CCJs in Northern Ireland are up
ICC Information can reveal that the number of County Court Judgements
(CCJ’s) against companies in Northern Ireland for the recovery of
unpaid debt has increased significantly, reaching £1.79 million in the
third Quarter of 2009. This brings the total value of CJ’s since the
start of 2009 to a staggering £3.69million, with 762 CCJ’s being
lodged. The Value of CCJ’s has been increasing consistently since the
beginning of 2009 with the average value of CCJ’s doubling since
Quarter 1 2009.
Antrim Companies accounted for the majority of CCJ’s with 30%
(£533,922), followed by Derry with 19% (£405,533) and Down with 14.5%
(£317,207). The lowest offenders were Companies based in Fermanagh
with 3% (£58,086).
Comparing Quarter 3 2009 against Quarter 3 2008, Antrim was the only County that saw a decrease in the Value of CCJ’s.
All other Counties in Northern Ireland showed an increase in comparison to the same period in 2008, with Armagh companies showing the biggest increase with 633%, followed by Derry with 318%.
The ‘Construction’ sector accounted for the majority of CCJ’s with 37.1% followed by ‘manufacturing’ with 9.9% and ‘Hotels & Restaurants’ with 6.6%. ‘Finance’ & ‘Telecommunications’ were the lowest offenders with less than 1% each.
“CJ’s against companies are a useful barometer of corporate financial health and a leading indicator of insolvency’’ explained Michael Gannon, Head of Business and Account Development at ICC Information
‘’In 2008 there was a total of £4.4 million CJ’s against Northern Irish companies. In the first 3 quarters of 2009 we have already reached £3.7 million and if this trend continues, quarter 4 looks set to be another difficult one.
This means companies need to be extra vigilant and ensure they understand the Credit History of the companies they are dealing with, and therefore decreasing the probability of incurring bad debt’’ added Gannon.
