What is a CCJ? County Court Judgments and your business

A CCJ is a county court judgment, and GOV.UK explains that it means the court has formally decided that you owe the money. The judgment comes in the post and explains how much you owe, how to pay (in full or in instalments), the deadline for paying and who to pay.

You may get a CCJ, or a high court judgment, if someone takes court action against you saying you owe them money and you do not respond. This guide covers England and Wales. The process is different in Scotland, where GOV.UK points to the Accountant in Bankruptcy, and Northern Ireland has its own court claim process.

A CCJ is a court record, not a lender’s opinion. It is held on a public register, which is why it matters well beyond the debt itself.

A CCJ usually follows a court claim that goes unanswered. If someone claims you owe them money, you get a letter or an email and you must respond by the date on it, in the same way the claim was made, for example online if the claim was made online.

GOV.UK lists three ways to respond:

• Pay the full amount.
• Offer to pay a different amount, if you think you owe less than the claim.
• Defend the claim, if you do not think you owe any money.

You can ask for another 14 days to respond if you are not paying the full amount. GOV.UK warns that you might have to pay more or get a CCJ if you do not respond in time. The earlier you act, the more options you have.

A CCJ stays on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for 6 years. GOV.UK says banks and loan companies use this information to decide whether to give you credit or loans.

To get proof from the court, apply for a certificate of cancellation (paid within a month) or a certificate of satisfaction (paid after a month) using form N443. GOV.UK gives the fee as £19, so check the current fee on the court page before you send it. The Information Commissioner’s Office also says defaults, bankruptcy and county court judgments are generally shown on credit reference agency files for six years.

If you owe the money, pay the person or business named on the judgment, or their solicitor, not the court. Keep proof of every payment, for example by paying through a bank transfer, and do not send cash through the post.

If you cannot pay in one go, you can ask the court to change the terms of the judgment, for example how and when you pay, by filling in the N245 application form with your income and spending and what you can realistically afford. You may have to pay a court fee. If the offer is rejected, the court decides the amount you must pay.

If you fall behind with ordered payments, you could be taken back to court and may have to pay extra costs. GOV.UK also describes a ‘Breathing Space’ scheme that gives temporary protection from creditors while you keep making repayments, which you apply for through a debt adviser.

You can ask the court to cancel a CCJ, known as getting it ‘set aside’, if you do not owe the money, or if you did not receive or did not respond to the original claim. You apply with form N244.

GOV.UK says you may have to pay a court fee of £321 as of October 2026, and you will have to go to a private hearing to explain why you do not owe the money. If you do not attend, the application will be rejected and you will have to pay the amount in the judgment. If the register itself is wrong, contact the court where the judgment was made.

If you ignore a CCJ you could be taken back to court and forced to pay. The person or business you owe can ask the court to take enforcement action, and GOV.UK sets out the main routes.

If the money is owed by a company, a creditor can ask for an officer of the company to attend court and give details of its accounts. If a company cannot meet its debts, our guide to company insolvency explains the wider picture.

You check for a CCJ by searching the register of judgments, and the service most people use is TrustOnline, run by Registry Trust for the Ministry of Justice. It lets you check an individual, a business or a case number.

GOV.UK says each search costs between £6 and £10. You do not need the permission of the person or company you are searching for. Registry Trust also gives access to the registers for Scotland and Northern Ireland, so a business there can search its own jurisdiction.

Checking your own name and your company’s name before you apply for finance means you are not surprised by what a lender sees. For how that fits with the rest of your file, see business credit scores.

A CCJ makes finance harder to arrange but does not automatically rule it out, because each lender sets its own criteria. GOV.UK says banks and loan companies use the register when deciding whether to lend, so expect the question to come up.

The Information Commissioner’s Office notes that credit reference agencies do not hold blacklists and do not tell a lender whether it should offer you credit; that is for the lender to decide. A CCJ against you personally, as a sole trader, partner, director or guarantor, can appear on your personal file. A lender may also weigh how recent it is, whether it is satisfied and the circumstances behind it.

• Pay or settle any judgment you owe, and get proof of payment.
• Have the record marked as satisfied or removed where you are eligible.
• Be ready to explain what happened and what has changed.

Our guide to business loans with bad credit explains how lenders approach a weaker history, soft and hard credit checks covers what a search leaves on your file, and personal guarantees matters if a director’s own file is part of the decision.

Capzy is a credit broker, not a lender, and is paid by the lender. We cannot remove or dispute a CCJ for you, but we can introduce businesses to lenders whose criteria may suit their circumstances and set out what comes back so you can compare it.

You can check your funding options with a soft search that does not affect your credit score. A full application to a lender may involve a hard search, and any offer is subject to status and lender criteria. It helps to tell us about any judgments at the start, as lenders use the register.