A creditor is threatening a charging order on my home

A charging order is a two-step court process. First, the creditor must have an existing County Court Judgment (CCJ) against you. They then apply for an interim charging order (which is granted without a hearing) and subsequently a final charging order (which can be contested at a hearing) under the Charging Orders Act 1979.

At the stage of the interim order, you will receive notice and have the opportunity to object at the final charging order hearing. Grounds to object include: the CCJ was obtained irregularly; you have been paying the CCJ by instalments and have not missed any payments; granting the order would be unjust in all the circumstances (a court can refuse a final charging order on these grounds).

A charging order does not automatically lead to the sale of your home. Once obtained, the creditor can apply for an Order for Sale, which is a separate application. Courts are very cautious about granting Orders for Sale, particularly in cases involving families with children or elderly occupants, or where the charging order amount is small relative to the property's equity.

Tactics to protect yourself include: making regular payments on the CCJ by instalments (this weakens the case for a charging order or sale); ensuring your spouse or civil partner's interest in the property is registered; and objecting at the final charging order hearing on proportionality grounds.

If you own the property jointly and only one owner has the CCJ against them, the charge only attaches to that owner's share — not the whole property.