County Court Judgments
All monetary CCJs, previously registered in the Registry of County Court Judgments, now form part of the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines. All default judgments are registered and defended cases, if payable by instalment order or when enforcement action is taken, are also registered. CCJs registered against individuals after 6th April, 2006 will include dates of birth, where known. The inclusion of a postcode in the address is mandatory unless leave of the court has been obtained. Information appearing on the Register includes the defendant’s name and address, the name of the court and case number, the date and amount of judgment, plus satisfaction details where these have been notified to RTL.
Payment
If the judgment is fully repaid after one calendar month from the date
of judgment and evidence is provided to the court who notify RTL, the entry
will be marked as ‘satisfied’ on the Register where it will remain for the
statutory six year period from the date of judgment. If fully repaid within
one calendar month from the date of judgment and evidence is provided to the
court who notify RTL, the record will be removed from the Register. The defendant
can also apply to the court for a Certificate of Satisfaction or a Certificate of
Cancellation, whichever is appropriate, enclosing the court fee of £16
(cheque/postal order payable to HMCTS). Part payments of a judgment debt are not
recorded on the Register.
Removal
Details of County Court judgments remain on the Register for a statutory period
of six years from the date of judgment, unless set-aside or reversed by the
court, or the amount is fully repaid within one calendar month from the date
of judgment when the court will notify RTL that the entry should be removed
from the Register.
If application is made to set-aside the judgment, a court fee of £275 is required (cheque/postal order payable to HMCTS). Any defendant experiencing difficulty in paying court fees should ask court staff for advice.
Amendment
If a defendant feels that details of a registration are inaccurate, a query should be raised directly with the relevant court who will investigate and, if appropriate, send any amendment to RTL. Upon receipt of their response, the Register will be amended by the end of the next working day.
General
Details of County Court judgments held on the Register, and any subsequent amendments,
may be passed to commercial organisations and may then be supplied to credit
grantors and others seeking information regarding an individual’s financial standing.
Credit reference agencies are notified of all county court judgment registrations,
and any subsequent amendments within 2 working days of RTL’s receipt of the data
from the courts. Their records are normally updated within a week although RTL cannot
be held responsible for information held by them as it has no jurisdiction over
privately maintained records.
The case number must be quoted to the court when any query is raised, as the
court needs this to locate the item. The Register does not contain details of the
claimant which is only available from the relevant county court.
Debts in respect of poll tax or council tax are dealt with through the Magistrates Court
in England and Wales.