How to Get Rid of a CCJ You Were Never Told About

Many people find out about a County Court Judgment (CCJ) by accident. A loan or mortgage gets refused, a credit check throws up a judgment you have never seen, or a letter from a bailiff lands on the doormat. You were never sent the original claim, you never had a chance to respond, and now there is a judgment against your name.

The good news is that you do not have to live with it. If you were never properly told about the claim, you can ask the court to cancel the judgment entirely, so it disappears from the register and your credit file as if it had never happened. This guide explains how.

“Getting Rid of a CCJ” Can Mean Two Different Things

When people say they want to get rid of, clear, or remove a CCJ, they usually mean one of two very different things. It is important to know which one applies to you, because the process and the result are not the same.

1. Cancel it entirely (set aside)

Setting a judgment aside means the court cancels it. The CCJ is wiped from the Register of Judgments and removed from your credit file completely, as if it never existed. This is the best possible outcome. It is available when you should never have had a judgment against you in the first place, for example because:

• You were never told about the original claim, so you had no chance to defend it
• You have a real defence to the claim, for example you do not owe the money, you already paid it, or it is not your debt

You apply to set a CCJ aside using form N244, an application notice to the court that entered the judgment.

2. Pay it off and mark it as satisfied

If you do actually owe the money, the other route is to pay the judgment in full and have it marked as satisfied. You do this using form N443. A satisfied CCJ still stays on your credit file for six years from the judgment date, but it shows as paid rather than outstanding.

Marking a CCJ as satisfied does help your credit, because lenders view a paid judgment more favourably than an unpaid one. But it helps less than setting it aside, because the entry is still visible. It moves you on rather than wiping the slate clean.

What “I Was Never Told About It” Actually Means

A CCJ is normally entered “in default”, which means the court gives judgment because the defendant did not respond to the claim in time. But the whole system depends on the defendant actually receiving the claim form. Often they do not. Common reasons people never see the claim include:

• You had moved house and the claim was sent to your old address
• The claimant used an old, wrong, or guessed address for you
• The claim went to a former registered office or a business address you no longer use
• The post was lost, intercepted, or never delivered
• The debt had been sold on and you had no idea a company was chasing you for it

In all of these cases, the first you hear of the judgment is usually a refused credit application, a letter from a debt collector, or a bailiff at the door. That is exactly the situation the set aside process is designed for.

When the Court Must Cancel It

The court rules split set aside applications into two types. The first is where the court must set the judgment aside. Under Civil Procedure Rule 13.2, the court has no choice but to cancel a default judgment if:

• The claim was not properly served on you (for example, it was sent to an address where you no longer lived)
• Judgment was entered too early, before the time for responding had run out
• You had already responded to the claim before judgment was entered

If your situation fits one of these, you have a strong application. Being sent the claim at an address you had moved away from is the most common example for people who were never told about the judgment. Where the claim was genuinely never served on you, the court may also waive the application fee, though you should budget for the standard fee in case it does not.

When the Court Can Cancel It (Discretion)

The second type is where the court can set the judgment aside if it decides that is the right thing to do. Under Civil Procedure Rule 13.3, the court may cancel the judgment if:

• You have a real prospect of successfully defending the claim, or
• There is some other good reason why the judgment should be set aside, or why you should be allowed to defend

Not being told about the claim until much later is a good reason. The court will also want to see that you have a genuine defence, so it helps to explain why you dispute the debt, not just that you never received the paperwork. The court fee is £123 for an application without a hearing, or £313 with a hearing. If you are on a low income or benefits you may qualify for Help with Fees and pay no court fee. On top of the court fee, JustClaim charges a £99 service fee to prepare and file the application for you.

How to Apply to Set Aside a CCJ

You apply using form N244, the application notice, to the court that entered the judgment. Here is what is involved:

• Step 1: Find the judgment details. You need the claim number, the name of the claimant, the court, and the date of the judgment. These are on any judgment order or enforcement letter. If you have none of these, the court or Registry Trust can help you find the claim number
• Step 2: Explain what you are asking for. State clearly that you apply for the default judgment to be set aside
• Step 3: Explain why. Set out how and when you found out about the CCJ, why you never received the claim (for example, you had moved and it went to your old address), and your defence to the claim if you have one
• Step 4: Attach your evidence. This might be proof of your address at the time, a tenancy agreement, council tax records, or anything that shows you were not living where the claim was sent
• Step 5: Pay the fee. The court fee is £123 without a hearing or £313 with a hearing, or nothing if you qualify for Help with Fees. Where the claim was never served on you, the court may waive it. JustClaim's service fee for preparing and filing the application is £99
• Step 6: File and serve. Send the application to the court, and send a copy to the claimant so they know about it

What Happens After You Apply

The court reviews your application. On mandatory grounds it may cancel the judgment without a hearing. On discretionary grounds it will often list a short hearing where both sides can put their case. If the judgment is set aside, two things happen:

• The CCJ is removed from the Register of Judgments, and the credit reference agencies remove it from your credit file
• The original claim is revived, and you get the chance to defend it properly. The case carries on as if judgment had never been entered, so you may still need to deal with the underlying claim

If You Do Actually Owe the Money

Set aside is for people who should not have had a judgment against them. If you accept that you owe the debt and simply want to clear the CCJ from your record, the simpler route is to pay it in full and apply for a certificate of satisfaction. Our guide on how to clear a paid CCJ explains that process, including the rare cases where paying within one month lets you have it removed entirely. If you owe the money but cannot pay it all at once, you can also ask to pay by instalments to keep yourself out of enforcement.

Frequently Asked Questions