Farage was issued with court judgement for £9,400 debt

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Farage was issued with court judgement for £9,400 debt16 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleDominic Casciani ,Home and Legal CorrespondentandJack Fenwick ,Political correspondentPA MediaReform UK leader Nigel Farage failed to pay a debt of £9,400 and had a County Court judgment imposed against him in 2024. The judgment, which is publicly available on an official national database, shows that the County Court Online service made the finding against the Reform UK leader almost two years ago. The basic facts of the ruling do not include who made the claim, how it came about or whether Farage ever contested it.

Reform UK has said Nigel Farage will appeal the judgment because he had not been aware of the claim. A spokesman for the party said it had been sent to the wrong address. The County Court Online service deals with complaints relating to alleged debts of less than £10,000 across England and Wales - a service that used to be known as the small claims court.

The Details

An adverse judgment from the court can severely limit the ability of someone to borrow money. There is no information in the public record about the nature of the dispute and who went to the court, but the available document shows that the unidentified party submitted an online money claim against Farage, using the officially registered address for "Farage Media" in Leigh on Sea in Essex - a premises above an optician's shop. The court would have sent the claim to that address and the Reform UK leader then would have had 14 days to reply.

In some cases an alleged debtor asks for and gets more time to respond. The record shows a County Court judgment was made against Farage on 13 June 2024. As of Thursday night, that judgment was classified in the public database as an "unsatisfied record" - meaning the £9,400 debt had not been cleared.

An "unsatisfied" record can include cases where a debtor is paying off what they owe in instalments. A spokesman for Reform UK said that Farage had instructed lawyers to apply to the court to have the judgment set aside - the formal process of seeking to have it torn up. "It's now being appealed and we will win," said the spokesman.

What Experts Say

The spokesman added Farage periodically receives "nuisance claims of this nature, frequently for relatively modest sums falling within the small claims track and often lacking substantive merit". It's not clear however whether he can successfully launch an appeal because the rules for doing so are very strict. The judgment, first reported by Channel 4 News, can be found on the main national record of the County Court and anyone can see it for a £6 fee.

It remains public for six years. The public record is updated to show when a debt has been cleared.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.