Challenge a CCJ

Overview

If you get a county court judgment (CCJ) or a high court judgment, it will stay on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for 6 years. This will appear on your credit file and negatively affect your credit score. Banks and loan companies use this information to decide whether to give you credit or loans.

If you pay within one month

If you pay the full amount within one month, you can get the judgment removed from the register.

Write to the court to say you’ve paid. You’ll need to send proof of payment from the person or business you owed money to.

If you pay after one month

If you pay after one month, you can get the record of the judgment marked as ‘satisfied’ in the register.

It will stay on the register for 6 years but people searching the register will see that you’ve paid.

Write to the court to say you’ve paid. You’ll need to send proof of payment from the person or business you owed money to.

Getting a certificate of cancellation or satisfaction

If you want proof from the court that you’ve paid, you can apply for:

  • a certificate of cancellation – if you paid within one month
  • a certificate of satisfaction – if you paid after one month

Apply for the certificate in writing or by sending form N443 to the court that is dealing with your case.

Apply for a notice of correction

A Notice of Correction is a short statement which you can use to add further information to an entry on your credit report. For example, you could use it to explain why you fell behind with the repayments on a particular loan or credit agreement. Any lender checking your credit report will see your statement and should take it into account when assessing your creditworthiness.

A Notice of Correction will not affect your credit score but it may affect how quickly lenders deal with any new borrowing you apply for. This is because it will take the lender extra time to read and consider the Notice of Correction on your report.

You will need to inform each of the three main credit reference agencies separately. There are details of how to do this on their websites at

Experian
Transunion
Equifax

Set Aside or Vary a CCJ

When a CCJ is set aside, it is cancelled. It is also removed from your credit history

You might be able to do this if:

  • You did not know about the CCJ
  • The creditor did not follow the right process
  • You cannot afford to keep to the repayments plan

You need complete a form N244 and submit this to the court that made the judgement

You may need to pay a court fee currently £313.00, you may be able to claim fee remission if you are on benefits or earnings are low, see https://www.gov.uk/get-help-with-court-fees

Varying a CCJ means asking the court to change the amounts you pay if they are too high. You can apply for variation at any time if your circumstances change and the court set the rate of payment.

You may need to pay a court fee currently £15.00, you may be able to claim fee remission if you are on benefits or earnings are low, see https://www.gov.uk/get-help-with-court-fees

You can use form N244 to vary the CCJ if the court set the rate of payment

You can use N245 if the creditor set the rate, see https://ashfordadvice.org/n245-form-debt

Time Limits

The time limit for an appeal is very short whatever the type of case and you need to act quickly. You can find the different time limits explained in the guidance notes that describe how to complete the appellant’s notice.

The time limit is either:

  • the date set by the judge whose decision you are appealing against, or
  • if the judge did not set a date, then you have 21 days from the date of the decision that you want to appeal against to send or take your request for permission to appeal to the court. 

Do not wait for the actual court order to arrive otherwise you will miss the deadline.

If you miss the deadline, you can still request permission to appeal but you have to ask the court for an extension. The court is likely to say no unless you have a very good reason. There may be another court fee to pay, so the best thing is to make sure you get your paperwork in on time.

What to say on the N244 form

To complete the form you need to answer all the questions, the answers will be same to either set aside or vary the order with the exception of Question 3

Question 1: State your name again here

Question 2: Tick ‘Defendant’ and add ‘N/A’ to the box next to ‘If you are a legal representative whom do you represent?’

Question 3 (set aside): Explain why the CCJ was raised against you and why you are applying for it to be set aside

Question 3 (vary): Explain why you want to change the payment amount. It could be a change in circumstance, like:

  • You need to make payments to a priority debt
  • Someone in your household lost their job
  • There are more dependents in the household

Question 4: Tick ‘Yes’ – you will need to send a copy of the CCJ that was sent to you with the completed N244 form

Question 5: Tick ‘at a hearing’

Question 6: Enter ‘15 minutes’

Question 7: Enter ‘N/A’

Question 8: Enter ‘District’

Question 9: Enter the Claimant’s name here.

  • This is the creditor who raised the CCJ
  • You should also add their address. You can find this on letters they send you or their website.

Question 10: Tick ‘the evidence set out in the box below’

Include any supporting information in box, like:

  • You are offering to make contractual payments at a rate you can afford
  • You have had debt advice from Ashford Advice or another advice provider
  • Any consequences of the judgment being carried out. For example, you would be at risk of eviction

Add in any paperwork you have that support your application.

This could be:

  • Emails or letters from your creditor
  • Anything that shows their claim is not valid

Question 11: Add information about any vulnerabilities you have.

  • If you are vulnerable, tick ‘yes’ and add supporting information in the box
  • You can also explain any support or adjustments you want the court to consider

Last Updated on June 10, 2026 by Ashford Advice