The number and value of debt judgments in Northern Ireland has increased substantially in the first half of 2017, the Registry Trust has said.

The non-profit organisation, which collects judgment information from jurisidictions across the UK and Ireland, said there were 4,101 small claims judgments in the first six months of 2017, a year-on-year increase of 11 per cent.

The total value rose by 21 per cent to £8.3 million, while the average value of a small claims judgment rose by 9 per cent to £2,031.

There were 75 judgments in the High Court in the first half of the year, worth a total of £12.5 million or an average of £165,692.

Only 3.5 percent of judgments in Northern Ireland were marked as satisfied this year, compared to 12 per cent in England and Wales.

Under a new initiative developed by Registry Trust, lenders are being encouraged to notify the Trust directly when a judgment has been settled to their satisfaction.

Registry Trust chairman Malcolm Hurlston CBE said: “Although defendants in Northern Ireland have every opportunity to notify us when they have satisfied a judgment, it is clearly not happening enough. It will be in everybody’s interest if claimants make it best practice to notify the Trust. Then positive information will reach credit files and public notice quicker.”

This year so far, the Registry Trust has received more than 12,000 requests to search its online register for Northern Ireland.

Mr Hurlston said: “It is a unique benefit for consumers to be able to check the debt record of any person or business with which they may be transacting.

“Negative information would certainly make me think twice.”