Order To Obtain Information

What Is an Order to Obtain Information?

This is when a creditor applies for a County Court Judgement (CCJ) to obtain further information about your personal and financial circumstances to determine the next course of action to receive payments on arrears from a debtor.

If a debt is subject to a Court Order (CCJ), and you are not keeping to the payment terms of this order, your creditor can seek to obtain a further order.

If you are concerned about having to disclose your financial affairs publicly contact Swift for advice.

At this point there are several Court Orders a creditor can apply for to encourage or enforce you to pay a debt, such as an Attachment of Earnings or a Charging Order.

To help them decide which route to take they may next look to get an Order To Obtain Information.

Important – Do not ignore an order to obtain information.

What is the Purpose of an Order to Obtain Information?

Ultimately, this court order allows creditors to determine what the next course of action should be. This might mean they decide whether it is in their best interests to use an enforcement method, and what other methods might be available to them.

What is the Order to Obtain Information Process?

You will be required to be questioned about your finances in court. The order can contain a penal notice. This is a warning that if you don’t go to the hearing, you can be sent to prison for disobeying the court order (contempt of court). It is very important that you do go to the hearing or tell the Court if you can’t.

The court can ask about:

• your income and outgoings
• your job
• your home
• any other property/assets you own
• if applicable, your partner’s finances. If you share a home and they contribute to household costs, this affects your ability to repay the debt.

What to do next

If you are subject to such creditor activity then you should comply with the requests from the court. If you are struggling to meet the demands of your creditors then you could contact a professional debt advice service such as Swift Debt Help, where you will be provided with an assessment of your situation to consider the solutions that are available to you.