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Paying the judgment debt

Information about how you can pay a judgment debt that has been made against you, in full or by instalments.

About judgment debts

If you lose the case, there will be a judgment against you. There may also be a judgment against you if you:

  • acknowledged the plaintiff's claim
  • did nothing to defend the claim
  • settled the case in their favour.

You are called the judgment debtor, and the plaintiff is called the judgment creditor.  

The judgment will say that you have to pay money to the other party. This may include:

  • the amount claimed by the plaintiff, or a lesser amount
  • the plaintiff for filing and service fees
  • professional costs, if the plaintiff had a lawyer, and 
  • interest, if the claim was more than $1,000. 

The total amount is called the 'judgment debt'. 

If there is a judgment against you and you want to pay it, you can:

  • pay the amount in full, or
  • apply to to pay by instalments. 

​Pay the amount in full

If you want to pay the judgment debt in full, you can contact the other party and ask them how they want you to pay. They may ask you to pay:

  • ​​in cash (make sure you get a receipt)
  • by cheque
  • by money order
  • by direct deposit.

After you have paid, you should send the other party a receipt and ask for written confirmation that they have received the judgment in full.  

Make sure you keep a record in case there is a dispute. You do not need to tell the court. 

Pay by instalments 

If you cannot afford to pay the judgment debt in a lump sum and you want to avoid enforcement action, you can: 

  • ​make an agreement to pay by instalments
  • apply to the court to pay by instalments.

Make an agreement to pay by instalments 

If you are able to make an agreement with the other party to pay the judgment debt by instalments, you should file a consent judgment/order form.

You should set out your instalment agreement in the form. It should state how much you will pay for each instalment, how often you will pay, when you will pay the first instalment and how you will pay the instalments. For more information, see  Step by step guide - Consent judgment or order.

If the judgment creditor wants to make an informal agreement with you to pay off the judgment debt, you should get legal advice. 

Apply to the court to pay by instalments

If you cannot reach an agreement with the other party to pay by instalments, you can apply to the local court to pay by instalments.  

If your negotiations are unsuccessful, you can apply to the local court to pay a judgment debt by instalments. For more information, see Step by step guide - Application for payment by instalments.

If you don't pay

If there is a judgment against you and you do nothing, the plaintiff may take action to try and make you pay the money or return their goods. This is called enforcement.

Enforcement action includes:

  • examination notice or order
  • writ for the levy of property
  • a writ for the delivery of goods
  • garnishee orders
  • bankruptcy
  • winding up.

There are steps you can take to respond to enforcement action. If you need more time to pay the debt or return the goods you can apply for a stay of enforcement. This is an order of the court that stops the other party from enf​​orcing the judgment debt for a period of time.

For more information, see Responding to enforcement.

The other party has up to 12 years from the date of the judgment to enforce it. They can use more than one type of enforcement action at a time. 

If there is a default judgment against you because you did not respond to the statement of claim, you may be able to apply to set aside the judgment.

For more information, see Step by step guide - Setting aside the default judgment.

 

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