Form N245: Suspend a Warrant or Vary Court Payments

At a glance

• What Form N245 does: lets a county court debtor ask the court to suspend a warrant of control and/or reduce (vary) the instalments payable under a CCJ — one application, and one fee, covers either or both.
• Who uses it: the person who owes the money — no solicitor required.
• Court fee: there is a fee to apply to vary a judgment or suspend enforcement (EX50A, fee code 2.7) — check the current amount on GOV.UK before you file, as court fees are periodically updated.
• Help with Fees: available via form EX160 if you are on a low income or qualifying benefits — can remove or reduce the fee entirely.
• Enforcement notice period: enforcement agents must now give at least 14 clear days' notice before taking control of goods — up from 7 days, following an amendment to the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 that took effect on 1 May 2026. That period extends to 28 clear days if a debt adviser asks for more time before the original notice runs out.
• Declaration: you sign the form declaring the details are true to the best of your knowledge.
• After filing: under CPR rule 83.7, the creditor has a fixed window to object; if they don't, a court officer can suspend the warrant on the terms you offered without a hearing.
• England and Wales only: High Court writs of control follow a different procedure.

This guide provides general information about how Form N245 works. It is not legal advice on your specific situation.

What Form N245 is and who needs it

A county court judgment (CCJ) is an order made by the County Court in England and Wales requiring a debtor to pay a sum of money to a creditor. The original judgment will usually include either a direction to pay the full amount immediately or a schedule of instalments spread over time.

Form N245 — formally titled Application for suspension of a warrant and/or variation of an order — is the document a debtor uses when that original arrangement has broken down. It covers two distinct but related situations, and can address either or both in a single application:

1. A warrant of control has been issued. If you miss payments under a CCJ, the creditor can apply to the court (using form N323) for a warrant of control (previously called a warrant of execution). This instructs a certified enforcement agent to attend your address to collect the debt or take control of goods that can be sold to pay it. The N245 asks the court to suspend that warrant — pausing enforcement — while the court considers your offer of payment.

2. The instalment order needs changing. Even without a warrant, if your financial circumstances have changed since the original judgment and you can no longer afford the monthly amount, you can use the N245 to ask the court to vary the instalment order to a figure you can genuinely sustain.

The form itself explains the mechanics plainly: it asks whether you want "suspension of the warrant" and/or "a reduction in the instalment order", and warns that if you do not complete all the details and sign the form, the court will not be able to deal with your application. It is published by HM Courts and Tribunals Service and is available as a free PDF download from GOV.UK.

If you are the creditor rather than the debtor, our separate guide on Form N323 and warrants of control covers how a warrant is requested in the first place.

How a warrant of control works — and why timing matters

Understanding the enforcement process helps explain why acting quickly with an N245 matters.

Once a CCJ is in place and payments are missed, the creditor can apply to the court for a warrant of control using form N323. The court issues the warrant to a certified enforcement agency covering the debtor's address. Before the enforcement agent can take control of goods, they must give a notice of enforcement. Under regulation 6 of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013, that notice must now be given not less than 14 clear days before the agent takes control of goods — this period was extended from the previous 7 clear days by an amendment that took effect on 1 May 2026. Where the notice period includes a Sunday, bank holiday, Good Friday or Christmas Day, that day does not count towards the 14.

There is a further protection: if, before the original notice expires, a debt advice provider submits a request on the debtor's behalf, the minimum notice period extends to 28 clear days (this extension does not apply to non-eligible business debt). Conversely, the court can order a shorter notice period, but only where it is satisfied that goods are otherwise likely to be moved or disposed of to avoid enforcement.

Filing an N245 asks the court to suspend the warrant before or during this process. Suspension is not automatic on filing, but it puts the application in front of the court while enforcement is paused for the creditor to respond. The sooner the form is filed after a warrant is issued — ideally within the notice-of-enforcement window and before any visit — the more effective the protection. Once goods have been taken control of and are being prepared for sale, options narrow.

The income-and-expenditure statement: why accuracy matters

Most of Form N245 is occupied by a financial statement, set out across numbered boxes on the form. The court uses it to judge whether your proposed payment is realistic and whether enforcement is proportionate given your means. The form asks for:

• Personal details and dependants (boxes 1–2). Your household composition, marital status, and the children or other dependants you look after financially, including their ages.
• Employment (box 3). Whether you are employed, self-employed (with annual turnover and any tax/National Insurance/VAT arrears), unemployed, or a pensioner.
• Bank account and savings (box 4). Whether your account is in credit or overdrawn, and any savings or building society balance.
• Property (box 5). Whether you live in your own property, jointly owned property, rented property, lodgings, or council property.
• Income (box 6). Take-home pay including overtime, commission and bonuses; income support; child benefit; other state benefits; pensions; contributions from others in the household; and any other income.
• Expenses (box 7). Mortgage, rent, council tax, gas, electricity, water, TV licence, HP repayments, mail order, housekeeping/food, travel, children's clothing, maintenance payments and other regular outgoings — excluding anything already listed under priority debts or credit debts.
• Priority debts (box 8) — arrears only. Rent arrears, mortgage arrears, council tax arrears, water charge arrears, gas and electricity arrears, maintenance arrears, and any others.
• Other court orders (box 9). Any other county court judgment or order you are already paying, and whether you are behind with those payments.
• Credit debts (box 10). Loans and credit card debts, and whether you are behind with any of them.

The form is signed with a declaration: "I declare that the details I have given above are true to the best of my knowledge." Figures that are too low (understating income) or too high (exaggerating outgoings) risk your offer being challenged by the creditor and an unfavourable decision by the court.

Making your offer

Box 11 of the form — Offer of Payment — sets out the arithmetic directly: take the totals of boxes 7, 8 and 9, and the payments you're making under box 10, away from the total income figure in box 6, and that gives you an idea of what you can realistically offer. There is no separate prescribed formula beyond this — the form itself tells you to work out what is left after essential spending, priority debts, other court orders and credit repayments, and offer that.

A realistic offer — one you can genuinely sustain month after month — is more valuable than a high offer you cannot keep. If you offer too little given your disclosed income, the creditor may object and a court officer is likely to set a higher amount when deciding on the papers. Either way, the income-and-expenditure figures you provide in boxes 6 to 10 are the evidence the decision is based on.

The court process once you file

Once your N245 and fee (or Help with Fees application) are received, the process in the county court follows CPR rule 83.7:

1. The court sends the creditor a copy of your application and financial statement. The creditor then has 14 days from service to notify the court in writing whether it objects, giving reasons for any objection.
2. If the creditor does not object in time, a court officer can make an order suspending the warrant on the terms of payment you offered — without a hearing.
3. If the creditor agrees to suspension but disputes the amount, a court officer determines the date and rate of payment and suspends the warrant on those revised terms.
4. Either side can ask for that officer's decision to be reconsidered. An application must be made within 14 days of the order being served (HMCTS's own guidance advises sending form N246A or a letter within 16 days of the postmark on the envelope). The court then fixes a hearing before a District Judge, giving both sides at least 8 days' notice.
5. If the creditor instead states it wants the enforcement agent to proceed with the warrant — objecting to any suspension, not just the terms — the court fixes a hearing before a District Judge with at least 2 days' notice to both sides.
6. If a District Judge does suspend the warrant, the debtor can be ordered to pay the costs of the warrant and any fees or expenses already incurred before the suspension.

Timescales vary between court offices. A complete application with clear financial figures is processed more quickly because the court does not need to come back to you for missing information.

The court fee and Help with Fees

There is a court fee to apply on Form N245, under "application to vary a judgement or suspend enforcement" — fee 2.7 on the HMCTS civil court fees list (EX50A). Court fees are periodically updated, so check GOV.UK for the current amount before you file. Where you seek more than one remedy in the same application (suspending the warrant and varying the instalments), only one fee is payable.

If paying the fee would be difficult, you may qualify for Help with Fees under the fee remission scheme. You apply using form EX160 (available online or from your local court) or online at the Help with Fees service, and it can be submitted at the same time as your N245. The remission can reduce the fee to zero depending on your financial position.

You may qualify if:

• you receive income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Universal Credit (with earnings below £6,000 a year), or Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit); and
• you have savings below the threshold — usually up to £4,250 where the fee is £1,420 or less (higher thresholds apply for larger fees, and if you or your partner are 66 or older you can have up to £16,000 regardless of the fee amount).

Even without qualifying benefits, you may still get money off based on income: your reported income (the lower of last month's, or your average over the last 3 months) can be up to £1,420 if you're single or £2,130 with a partner, plus £425 for each child aged 0–13 and £710 for each child aged 14 or over. Full eligibility details and the online application are at GOV.UK — get help paying court and tribunal fees.

What happens if a new order is made and you miss payments again

A suspension of a warrant is usually conditional on the new instalment being paid. If you miss the varied payments, the creditor does not need to start enforcement from scratch — HMCTS guidance confirms they can ask the court to reissue the warrant using form N445, and there is no fee for reissuing a warrant that was previously suspended. A further N245 from you is still possible — there is no fixed limit on the number of applications — but repeated defaults weaken any future application.

Note also that a warrant of control only lasts one year from issue. If it has not been enforced or a final report made within that time, the creditor must apply (using form N244, for a fee) to extend it before the year runs out, or apply for a fresh warrant instead.

If your circumstances change materially after a new order is made, filing a further N245 promptly — before arrears accumulate under the new order — gives the best chance of a further variation being granted.

The Breathing Space scheme and its interaction with N245

If you are under significant debt pressure, you may be eligible for the Debt Respite (Breathing Space) scheme. A standard breathing space gives up to 60 days of legal protection from creditor action — during that period, most creditors cannot take enforcement action, and the court will not continue enforcement proceedings including warrants of control against included debts.

A breathing space is not the same as an N245 application. Breathing Space is a temporary protection arranged through a debt adviser; Form N245 is a court application for a permanent variation to your payment terms. The two can be relevant at different stages, and for those with multiple debts, a debt adviser can help you work out which route is more appropriate first. Creditors retain the right to apply to the county court to challenge or cancel a breathing space in certain circumstances. Guidance on the scheme is available at GOV.UK — debt respite scheme guidance.

Practical steps before you file

1. Download the current form from GOV.UK. The N245 PDF is published by HMCTS and is free. Do not use old copies — verify you have the current version before completing it.
2. Gather your financial documents. Recent payslips or self-employment accounts; bank statements for the past two or three months; benefit award letters; your tenancy agreement or mortgage statement; utility bills; letters from other creditors. Having documents in front of you means the figures in boxes 3–10 will be accurate and will stand up to scrutiny.
3. Work out your true monthly surplus using the form's own method. Total income (box 6) minus expenses (box 7), priority-debt arrears (box 8), other court order instalments (box 9) and credit-debt payments (box 10). That surplus — or a realistic proportion of it — is the basis of your offer in box 11.
4. Check whether Help with Fees applies. If in doubt, complete the EX160 anyway or apply online — the court will assess it.
5. Send to the right court, and mind the clock. The N245 must go to the court that issued the warrant or made the original judgment. If a warrant has already been issued, remember the enforcement agent's notice period is now 14 clear days (28 if a debt adviser requests the extension before it expires) — file as early as possible within that window.
6. Keep copies of everything. Keep a copy of the completed N245, proof of postage or submission, and any response from the court or the creditor (including any N246A the creditor sends).

Last reviewed: August 2026. This page reflects the law applicable in England and Wales as at that date, including the 1 May 2026 increase in the minimum enforcement-notice period from 7 to 14 clear days. Court fees are updated periodically and are not quoted here — always check the current N245 fee on GOV.UK before filing.