Interest on a county court judgment: the £5,000 threshold, 8 per cent and the daily rate worked

A client has a county court judgment for £7,500 and the other side has not paid. "Is it costing them more every day?" The answer depends on one number, £5,000, and on a rate that is easy to misquote because an older version of the rule gave a different figure.

What the two pages say

As summarised from the pages on 28 October 2026:

• Rate. Section 17 of the Judgments Act 1838, as shown on legislation.gov.uk, says every judgment debt carries interest at 8 per cent a year, until it is satisfied. The page notes the rate wording was amended in 1993.
• Threshold. The 1991 Order applies to a county court judgment or order for payment of a sum of not less than £5,000. Under that, the summary says there is no interest under the Order.
• Start date. Interest runs from the date the judgment was given, or a later date where the amount has to be worked out afterwards. It does not apply to costs.
• Exceptions listed. Proceedings on an agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974; a suspended possession order for a dwelling-house; and, for spouse or child provision, only a lump sum of £5,000 or more.
• Instalments and deferrals. Interest does not start until the date set, or on each instalment until it falls due.
• Other pauses. Interest stops while enforcement proceedings are taken, but if they produce no payment it accrues as if they had never been taken; it does not accrue while an administration order or attachment of earnings order is in force.

The Order as made stated the rate in its explanatory note as 15 per cent, which was the figure then in section 17. The current section 17 text says 8. Use the current Act, and check the Order's amended text before quoting a figure in advice.

The arithmetic

Simple interest, so the daily amount is the judgment sum times 0.08, divided by 365.

Checks. 5,000 x 0.08 = 400; 400 / 365 = 1.0959, so £1.10; 400 x 90 / 365 = 36,000 / 365 = 98.63. 10,000 x 0.08 = 800; 800 / 365 = 2.1918, so £2.19; 800 x 90 / 365 = 72,000 / 365 = 197.26. 25,000 x 0.08 = 2,000; 2,000 / 365 = 5.4795, so £5.48; 2,000 x 90 / 365 = 180,000 / 365 = 493.15. The 90-day figures are worked from the full-year amount, not from the rounded daily figure.

The cliff edge is stark: a judgment of £4,999 earns no interest under the Order, while £5,000 earns £98.63 in 90 days. For the client's £7,500 judgment, 7,500 x 0.08 = 600 a year, and 600 x 90 / 365 = 54,000 / 365 = £147.95 over 90 days.

I did not read whether leap years change the divisor, so I used 365 throughout.

Putting it into practice

• Say what the client can claim. When a judgment is given, note the date and the sum, because the interest start date is the judgment date, not the date the order is sealed or sent.
• Check the exceptions first. A regulated credit agreement or a suspended possession order changes the answer.
• Link it to the fees. The court fees guide shows what enforcement costs, which is the other side of the weighing-up.
• Keep the two interest rules apart. Judgment interest at 8 per cent is a different rule from the business-debt rate in the late payment guide, which is 8 per cent plus base rate for the period before judgment.
• Add it to the file check. The compliance readiness check is a place to add a line on recording judgment dates.

What I did not read

I did not read the Civil Procedure Rules on when interest is calculated, the amended text of the 1991 Order, how the court treats part payments, High Court judgment interest, or any guidance on registering a judgment. Check each with a primary source before you advise.

Overlyft builds AI staff who join your firm's team, read the judgment date and sum from the file, work out the interest to date and draft the update to the client, with a person approving each one.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the current legislation and your own obligations for each client.