Northern Irish consumer debt judgments fall by a third

The number of debt judgments registered against Northern Ireland consumers in the first Quarter of 2021 fell from 1,476 to 972, a fall of just over one third compared to the same period last year, according to figures released by Registry Trust.

The total value of judgment debt saw a smaller fall, down 6.3 percent from £3.2 million to just under £3 million. The average value of consumer judgments rose by 42 percent, from £2,159 last year to £3,071. The median value rose by more than 14 percent from £814 to £930. This suggests creditors took out fewer, larger judgments against consumers in the quarter.

But, numbers are rising sharply again up 39 percent compared to the previous quarter (Q4 2020) and 129 percent from the lows seen in Q2 2020.

Registry Trust Chair, Mick McAteer, said “The latest Registry Trust data shows that Government and regulatory interventions, and forbearance by creditors, in response to the Covd-19 economic crisis clearly helped households. But, as we expected, the damage to household finances caused by Covid is now showing up in the numbers as those protection measures are wound down”.