CCJ Set Aside Time Limit: Can You Set Aside an Old CCJ After 6 Months or 2 Years?

There Is No Fixed Deadline

Unlike court appeals, which have a 21-day filing deadline, CPR Part 13 does not impose an absolute numerical day limit for a discretionary set-aside application. There is no general rule that applications after 28 days or one year are barred.

What CPR 13.3(2) does require is that the application be made promptly. And promptness is measured from the date you discovered the judgment — not from the date it was entered.

How Promptness Works in Practice

If a default CCJ was entered in March but you only discovered it in October through a credit check, the court evaluates speed from October. The question is not "why didn't you know sooner?" (though that can be relevant) but "once you found out, how quickly did you act?"

Acting promptly means requesting the court file, gathering your evidence, and filing Form N244 without unnecessary delay. An unexplained delay of even a few weeks after discovery can lead a court to refuse discretionary relief, regardless of the potential strength of the underlying defence.

What counts as prompt depends on the circumstances; there is no fixed safe period, and an unexplained delay of even a few weeks can lead to refusal. A delay of several months after discovery, without a good explanation, makes the application significantly harder.

Mandatory Set-Aside Has No Promptness Test

The promptness requirement applies only to discretionary set-aside under CPR 13.3. If the judgment was wrongly entered — because service was defective under CPR Part 6, or the defence deadline had not expired, or the defendant had already filed a response — CPR 13.2 applies, and the court must set aside the judgment regardless of when the application is made.

An old CCJ entered at the wrong address two years ago is still subject to mandatory set-aside if you can prove the service was defective. The age of the judgment does not matter; the procedural defect does.

Setting Aside After 6 Months

Six months after discovery is not automatically barred, but it is a long delay to explain. Set out and evidence why you did not apply sooner; the court assesses promptness in the circumstances.

What does not help: knowing about the judgment for months and simply not getting around to it. The court distinguishes between an applicant who was genuinely prevented from acting and one who chose to delay.

Setting Aside After 2 Years or More

The longer the gap between discovery and application, the heavier the burden of explanation. But applications have succeeded years after judgment where the defendant can show they only recently discovered the CCJ and acted quickly once they did.

The Denton v TH White three-stage test, which courts apply alongside CPR 13.3, asks: how serious was the default, was there a good reason for it, and what do all the circumstances require? A defendant who was abroad for two years, returned, checked their credit, and immediately applied has a very different profile from someone who knew about the judgment for two years and did nothing.

What to Do Right Now

If you have discovered an old CCJ and want to set it aside, the most important thing is to act immediately. Every day between now and filing Form N244 is a day the court may ask you to account for. Request the court file from the CNBC, start assembling your evidence, and prepare the application.

The Setting Aside a CCJ Guide includes a chronological event log template designed specifically for promptness evidence — it helps you document when you discovered the judgment, what steps you took, and how each day between discovery and filing was spent.

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