On this page
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Borrowing over a longer term can mean paying back more in total.
A county court judgment, or CCJ, is a court order made against you when a creditor takes court action over an unpaid debt and you either don’t pay what’s claimed or don’t respond to the claim in time. It’s a civil order, not a criminal record, but it’s a matter of public record and it goes onto your credit file for 6 years. CCJs apply in England and Wales. Scotland uses a court decree and Northern Ireland has its own judgment system, both covered below. Having a CCJ doesn’t automatically rule out a remortgage, but it’s one of the things a lender will want to know about.
How do you get a CCJ?
A CCJ starts when a creditor, often after sending letters asking for payment, makes a money claim against you through the county court, commonly using Money Claim Online. You’ll receive a claim form setting out what’s owed and to whom.
From there, one of two things usually happens:
- You don’t respond in time. If you don’t reply to the claim by the deadline on the form, the court can enter judgment against you automatically, sometimes called a default judgment. This is the most common way CCJs are made, because many people don’t realise how serious the paperwork is, or it goes to an old address.
- You respond, but the claim goes against you. You can admit the debt, dispute it, or ask for time to pay. If you dispute it and lose at a hearing, or admit it but don’t keep to the terms agreed, the court can still enter a judgment.
Either way, the result is the same: a court order confirming what you owe and, usually, how and when you should pay it.
Where is a CCJ recorded? The register
Every CCJ made in England and Wales is entered on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, held by Registry Trust. Lenders, landlords and others can search the register, usually for a small fee, to check whether someone has a judgment against them. The credit reference agencies, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, take judgment information from this register onto your credit file, which is why a CCJ shows up when a lender checks your file rather than only on a court record you might never see.
England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: what’s different
The term “CCJ” only applies to county court judgments made in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own court systems and their own terms for a broadly similar outcome.
| England and Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court order for an unpaid debt | County court judgment (CCJ) | Decree, usually from the sheriff court | County court judgment, enforced through the Enforcement of Judgments Office |
| Register | Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines | No equivalent public register in the same form | Register held by the Enforcement of Judgments Office |
| Time on credit file | 6 years from the judgment date | 6 years from the judgment date | Generally 6 years, in line with the rest of the UK (check your own case) |
| Removed if paid within 1 month | Yes, on application to the court | Not confirmed as an identical rule; check with the court or a free adviser | Not confirmed; check with a free adviser or the Enforcement of Judgments Office |
Decrees in Scotland
In Scotland, a decree for payment is the court’s formal order that you must pay a creditor. It generally shows on your credit file for 6 years from the judgment date, whether or not it’s paid, and is marked as satisfied once you’ve paid in full. Enforcement in Scotland is called diligence and can include earnings arrestment, bank arrestment or attachment of belongings kept outside the home. Our page on bad credit remortgages in Scotland covers what this can mean for a mortgage.
Judgments in Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, judgments are enforced through the Enforcement of Judgments Office, which holds its own register and can be searched to check whether someone has a judgment recorded against them. If you’re remortgaging in Northern Ireland, our page on bad credit remortgages in Northern Ireland explains more about how this fits with the rest of your credit file. It’s worth checking the details of your own case on nidirect or with a free debt adviser, as processes can differ in detail from England and Wales.
How long does a CCJ stay on your credit file?
A CCJ stays on your credit file for 6 years from the date of the judgment, not from when the original debt started or when you paid it off, whether or not it’s ever paid. Our guide on how long a CCJ affects a mortgage goes through the full timeline, including the one-month rule below and how lenders may view a CCJ as it ages.
The one-month rule
If you pay a CCJ in full within one calendar month of the judgment date, you can apply to the court to have it removed from the register, and it shouldn’t appear on your credit file at all. Miss that window and paying later marks the judgment as satisfied, but it still stays on your file for the full 6 years. See how to pay a CCJ for the practical steps.
Satisfied and unsatisfied CCJs
Once you’ve paid a CCJ in full, it should be updated to show as satisfied, sometimes after you apply to the court for a certificate of satisfaction. An unpaid, or unsatisfied, CCJ is still shown as outstanding. Many lenders view a satisfied CCJ more favourably, and some may ask for an outstanding one to be cleared before or during a remortgage. Our page on remortgaging with a satisfied CCJ explains this in more depth.
What happens if you don’t pay a CCJ?
Ignoring a CCJ doesn’t make it go away. A creditor can apply to the court to enforce it, using methods such as sending enforcement agents (bailiffs) to recover goods, an attachment of earnings order taken from your wages, a charging order that secures the debt against your property, or an order requiring you to attend court and explain your finances. Our guide on what happens if you don’t pay a CCJ covers each of these in more detail.
What does a CCJ mean if you want to remortgage?
A CCJ doesn’t automatically stop you remortgaging, but it’s something a lender or adviser will ask about. What tends to matter most is how old the judgment is, how much it was for, whether it’s satisfied, and how the rest of your credit file and mortgage payment history look. A small, satisfied CCJ from several years ago is generally viewed very differently from a large, recent one that’s still unpaid.
If you’re thinking about using a remortgage to pay off a CCJ, remember that doing so turns a court debt into borrowing secured on your home, so a missed payment afterwards puts your home at risk rather than just the original debt. Our main page on remortgaging with a CCJ explains what an adviser will usually want to know, and if the debt is part of wider money worries, free advice from MoneyHelper, StepChange or National Debtline can help before you take on more borrowing.
Frequently asked questions
Is a CCJ a criminal record?
No. A CCJ is a civil court order confirming you owe a debt, not a criminal matter, and it won’t show on a criminal records check. It is a public record, though, and it’s recorded on your credit file for 6 years, which is what lenders and some other organisations can see when they check.
Can you get a CCJ without knowing about it?
Yes, this happens fairly often, usually because the claim form was sent to an old address and the person never saw it. If you don’t respond, the court can still enter a judgment against you by default. If you think this has happened to you, see I have a CCJ but don’t know who it’s from for what to check and how to challenge it.
Does a CCJ mean I’ll be refused a mortgage?
Not necessarily. Some lenders will consider an application with a CCJ, depending on its age, amount and whether it’s satisfied, along with your income, equity and the rest of your credit history. Choice may be narrower and rates are often higher than high-street rates. Our page on remortgaging with a CCJ explains what tends to matter most.
What’s the difference between a CCJ and a default?
A default is added by a creditor directly to your credit file, usually after you’ve missed payments for several months. A CCJ is a court order, made after a creditor takes legal action, and often follows a default on the same debt. Our guide on CCJ or default: what’s the difference? sets out both in full.
Do CCJs show up on a soft credit check?
A soft check, such as an eligibility check or looking at your own file, can show a CCJ to you, but it’s not visible to other lenders in the way a hard search result is. See does a soft credit check show a CCJ? for more on what different checks reveal.