Business Insurance With a CCJ — Quoted by a Broker, Not a Credit Check

Yes. Public liability is rated on your trade, turnover and claims history, so a county court judgment on the business or a director rarely stops it being placed. What a CCJ usually blocks is the automated online quote, because comparison sites run a credit check first. Placed manually through a specialist broker, public liability with a CCJ is routine. Disclose the judgment and expect to pay annually or through a specialist premium finance arrangement.

Sometimes, but often by less than people expect. A single satisfied judgment that is a few years old may make little or no difference to the premium. A recent unsatisfied judgment, or several judgments, is more likely to attract a loading. The bigger practical effect is usually on how you pay, because monthly instalments are a separate credit decision. Our guide to insurance for businesses with CCJs explains how underwriters read each situation.

Yes. An unpaid judgment is the hardest credit position to place, but it is a manual placement rather than a refusal. Underwriters want the value, the date, what the dispute was about and your plans for it. If the judgment is less than a calendar month old, paying it in full lets you apply to have it removed from the Register entirely, so check the date before anything else.

Often, but not always through the standard finance provider. Monthly payments are a credit agreement assessed separately from the insurance, so cover can be offered and the instalment plan refused. Paying annually avoids the credit check altogether. Where that is not possible we can look at specialist premium finance, a larger deposit or a shorter instalment term.

Yes. Sole traders, partnerships and limited companies are all placed, including new companies with no credit history and directors restarting after a previous business failed. Where a director has a personal judgment, it still has to be disclosed on a company policy, because proposal forms ask about every director and partner.

Yes. Under the Insurance Act 2015 commercial customers owe a duty of fair presentation, and judgment history is material whether it is satisfied or not. Disclosed, a CCJ is a rating factor. Left off, it can let an insurer cut a claim or avoid the policy. Telling us at the start also means we approach markets that will accept it, rather than collecting declines.

No. Miller & Partner arranges commercial insurance for businesses only, so we cannot help with personal home or private car insurance. We do place commercial property, let property owned by a business, and commercial vehicle cover as part of a business programme.