About County Court Judgements (CCJs)

A County Court Judgement (CCJ) is a serious black mark on a person's credit rating, making it difficult if not impossible to obtain credit in the future. How do you get one, and can you do anything about it?

In essence, a CCJ is made when a Judge in the County Court determines that you owe money to someone, and that all other legal steps taken to recover the money have failed. A CCJ will only be issued after several defined steps have been taken.

Arrears Letters

Firstly, the creditor must send out a letter confirming that an account is in arrears, and giving notice that legal action will be taken if the arrears aren't paid or another arrangement made.

If this letter is ignored, or no alternative arrangements are agreed upon, a default notice will be served. This is basically a declaration that there is a debt that is unpaid, and that you have a final chance to make good what you owe. If you don't do so, the default will be entered onto your credit file - itself, a serious hindrance to your future chances of obtaining credit.

Court Action

It is at this stage that the creditor can apply to the court for a CCJ. The creditor must convince a judge that the debt is real, and that there has been no attempt by the debtor to clear it. The debtor needn't be present in court, although of course there is the opportunity to defend yourself if you feel you have a case, for example that the debt is the responsibility of another person.

If the judge is satisfied with the creditor's argument, the judge will grant the CCJ. There will then be a 28 day period during which, if the debt is settled, the CCJ will be canceled and not entered onto your credit file. If you don't pay within 28 days, the judgement will stand and be recorded on your file.

It will remain there for up to 7 years, even if you pay off the debt - in this case the CCJ will be marked as satisfied, which is less damaging to your credit rating than an unsatisfied one.

CCJ Removal

Because of the affects of CCJs on credit ratings, many people would like to have them removed from their file. Unfortunately, there is no legal way to do this if the proper processes were followed during its issue. You can apply to have it 'set aside' if you can prove that something went wrong - for example, if the default notice or court papers were sent to the wrong address and so you didn't know that a CCJ was being applied for.

You can also have the judgement set aside if you can prove, after the fact, that the debt belongs to someone else - for example, someone with the same surname living at the same address.

Other than in these special situations, your CCJ will only drop off your file seven years after being satisfied, and you should beware of anyone who says they can completely clear your credit file of a CCJ's damaging affects.