England & Wales • Plain English • Scotland & Northern Ireland differ
This is general legal information, not legal advice.

CCJ Removal, Satisfaction & Your Credit File (UK)

The one calendar month rule • certificate of cancellation • certificate of satisfaction • form N443 • proof of payment • how set aside differs
Quick summary: paying a County Court Judgment does not automatically wipe it. Pay in full within one calendar month and you can get the judgment removed from the Register. Pay later and the best available outcome is a record marked “satisfied”.
A judgment stays on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for six years. This page explains the difference between cancellation and satisfaction, who you actually write to, what you have to enclose, and why “set aside” is a completely separate route with a different form, a different fee and a hearing.
Specialty: England & Wales judgment-record correction — cancellation versus satisfaction, the evidence the court asks for, and the point at which set aside is the right application instead.
If you have paid a CCJ and the record still shows unsatisfied, if you are inside the one-month window and need to move fast, or if you believe the judgment should never have been entered at all, this page helps you pick the right route before you spend a fee on the wrong one.
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One-month check
Proof of payment
Register correction
Set aside or not
Best for people saying:
  • “I paid the CCJ and it still shows as unsatisfied.”
  • “The judgment was entered three weeks ago — can I still get it removed?”
  • “Do I write to the court or to a credit reference agency?”
  • “The creditor will not give me a receipt.”
  • “I never received the claim form.”
  • “Is satisfied the same as removed?”
You can start with one paragraph. We’ll ask only what’s needed.

How this guide helps

Three steps — clear, practical, deadline-aware.
1) Date the judgment
Everything turns on the judgment date, not the date you found out. One calendar month from that date is the only window in which payment can get the entry removed.
Example: “Judgment entered on the 3rd — what is my last day?”
2) Decide which route you are on
You accept the debt and have paid, or you say the judgment should not exist. Those are different applications with different forms and fees. Mixing them up wastes both.
You’ll know which one fits your facts.
3) Assemble the evidence first
The court asks for proof of payment from the person or business you owed. Chasing that after you send the form is the usual reason a correction stalls.
So the court can act on your first letter.

“Removed” and “satisfied” are not the same thing

This single distinction is what most people get wrong.
Paid in full within one calendar month
GOV.UK: if you pay the full amount within one month, you can get the judgment removed from the register. This is the only route to full removal by payment.
Paid after one month
GOV.UK: you can get the record marked as “satisfied”. Satisfied means paid in full. The entry itself stays.
Not paid
The entry sits on the Register as unsatisfied and the creditor can move to enforcement. Paying later still gets you the satisfied marking.
The Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines is a public statutory register operated by Registry Trust, with public access through TrustOnline. Registry Trust states that CCJs stay on the statutory register for six years unless set aside or cancelled; High Court judgments, administration orders, CSA liability orders and tribunal awards run for six years on the same basis, while magistrates’ court fines run for five years from the date of conviction.
Note carefully: the Register is not the same database as your file at a credit reference agency. We have not verified here how long a judgment appears on a credit file or how agencies handle a satisfied marking, so this page does not state a figure for that. Ask the agency directly.

Who you write to, and what has to be in the envelope

The correction is made by the court — not by the creditor, and not by a credit reference agency.
  • Write to the court that holds the judgment to say you have paid. Going to a credit reference agency first skips the step that actually changes the record.
  • Enclose proof of payment from the person or business you owed. That is what GOV.UK asks for — your own bank statement on its own is not the same evidence.
  • Use form N443 — GOV.UK titles it “Apply for a certificate to show you’ve paid a court order”. It is how you apply for a certificate of satisfaction or a certificate of cancellation. A covering letter supports the form; it does not replace it.
  • Include the fee. GOV.UK guidance checked on 8 August 2026 says to include a cheque for £19 made payable to “HMCTS”. Court fees change — the main fees publication (EX50) was last updated on 13 July 2026 — so confirm the current amount with the court before you post anything.
  • Quote the claim number and the court. The register entry is keyed to the case; without those two details nobody can find it.
Related forms on the payment side: N245 applies to change the terms of a judgment or suspend a warrant, and N92 applies for an administration order. GOV.UK’s own advice on paying is blunt — make sure you can prove you have paid.

Set aside is a different application — different form, fee and test

This is not a way to deal with a debt you accept you owe.
GOV.UK gives two circumstances for applying to have a CCJ cancelled (set aside): you do not owe the money, or you did not receive — or did not respond to — the original claim from the court saying you owed it. The application is made on an application notice (form N244), the fee stated is £321 (again, check it is current), and there is a private hearing. If you do not attend, the application is rejected and you remain liable for the judgment amount.
CPR 13.2 — the court must set aside
Where a default judgment was wrongly entered because the conditions in rules 12.3(1), 12.3(2) or 12.3(3) were not satisfied, or the whole claim was satisfied before judgment was entered.
CPR 13.3(1) — the court may set aside
Where the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim, or there is some other good reason why the judgment should be set aside or the defendant allowed to defend.
CPR 13.3(2) — promptness
The court must have regard to whether the application was made promptly. The rule sets no number of days — treat any “you have 14 days” claim you read elsewhere with suspicion.
One honest gap: we could not confirm from a primary source exactly how the Register entry is treated once a judgment is set aside. Registry Trust describes entries as running six years unless set aside or cancelled, which points one way, but no page we checked states it outright. Ask the court and then check the entry yourself.

The six-year clock, and the four beliefs that cost people money

Each of these is a common assumption set against the actual rule.
  • “Paying it makes it disappear.” Only if payment is in full within one calendar month of the judgment. Pay on day 32 and the best available outcome is a satisfied marking that stays for the rest of the six years.
  • “The clock starts when I pay.” It does not. The six years runs from the judgment. Marking it satisfied neither restarts nor shortens that period.
  • “I’ll tell the credit reference agency.” The correction is made by writing to the court with proof of payment. The court then notifies Registry Trust, which updates the Register.
  • “Satisfied and set aside are the same thing.” They are separate routes with separate forms, fees and tests — N443 with proof of payment on one side, N244 with a hearing and the CPR 13 test on the other.

Where this page applies — and where it does not

Everything above is England & Wales.
Scotland does not issue CCJs at all. The equivalent money order from the sheriff court is a decree, and the forms, fees and Civil Procedure Rules described here do not apply. Northern Ireland runs its own county court judgment process through the Civil Processing Centre. Registry Trust maintains registers for Scotland and Northern Ireland too, but they are separate registers with separate rules, and we do not publish a retention figure for either because we have not verified one.
Nothing on this page applies in Ireland, the United States, Australia or Canada. Those are separate legal systems with their own judgment registers, or none at all. In particular, form N443, form N244, form N245, form N92, the £19 certificate fee, the £321 set-aside fee, the CPR Part 13 test and the one-calendar-month cancellation route are England & Wales only.
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Long FAQ (CCJ removal and satisfaction, England & Wales)

Tap to expand. Written in plain English for England & Wales.
1) How long does a CCJ stay on the Register?
Six years, unless it is set aside or cancelled. Registry Trust, which operates the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, applies the same six-year period to High Court judgments, administration orders, CSA liability orders and tribunal awards. Magistrates’ court fines run for five years from the date of conviction.
2) I paid in full on day 40. Can I still get it removed?
Not by payment. GOV.UK is clear that removal by payment requires the full amount within one month. After that the record can be marked “satisfied” instead. Satisfied means paid in full, but the entry remains for the rest of the six years.
3) Is it one month or one calendar month?
Registry Trust’s guide describes it as one calendar month from the judgment, with proof provided to the court. If your deadline is close, do not rely on a rounded “30 days” — check the judgment date and ask the court.
4) Which form do I use to prove I have paid?
Form N443, titled by GOV.UK as “Apply for a certificate to show you’ve paid a court order”. It is used to apply for a certificate of satisfaction or a certificate of cancellation.
5) What does it cost?
GOV.UK guidance checked on 8 August 2026 says to enclose a cheque for £19 payable to “HMCTS”. Court fees are revised regularly — the main fees publication was last updated on 13 July 2026 — so confirm the figure with the court before you send it.
6) The creditor will not give me proof of payment. What then?
GOV.UK asks for proof from the person or business you owed. If you cannot get it, contact the court that holds the judgment and explain what you do have. We have not been able to verify from a primary source what the court does in that situation, so we will not describe a process here that we cannot stand behind.
7) Should I write to a credit reference agency instead?
Not as your first step. The Register entry is changed by the court, which then notifies Registry Trust. Contacting an agency before the court record is corrected leaves the underlying entry untouched.
8) I never received the claim form. Is that a set-aside ground?
GOV.UK names it as one of the two circumstances for applying to cancel a judgment — you did not receive, or did not respond to, the original claim. The application still has to pass the CPR 13 test and the court will consider whether you applied promptly.
9) How many days do I have to apply to set aside?
CPR 13.3(2) requires the court to have regard to whether the application was made promptly. It sets no fixed number of days. Anyone quoting you a hard deadline is going beyond what the rule says — but delay is still held against you, so move quickly.
10) What happens if I do not turn up to the set-aside hearing?
GOV.UK states that the application is rejected and you remain liable for the judgment amount. You will also have spent the application fee.
11) Does any of this apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland?
No. Scotland uses sheriff court decrees rather than CCJs. Northern Ireland runs its own process through the Civil Processing Centre. The forms, fees and rules on this page are England & Wales only.
12) Can I speak to a solicitor before I file anything?
Yes, and it is worth doing where the sum is large, the judgment is disputed, or a set-aside hearing is in prospect.

 

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This is general legal information, not legal advice.