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The debtor admitted the claim but asked to pay by instalments. Can I refuse?

The short answer

Yes. You can turn the offer down, and it does not reopen the claim1: once the company admits the whole of a fixed sum, you can ask for judgment and the court must enter it. If you do not agree on time to pay, the court sets the rate from the company's statement of means. Whoever sets the rate, a county court judgment of any size for goods or services sold to a business5 carries no interest on an instalment until it falls due6.

Mara, WolfX research desk
Written with AI, checked by a person · 8 October 2026

England and Wales only. WolfX is software, not a law firm.

The numbers

What the rules set.

£50,000Up to this, a court officer can set the rate without a hearing.1

14 daysTo ask a judge to look again at the officer's decision.1

8%Yearly interest on a CCJ for goods or services you sold to a business, at any size.5 7

1 monthTo pay a judgment in full and have it come off the register.8

What you can add

A £5,600 invoice, admitted, £200 a month offered

Say you invoiced another business £5,600, due on 3 August 2026. You issued a claim on 14 September 2026, 42 days late. The rate is 11.75%: 8% above the 3.75% Bank Rate12 on 30 June 2026. The company admits the whole sum and offers £200 a month. Interest since the claim, £1.80 a day, can also go on the request for judgment1. The sum leaves it out.

The invoice£5,600.00
Interest: £5,600 × 11.75% ÷ 365 × 42 days10£75.72
Fixed sum (invoices from £1,000 to £9,999.99)11£70.00
Court issue fee (claims from £5,000.01 to £10,000)9£455.00
Judgment with the fee, before interest since the claim£6,200.72

At £200 a month that is 32 payments, the last of 72p. At the £800 a month you ask for, it is eight, the last of £600.72. Paid at once, the judgment would carry 8% interest7, which is £1.36 each day. Paid by instalments, whoever sets them, none runs until each is due.

The road ahead

Six steps. The court decides if you do not agree.

Step 1: Check it is a full admission
This road is for a company that has admitted the whole of a claim for a fixed sum1. If it admits only part, this road does not fit: the court asks whether you take that part as settling the claim, and if you do not, the claim goes on as a defended one.
Cost: FreeTime: 5 minutes
Step 2: Read their statement of means
A company asking for time must send a statement of income, outgoings, assets and liabilities1. Set it against what is public: its filed accounts, its charges, any judgments, how it trades.
Cost: FreeTime: 30 minutes
Step 3: Weigh what instalments cost you
Whoever sets the rate, a judgment of any size for goods or services sold to a business5 carries no interest on an instalment until it falls due6. One not paid within a month stays on the register for 6 years8.
Cost: FreeTime: 10 minutes
Step 4: Reply with a date or a monthly figure
Say no to the offer and name what you would take, with your reasons. If you agree terms, the judgment gives effect to them1. If you do not, the court decides.
Cost: FreeTime: 20 minutes
Step 5: Ask for judgment on form N225 or OCON225
Form N2253 is the request for judgment. It can include interest to date1, and you can add the issue fee.
If you claimed on paper or on Money Claim Online and do not accept the offer, send it on paper. On Money Claim Online, asking for judgment by acceptance, or for higher instalments than they offered, may get the judgment set aside2.
On the newer Online Civil Money Claims service, say no on form OCON225 there, within 33 days of being asked4, and suggest your own. Answer late and the claim is put on hold until you do.
Cost: Form is freeTime: 20 minutes
Step 6: Let the court set the rate
A court officer can decide without a hearing1 when the amount outstanding, with interest and costs, is not more than £50,000. Either side has 14 days to ask a judge to look again, usually without a hearing.
If circumstances change, either side can later apply to vary the rate1, for a £16 fee9.
Cost: No fee to set it; £16 to vary laterTime: 14 days to ask again

A letter you can copy

Reply to an offer of instalments

Send it when the admission arrives, before you file the request for judgment.

New email

SubjectClaim : your offer of instalments

Dear , Thank you for admitting my claim for , issued on in the County Court, claim number . I have read your offer to pay . I do not accept it. I would accept . I am asking for this because . Please tell me by whether you agree. If you do, I will ask the court to enter judgment on those terms. If there is no agreement by then, I will ask the court to enter judgment and set the rate of payment, using your statement of income, outgoings, assets and liabilities. If you believe any of this is wrong, please tell me before that date and say why. Kind regards,

Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.

Send it by email so it is dated, and post a copy to the address on their admission form. Keep both with the admission. The letter does not replace the request for judgment. If the date passes with no agreement, file the request.

When not to bother

When it isn't worth it

The plan is short and the client matters to you. A few months of instalments costs little, and the court enters judgment on their terms if you tick that you accept.
They admitted only part of the sum. That is a different road: you tell the court whether you accept that part, and if you do not, the claim goes on as defended.
The company looks to be going under. A plan from a failing company may not be paid, so check its record at Companies House before you spend time on the rate.
They are a sole trader. The rules are the same, but the court asks for their personal financial details: see the related page on suing a sole trader.
They are a consumer, or you are outside England and Wales. These pages do not cover consumer debts, and Scotland and Northern Ireland use different routes.

The Wolf's note

The admission is the hard part, and you have it. What is left is arithmetic. Give the officer a figure and the reasons for it, because without them the company's own statement of means is the main paper in front of the officer.

Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX

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