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  1. About civil debt

Civil Debt

About civil debt

Overview

A civil debt is the result of a court decision. The court has been asked to decide a private disagreement over money or property. One or more parties has asked the court to resolve the disagreement.

The court decision is called a judgment order (or sometimes just a judgment or an order). It tells one party or parties (debtor) they must pay the other party or parties (creditor).

  • The debtor can be one or more people, businesses or organisations.
  • The creditor can be one or more people, businesses or organisations.

If the court has made a civil judgment order and the debtor does not pay, the creditor can ask the court to help them collect the debt. This is called civil enforcement. There are fees for civil enforcement. Usually, the fees can be added to the debt.

If you have a disagreement about money and want to take someone to court or are being taken to court, find out more in the courts and tribunals section(external link) of our website.

Explore more in these sections

Collecting civil debt and how the court can help The creditor needs to manage collecting the debt but can ask the court to help. Paying civil debt If the court says you need to pay a civil debt, you need to do this as soon as possible.

Find out more about civil debt

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