 127,875 124,363 64,465 0 64,735 142,712 39,459 9,068 0 26
Northern Ireland High Court Judgments Consumer ( ) 50,043 105,234 16,107 81,066 99,004 259,484 323,183 57,725 223,174 150,778 251,714 78,060 42,644 51,210 40,000 Commercial ( ) 83,123 0 130,846 32,334 64,829 97,086 63,938 41,454 21,488 0 64,735 35,678 39,459 9,068 0 <5000 5000-50,000 50,000-75,000 75,000-100,000 100,000-200,000 200,000-500,000 500,000+ Consumer 5 44 13 9 12 23 7 Commercial 1 10 6 3 0 1 0 27
Republic of Ireland Registered Judgments Consumer 158 208 184 178 233 133 145 155 235 93 293 196 183 152 168 Commercial 31 62 55 45 79 48 46 32 78 41 93 92 38 60 54 Consumer ( ) 8,112,991 16,947,631 32,439,022 19,735,935 14,013,000 12,744,611 3,644,713 19,733,304 18,591,052 7,409,907 29,404,150 28,201,612 14,471,592 22,521,064 8,256,296 Commercial ( ) 6,810,990 950,285 1,402,002 1,595,026 1,402,544 705,991 3,728,343 547,645 1,417,744 466,615 1,286,027 1,093,279 423,614 7,005,252 688,447 28
Republic of Ireland Registered Judgments Consumer ( ) 51,348 81,479 176,299 110,876 60,142 95,824 25,136 127,312 79,111 79,676 100,355 143,886 79,080 148,165 49,145 Commercial ( ) 219,709 15,327 25,491 35,445 17,754 14,708 81,051 17,114 18,176 11,381 13,828 11,883 11,148 116,754 12,749 <10,000 10,000-15,000 15,000-20,000 20,000-25,000 25,000-50,000 50,000-100,000 100,000+ Consumer 12 1 5 3 28 22 42 Commercial 3 2 1 1 4 9 1 29
Jersey Petty & Royal Court Judgments Consumer 123 184 79 126 139 138 107 176 141 136 166 86 143 143 73 Commercial 15 12 14 10 14 24 14 18 24 22 24 18 8 26 10 Consumer ( ) 235,567 270,859 70,892 140,506 196,527 175,927 246,115 167,696 936,989 178,132 306,782 166,608 343,386 388,433 205,259 Commercial ( ) 116,648 116,172 43,376 13,093 38,744 547,555 38,393 107,364 107,203 210,207 75,112 333,723 28,667 964,760 22,813 30
Jersey Petty & Royal Court Judgments Consumer ( ) 1,915 1,472 897 1,115 1,414 1,275 2,300 953 6,645 1,310 1,848 1,937 2,401 2,716 2,812 Commercial ( ) 7,777 9,681 3,098 1,309 2,767 22,815 2,742 5,965 4,467 9,555 3,130 18,540 3,583 37,106 2,281 <100 100-500 500-1000 1000-1500 1500-2000 2000-3000 3000+ Consumer 245 871 239 138 97 114 256 Commercial 10 51 27 12 22 31 100 31
Isle of Man Default Judgments Consumer 8 16 0 228 37 38 30 40 30 11 44 1 0 63 78 Commercial 1 5 0 20 10 13 3 6 4 7 8 0 0 13 8 Consumer ( ) 70,631 167,475 0 352,752 549,805 1,073,484 751,955 1,465,168 77,453 23,689 135,251 6,925 0 738,866 87,711 Commercial ( ) 351 15,484 0 35,994 50,590 212,279 4,424 741,022 2,133 1,198,150 35,539 0 0 91,061 15,770 32
Isle of Man Default Judgments Jul 2016 Aug 2016 Sep 2016 Oct 2016 Nov 2016 Dec 2016 Jan 2016 Feb 2017 Mar 2017 Apr 2017 May 2017 Jun 2017 Jul 2017 Aug 2017 Sep 2017 Consumer ( ) 8,829 10,467 0 1,547 14,860 28,250 25,065 36,629 2,582 2,154 3,074 6,925 0 11,728 1,125 Commercial ( ) 351 3,097 0 1,800 5,059 16,329 1,475 123,504 533 171,164 4,442 0 0 7,005 1,971 <100 100-500 500-1000 1000-1500 1500-2000 2000-3000 3000+ Consumer 5 182 218 88 26 29 76 Commercial 1 17 21 7 10 14 28 33
Register Search Requests by Jurisdiction County Court Judgments 6,410 6,676 7,718 6,937 7,145 5,469 7,606 7,545 8,672 6,925 7,574 7,742 7,870 7,889 7,326 High Court Judgments 3,064 3,351 3,897 3,393 3,489 2,768 3,684 3,780 4,080 3,079 3,347 3,413 3,544 3,635 3,747 Fine Defaults 2,322 2,474 2,919 2,483 2,574 2,076 2,674 2,843 3,096 2,291 2,465 2,519 2,714 2,770 2,844 Tribunal Awards 2,578 2,760 3,168 2,799 2,824 2,291 2,947 3,095 3,318 2,519 2,614 2,740 2,827 2,896 3,048 Scotland 2,357 2,566 2,898 2,597 2,597 2,131 2,673 2,848 3,021 2,270 2,367 2,500 2,640 2,571 2,711 Northern Ireland 2,248 2,456 2,744 2,471 2,514 1,999 2,548 2,720 2,882 2,126 2,277 2,382 2,478 2,438 2,582 Republic of Ireland 2,220 2,393 2,735 2,402 2,441 2,005 2,512 2,713 2,855 2,112 2,241 2,386 2,473 2,394 2,564 Jersey 2,221 2,392 2,681 2,408 2,444 1,970 2,487 2,669 2,817 2,093 2,233 2,336 2,439 2,382 2,556 Isle of Man 2,223 2,401 2,701 2,421 2,448 1,987 2,487 2,676 2,828 2,113 2,245 2,345 2,465 2,382 2,561 34
Annex A: Data sources This annex gives brief explanations of the data types and sources for the statistics contained in this report. 1. England and Wales Since 6th April 2006 all entries previously contained in the Register of County Court Judgments became part of The Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines under the 2005 Regulations by the same name. These Regulations require courts in England and Wales to supply details of qualifying cases to the Registrar for inclusion on the Register. a) County Court Judgments Subject to the exemptions contained in the Regulations, monetary judgments processed within the County Court Money Claims Centre, the County Court Business Centre or by a regional hearing centre are sent to the Registrar be registered. Judgments are registered immediately where no defence has been entered and the judgment is granted by default. When a case has been defended, registration occurs where payment is by instalment order or where action is taken to enforce payment of the debt. b) Administration Orders An administration order empowers the court to take over the administration of a individual s debts where these do not exceed 5,000 and while an agreed regular amount is repaid. It combines a debtor s debts under certain conditions enabling the debtor to make regular payments to the court which are then distributed to the various creditors. Any debtor against whom at least one county court or high court judgment is registered can make an application to the court for an administration order. If granted this provides protection from further action by creditors in respect of any debts listed under the order. Creditors not included in the order cannot pursue their debts separately through the courts, if they try their debts are automatically added to the order. c) Child Support Agency Liability Orders These orders normally relate to self-employed individuals where no attachment of earnings order can be made. Where it is believed that the individual could be contributing, the CSA takes out a liability order in a 35
magistrates court and, if the debtor is not willing to pay, the debt may be registered. The Registrar is notified by one of the six CSA Offices in the UK; Plymouth, Birkenhead, Dudley, Hastings, Falkirk and Belfast. d) High Court Judgments High court judgments are registered when they relate to monetary judgments made in the Chancery Division, the Queen s Bench Division, the Admiralty and Commercial courts and the Costs Office for England & Wales. All default judgments are registered while defended cases, and county court judgments transferred to the high court for enforcement, are registered upon enforcement. In the Admiralty and Commercial court, where judgment has been registered in a foreign currency, the registration will be converted to GBP at the exchange rate applicable on the judgment date. e) Magistrates Courts Fines Defaulted fines relating to individuals and businesses convicted in magistrates or crown courts in England & Wales have been added to the Register since 6th April 2006. A magistrates court may register a defaulted fine following an offender s failure to respond to a Further Steps Notice issued by the relevant court. Registration will include all outstanding monies owed on the fine(s) including costs, compensation and victim surcharge. f) Enforced Tribunal Awards Since 1st April 2009, details of enforced monetary tribunal awards relating to individuals, companies or businesses have been added to the Register. Details of an award are only added to the Register once steps have been taken in the high court or county court to enforce the award. The Register will then show the amount of the debt. 2. Scotland Details of undefended monetary decrees entered in the various sheriff s courts are collected under an agreement with the Scottish Court service. a) Small Claims and Summary Cause Decrees The small claims procedure is a procedure used where the value of the claim is up to (and including) 36
3,000. It is used for resolving minor disputes (mainly relating to debts and consumer issues). The summary cause procedure is one which, if it relates to the payment of money, is used where the value of the claim is over 3,000 and up to (and including) 5,000. It is mainly used for disputes involving rent arrears, delivery of goods and debts. b) Ordinary Cause Decrees Since 1st January 2010, details of ordinary cause decrees have been added to the register. The ordinary cause procedure is mainly used in cases relating to divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership, children, property and claims for recovery of debt or damages exceeding 5,000. c) Simple Procedure Decrees From 28th November 2016, a change to Scottish law was evoked whereby simple procedure replaced the previous small claims procedure and part of the summary cause procedure. Simple procedure is a court process designed to provide a speedy, inexpensive and informal way to resolve disputes where the monetary value does not exceed 5,000. 3. Northern Ireland Details of monetary judgments in the Northern Ireland courts are collected under an agreement with the Northern Ireland Court Service. a) Default Judgments The Northern Ireland register contains details of all undefended default and small claims money judgments registered in the individual county courts or at the civil processing centre. b) High Court Judgments This register contains details of high court money judgments from the Queens Bench Division. 4. Republic of Ireland Details of monetary judgments in the Republic of Ireland are collected under an arrangement with the Four Courts in Dublin. a) Registered Judgments These include judgments from the district and circuit courts which to aid enforcement the creditor has registered with the Central Office of the High Court at the Four Courts. Registration itself does not 37
directly enforce a judgment but it publicises the existence of an unmanaged debt. Creditors are obliged to give prior notification to the defendant of the intention to register the debt. 5. Jersey Details of monetary judgments in the Jersey Petty Debts Court and the Royal Courts are collected by agreement with the Judicial Greffe. a) Petty Debts Judgments Parties to cases brought to the Petty Debts Court are first encouraged to meet informally or use a mediator to settle the dispute outside the court room. The Petty Debts Court normally handle cases up to 10,000. b) Royal Court Judgments The Royal Court hears more complex cases and those with a value over 10,000. 6. Isle of Man Details of monetary judgments in the Isle of Man are collected by agreement with the Chief Registrar of the General Registry at the Isle of Man Courts of Justice. a) Default Judgments These are cases where no defence has been entered and the judgment has been granted by default. 38
Annex B: Explanatory notes 1. All records remain on the registers for six years from the date of the court order, with the exception of England and Wales defaulted fines which remain on the register for five years. 2. Records may be updated while on the register to show when the debt has been fully repaid. Details of part payments or on-going payments are not received and are not reflected on the registers. 3. Records are only removed from the registers when entered in error or where the debt has been repaid within one month of the date of the court order. Where repayments are made after more than one month the record is shown as satisfied but remains on the register for the rest of its term (see point 1 above). 4. All data received by RTL is subject to various checks and validations before the data is processed and added to the registers. These measures include verification at both file level and record level. Data must be received in an agreed format, through an authorised and secure channel and according to a delivery schedule. 5. RTL takes all reasonable steps to validate the data which it receives, clarifying records with the courts where this is appropriate. The role of RTL does not replace the authority of the courts. Entries added to the registers convey the decisions of the courts and not RTL and reflect the records held at the courts. 6. For the purposes of these statistics the terms consumer and commercial are defined as follows. Consumer records are those where RTL has identified the defendant as a private individual. Commercial records are those defendants identified as corporate or non-corporate entities, i.e. Ltd/Plc or variants, LLP, trading styles or sole traders. 7. These statistics will be published at the following frequencies: January, April, July, and October. An annual summary of statistics will be published during the first quarter each year. 39
Annex C: Contacts Press enquiries on the contents of this report should be directed to the Registry Trust Limited press office: Tel: 0207 239 4971 (07779 291088 out of hours). General enquiries about the statistics available from Registry Trust Limited should be directed to info@registry-trust.org.uk. 40