Certificates Of Satisfaction And Certificates Of Cancellation

If a CCJ has already been entered and you pay it in full, you can apply to court to get the Registrar to update its record of the CCJ.

As a reminder, the Register of CCJs kept by the Registrar of County Court Judgments. It is searched by credit reference agencies and the information passed on to those you might be applying for credit from. A CCJ is usually has a significant impact upon whether a lender will offer credit or the terms (ie rate) at which it will offer it.

Paying a CCJ off can go a long way to improve your credit record and lower your risk in the eyes of lenders.

It depends how quickly you pay the CCJ in full as to whether you can obtain a certificate of satisfaction or a certificate of cancellation. We explain the difference below.

The Timing of the Payment is Crucial

To remove all record of the CCJ with the Registrar, it must be paid in full within a calendar month of the date of the judgment. If paid after a calendar month, it can only be marked as paid and not removed by applying for a certificate.

It is likely to have a greater benefit to an individual’s credit record if the judgment is removed in full under a certificate of cancellation, rather than just marked as paid under a certificate of satisfaction. However, marking it as paid ought to improve your credit record.

Once the judgment is paid in full, the person against whom the CCJ was made is entitled to apply to the court which entered the judgment for the appropriate certificate. If the court is satisfied of the evidence that a judgment debt has been paid, it will notify the Registry Trust to update the Register of CCJs. Please see our guidance here on the Registry Trust and credit records.

In either case an application needs to be made to court for a certificate of cancellation or satisfaction.

How to Apply for a Certificate of Cancellation or Certificate of Satisfaction

It is a very easy process to apply for a certificate and currently the court fee to request it is currently only £15. The relevant form to complete is form N443 which you can download here from the Justice website. The form is very brief and will only take a matter of minutes to complete.

You will need to provide the court with evidence the CCJ has been paid, so try to keep a record such as keeping a copy of the cheque sent or bank transfer and bank statements showing the sum having been paid. You should also try to get confirmation from the claimant in writing that they have been paid.

Sometimes the party who has been paid will be difficult about providing evidence of confirmation that they have in fact been paid. If that is the case, it is necessary to demonstrate what reasonable steps have been taken to obtain the confirmation from the receiving party and the court will likely send a letter to the claimant giving it the opportunity to confirm or deny whether the payment has been received.

If the claimant does not reply, the court will presume that the sum has in fact been paid as claimed providing it is satisfied with the evidence you have provided to show payment has been made.

If the application succeeds, the court ought to notify the Registrar of County Court Judgments automatically without you having to do anything. However, if after a few weeks of being issued the certificate, there has been no change, you ought to contact the court and the Registrar to check that the court has made the necessary notifcation.