This is a Judgement that a County Court Judge makes when someone has failed to pay money they owe to another party. The process starts by the claimant making a claim to the court and the court will then send you, the defendant, the claim and ask for you to either, admit that you owe the money and pay the claim in full, admit to part or some of the claim or defend the claim if you think that you do not owe the money at all. Whatever you decide to do – you must respond in 14 days.

If you agree that you owe the money even once a Judgment is made if you pay the debt within 30 days then there is no record of the action that has been taken recorded on your credit file and you will not have get a CCJ.

If you don’t reply to the court papers in the 14 days allowed, or don’t receive them, and such cannot reply, then a Judgment will be issued against you. If you have a CCJ registered against you and don’t pay an order can be made to take money out of your wages, A charge can be put on your property, your bank accounts can be frozen and bailiffs can be sent to your home to collect the money or goods to the value of the claim and the extra costs, charges and default interest.

A CCJ is also put on your credit file for six years warning banks and financial institutions that you have a history of debt. If you have an unpaid CCJ it will be virtually impossible for you to get a Mortgage, Credit Card, Car Finance or a Loan, especially from a high street provider and you would be forced to use a more “subprime” lender and even if this is available it will cost you much, much more for any credit that you obtain.

When someone makes a County Court Claim against you, you will be sent a “Claim Form” from the Court which explains how much the person or company is claiming and why they are taking the action, this is called the “Particulars of Claim”.

You must respond the court papers in 14 days as if you do not then the court will issue a “Default Judgment” as essentially the court will believe the claimant without hearing your side of the issue.

There many cases, where you have discovered that you have a CCJ and did not receive the original paperwork and a Default Judgment has been made where you can take action to have the CCJ “Set-Aside”, this means Removed from your file. However the procedure is different depending on if you are willing to pay the Judgment Debt or you want to dispute it. The Court will always advise that you should submit a N244 Application notice but this is often the wrong process and could lead to you having to pay the claimants costs if this is the wrong action to take or you do not have the Legal Grounds to have your Judgment Removed.

The way to find out if you have a CCJ is to check your credit file, there are a number of services available online we recommend Check my File try it FREE for 7 days, then its £14.99 a month – cancel online anytime: https://ccjremovalservices.com/credit-report/

Once you discover that you have a CCJ you need to act promptly. You can apply to the court by completing an N244 Application Notice to have a CCJ set-aside and the Court Fee is £313.00. However this is not always the best course of action as you need to decide if you are happy to pay the judgment debt or if you are disputing it. Also by submitting the N244 to the court, this will result in a court hearing at your local county court, that you will need to attend, more likely in person and if you are NOT disputing the debt then this is the incorrect process.

If you are disputing the debt then it is important that when the N244 is submitted this is supported by a well drafted defence, also not to receive court papers/ the claim form, is NOT a defence to the claim. To defend a claim you must have a substantive reason that you do not owe the money, and never did, or the value is incorrect etc. Any defence should clearly explain why you believe this is the case and evidence should also be submitted and exhibited with the N244 Application Notice to support what you are stating. As outlined, this will lead to a Court Hearing which you must attend and the claimant will also be asked to attend. Always beware that if you take this action and you are unsuccessful then you could be ordered to pay the claimants costs for dealing with your application, which could be circa £500-1000 if they instruct a Solicitor to act for them and could be more. So its worth taking some advice FIRST!

If you want to remove a CCJ, where the papers went to an incorrect or previous address and you DO NOT dispute the debt and you are willing to the pay the debt, this should be dealt with by way of a Consent Order. A Consent Order is a special legal agreement between you and the claimant that enables the court to remove the Judgement. The Consent Order explains the legal reasons why the Judgment should be set aside and that both parties agree to this Order. In most cases this is approved by the court and the Judgment is removed. The court fee for this process is £123.00. However, it is very important that the Consent Order, Witness Statement & Supporting Application are drafted correctly and presents all the facts ensuring that the court have all the information on which to make the order to remove the judgment. If this is NOT the case the Court will REJECT the Consent Order/Application and you will have to start again and pay the Court fee again and it will take 3-4 months before the Court inform you of their decision.

Timescales can vary but for a Court Hearing to be listed you can be waiting 3-4 months from when you submit your Application, except London Courts where the wait is more than 6 months, and for some courts over a year. For a Consent Order service our average processing times are 3-4 months but it can take longer. These timescales are not our timescales but mainly the delays caused by HMCTS (His Majesty’s Court & Tribunal Service). Also some claimants take longer than others to respond and this also has an impact.

Our advice is that to remove a CCJ is not a “Quick Fix” and it does take some time to go through the process properly and anyone who promises a faster service than what we have outlined is not being honest with you. There is a no quicker way to go through the process and no way of speeding it up. That said, it is of great value to make sure that this is done properly from the start to ensure that there are no additional delays as if your N244 Application or your Consent Order is drafted incorrectly then it will simply be rejected by the court and you will have to start again. The average response time for the court is at least 3 months. This is why it is imperative that you get some help with this process if you can.

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Our Head Office is based in Manchester, with Manchester  and our Registered office is in Dartford, we offer a National Service. The Remove CCJ Team have over 30 years’ experience in dealing with the Removal of CCJ’s and we have dealt with every type of case

Have you discovered that you have a CCJ you knew nothing about? Did you not receive the court papers? Were they sent to an old or wrong address? If so we can help, Call the team now for a free review of your case on 0161 711 1300  and get your CCJ Removed

NO – We are NOT Solicitors; we provide Legal Advice and Mechanical Administrative Support with your case. 

NO – We are NOT Conducting Litigation; we provide Legal Advice and Mechanical Administrative Support with your case.