What is a CCJ?

An England & Wales County Court Judgment (CCJ) is a judgment issued by a county court if you fail to repay a monetary debt and the creditor has taken court action.

Search the official Register

If you want to confirm what is recorded on the statutory Register, TrustOnline is the official public search.

Search the official CCJ Register via TrustOnline

Most monetary CCJs will appear on the Register if:

Issued in default (where no defence was entered)
A defence is entered, and payment is agreed by instalments
The judgment has to be enforced

For the full list of criteria, please refer to the latest statutory instrument relating to the Judgments, Orders and Fines Regulations.

When a claim is made, you will receive a letter from the court explaining the details of the judgment, which will provide you with the opportunity to dispute it.

You may not receive the claim form if you have moved address and have not notified the claimant.

Once a judgment has been granted, details are submitted by the court to Registry Trust for inclusion on the public Register.

The information appearing on the Register is as follows:

Defendant details - name and address the judgment was recorded against
Court name
Case number
Judgment date
Judgment amount
Satisfaction date, if satisfied

The information sent to us by the court may contain a date of birth. If this information is provided to us by the court, it will appear on our public Register.

We do not hold details of the person or organisation claiming repayment from you, but these can be obtained from the relevant court if you have the case number.

If you have a query about your case, you will need to raise this with the court. You will need your case number when contacting the court.

General Information

Judgments stay on the public Register for six years unless cancelled, paid within one calendar month or set aside by the relevant court.

Judgments showing on the public register are also sent to the credit reference agencies for inclusion in their files.

We send the credit reference agencies judgment information exactly as it is sent to us by the court.

Registry Trust does not have access to your credit file and is not involved in the process of linking judgments to individual names and addresses. This is a decision made by the credit reference agencies.

For more information on how to satisfy a judgment, you can read our guide to judgment satisfactions.

For more information on how to cancel or set aside a judgment, you can read our guide to removing CCJs.

How to satisfy a County Court Judgment

If you have a County Court Judgment (CCJ) registered against you, you will need to pay the judgment amount (the amount appearing on our Register) and inform the court in order to have the judgment showing as satisfied.

If the judgment amount is not paid, the judgment will remain outstanding for six years from the date of the judgment. We do not currently hold partial settlement information.

If the judgment is paid within one calendar month from the date of the judgment, either yourself or the claimant can contact the relevant court with proof of payment. Once the court notifies Registry Trust, we will remove the judgment from our public Register and notify the credit reference agencies to remove it from their files.

If the judgment is paid later than one calendar month from the date of judgment, you can apply to have the judgment marked as satisfied, provided you or the claimant send in your proof of payment to the relevant court.

If you require a certificate showing that your record has been paid, you can apply to the relevant court for a 'Certificate of Satisfaction'. To do this, you will need to fill out the N443 form and follow the court's instructions.

You can only receive a 'Certificate of Satisfaction' if your debt is paid in full; we do not record partial settlement information.

If you haven't paid a CCJ

You will need to contact the claimant.

See here for our guide to claimants.

Removing a County Court Judgment

England & Wales County Court Judgments (CCJs) can only be removed from the Register if they are set aside or cancelled by the court.

Having a CCJ Set Aside

To have a CCJ set aside, you will need to contact the court that issued the judgment.

They will ask you to fill out an N244 form explaining the reasons you believe the judgment should be set aside.

If the court approves your application to set aside, you will be given a new hearing where a judge may order the judgment to be set aside.

Alternatively, if you and the claimant both agree the judgment should be removed, you can fill out a consent form asking for the judgment to be set aside by consent - there are court steps to follow for the consent form to be put before a judge.

If the judge approves your consent form, the judgment may be set aside.

If a court sets aside a judgment, it will notify us to remove the judgment from our public register. You can check if a CCJ has been set aside by using our case number search on TrustOnline.

Cancelling a Judgment

If the judgment amount is paid in full within one calendar month from the date of judgment, the judgment can be removed from our public Register.

Either yourself or the claimant can contact the court providing proof of payment. However, if you are providing proof of payment and would like a 'Certificate of Cancellation or Satisfaction', you will need to fill out form N443 and follow the court's instructions.

Once the court notifies us that a judgment has been cancelled, we will remove it from our Register and notify the credit reference agencies to remove the judgment from their files.

What if my CCJ relates to an insurance claim?

If a judgment against a consumer relates to an insurance claim, we can ask the credit reference agencies to remove the judgment from your credit file. It will, however, stay outstanding on the public register unless we are notified to remove it by the court.

We would require a letter on headed paper from the insurance company or their solicitors confirming:

The judgment relates to an insurance claim
Case number
Judgment date
Judgment amount

Upon receipt of a letter from the insurance company or their solicitors, we will instruct the credit reference agencies to remove the judgment from their files.

CCJs relating to insurance claims can only be removed from the credit files of consumers, not limited companies.

Our Guide to Insurance Cancellations

We cannot make any changes to the Register by removing a judgment or marking it as satisfied unless instructed to do so by the relevant county court. However, due to an agreement between Registry Trust and the major credit reference agencies, if a judgment relates to an insurance claim and was issued against an insured party rather than the insurer, additional support is available.

Insurance Cancellation for an Individual

If a County Court Judgment (or similar monetary judgment) relates to an insurance claim against an individual for an outstanding debt which should have been covered by the insurers, we will notify the credit reference agencies to remove the judgment data from their files. We can only consider this action if we receive an original signed letter from the insurer or insurer's solicitors confirming that they were responsible for paying the outstanding debt on behalf of the insured.

The original signed letter on headed paper by post from the insurers must contain the following information:

The judgment relates to an insurance claim
The defendant's name
County court name
Case number
Date of judgment
Amount of judgment

We can only process an insurance cancellation if we are in receipt of an original signed letter on headed paper received by post addressed to:

Registry Trust LtdInsurance Cancellation Request3rd Floor12 Carthusian StreetLondonEC1M 6EB

Or by email to info@registry-trust.org.uk

All correspondence received is dealt with in date order and you will receive a response within 10 working days.

The record will remain on the public register until it is set-aside/cancelled by the relevant court.

Insurance Cancellation for a Limited Company

We cannot issue an Insurance Cancellation for a Limited Company.

Our Guide to Claimants

The claimant is the individual or organisation that has taken a money judgment or decree out against you. They may act for themselves in the case, or they may instruct a solicitor to start court action on their behalf.

How do I find out who the claimant is?

You will need to contact the court that issued your judgment and quote them your case number. They will be able to give you contact information for the claimant so that you can find out more information and/or pay them.

If you are unaware of the case number, you can do a search on TrustOnline.

I've paid the claimant…now what?

If you've paid the claimant, you will need to ask them to provide the court with proof of payment so that the Register can be updated.

Alternatively, you can fill out an N443 form and send your proof of payment to the relevant court.

To confirm that the judgment has been updated on the Register, you will need to conduct a search on TrustOnline.

My claimant has refused to provide proof of payment - what can I do?

Claimants are under no obligation to provide proof of payment once payment has been made.

You will need to contact the court to find out what proof of payment it will accept.

Alternatively, you may need to apply to have the judgment set aside.