A total of, 843,853 people had County Court Judgments registered against them, up by a third compared to last year and the second consecutive year that the figure has increased.

According to the Registry Trust, the organisation that tracks the figures on behalf of the Lord Chancellor's office, lenders are going to the courts earlier than ever before to ensure they have a claim on the debtors property.

County Court Judgments are the first stage in a legal process that can lead to bailiffs knocking on your door, demanding goods to the value of the debt. It is also the first step for a lender to obtain a charging order, which converts any unsecured debt into a secured debt, enabling it to make a recover it's debt from the value of the borrower's property.

County Court Judgments are of course best avoided completely if at all possible, and for homeowners who have a number of debts which are proving difficult to manage and risk acquiring County Court Judgments as a result, an oft used and useful tool is to consolidate a number of smaller, unsecured loans by obtaining a utilising their home equity to secure a lower interest rate, which can serve to lower the monthly cost of servicing their debts, especially when combined with a longer repayment period.

County Court Judgments stays on a person's credit record for six years unless they pay the balance within one month of its issue. Even if the debt is paid within the six years, the CCJ will remain on file, but will be marked as 'satisfied'.

Even for consumers who already have County Court Judgments, there are still solutions available to get their finances back on track. There are a number of lenders who specialise in providing debt consolidation loans to consumers with , and who will lend to consumers with not only County Court Judgments, but also mortgage arrears and even to consumers in an IVA or bankruptcy.

Many lenders have seen bad debt levels explode in recent years as increasing numbers of consumers utilise the less stringent bankruptcy laws and Individual Voluntary Arrangements. The latest set of financial figures from the banks show that Royal Bank of Scotland (owners of NatWest), HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds TSB collectively wrote off ?11.6bn in bad debts from customers last year.

Malcolm Hurlston, Registry Trust chairman said: ?Judgments are an important item in creditors' armoury, particularly for dealing with people who are 'won't pays' rather than 'can't pays' and the sharp rise indicates that it is creditor behaviour that is changing.?

Mr Hurlston further added: ?Creditors are seeking judgments as the necessary first step to obtaining charging orders against debtors' properties, thus securing their share in any equity. It is a further warning to homeowners who may have borrowed too heavily on top of rising interest rates and escalating house prices.?