I have received notification of a County Court
Judgement - what should I do?
Amending an entry on the Register of County
Court Judgments
I have received notification
of a County Court Judgement - what should I do?
This is a common court procedure and nothing to worry about
too much and there are several things you should do as soon
as possible.
Firstly check that the amount that the Judgment states that
you owe is correct.
If you are in a position to pay the amount in full then do
so within one month otherwise the CCJ will be registered with
the Register of County Court Judgments and
credit
reference agencies will note this on your file. This may
make it difficult for you to obtain credit in the future.
If you are unable to pay the amount in full straight away
but can do so at a later date, then you do so, you should
apply to the court for a Certificate of Satisfaction for £10.
The CCJ will remain on your file for 6 years but potential
lenders will be able to see that you have paid the debt.
If you are unable to pay the amount specified then you should
ask the courts to "vary" the order by completing
a form N245, obtainable from the court. They will ask you
to give information about your regular income and expenditure
(called a means enquiry). There is a £30 fee (payable
to the courts) for submitting this application.
Amending an entry on
the Register of County Court Judgments
If a Judgment is set aside or reversed, for example, on appeal
or because it has been paid within one month, the court will
automatically remove the entry from the Register of County
Court Judgments.
The court must send notification of cancellation to the Registry
Trust within three days of the date of the order. The entry
should be removed from the Register and from the credit reference
agencies' databases within three to four weeks.
If you show you have paid the debt in full within one month
of it being entered on the Register, you can have the entry
cancelled. Otherwise, once the debt has been paid, you can
apply to have the entry amended to show the debt has been
paid. This does not remove the entry, it only marks it as
paid or "satisfied". Whether or not a Judgment has
been paid it will remain on your file for 6 years. After that
time the records are deleted.
In England and Wales, a Certificate of Satisfaction, stating
that the debt has been paid, can be obtained from the County
Court in which the case was heard. The fee is £10. If
the debt was not paid through the court, for example, it was
paid direct to the lender, the court will require evidence
that the Judgment has been satisfied, ie paid. The court will
need the case number of the action. The number and the name
of the court are shown on the Register of County Court Judgments,
under your name, and on your credit reference file. The court
will then issue a Certificate of Satisfaction to you and automatically
inform the Registry Trust that the debt has been paid. There
is no statutory time limit within which the court must do
this.
Don't wait until it's too late
