Pay CCJ Within 30 Days or Set It Aside: Form N443, Satisfaction, and Your Options

Two Paths, Very Different Credit Outcomes

When a default CCJ is entered against you in the county court, the clock starts on a 30-day window that matters more than most defendants realise. What you do inside or outside that window determines whether the judgment vanishes from your credit file or sits there for six years.

Pay in full within 30 days — cancellation. Under the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines Regulations 2005, if you pay the entire judgment debt in cleared funds within 30 calendar days of the judgment date, you can apply to have the entry completely deleted from the Register. You submit proof of payment to the court alongside Form N443 and pay a £19 administrative fee. Registry Trust removes the entry, and the credit reference agencies delete it.

Pay in full after 30 days — satisfaction only. If you pay after the 30-day window has closed, the entry cannot be cancelled. On submitting Form N443 and the £19 fee with proof of payment, the Register marks the judgment as "Satisfied." That satisfied entry remains visible on your credit file for the remainder of the six-year registration period from the original judgment date.

Set aside — deletion by court order. A set-aside under CPR Part 13 cancels the judgment itself. The court notifies Registry Trust, and the entry is erased entirely — the same outcome as the 30-day cancellation, but achieved through a court application rather than payment.

When Each Route Makes Sense

The 30-day cancellation route is the simplest if three things are true: you owe the full amount, you can pay it immediately, and you do not dispute the claim. You pay, file Form N443 with proof, and the CCJ disappears from the Register.

Setting aside makes sense when you dispute the debt, you were never properly served, or the 30-day window has already closed and you want the entry removed rather than merely satisfied. A successful set-aside erases the Register entry and reopens the case, letting you defend the claim on its merits.

The worst position is paying after 30 days without applying to set aside. You have paid the debt, but the CCJ entry stays on your credit file as "Satisfied" for up to six years. It can affect mortgage, tenancy, and credit applications.

The Timing Trap

The 30-day window runs from the original judgment entry date, not from the date you discovered it. If a default judgment was entered on 1 March and you found out about it on 15 April, the window closed on 31 March — before you even knew the judgment existed.

For defendants who discover a CCJ after the 30-day window (through a credit check, a bailiff letter, or forwarded post), setting aside is the route to remove the entry before its six-year registration period ends. Payment at that point produces a satisfied mark, not a deletion.

Form N443 — How It Works

Whether you are applying for cancellation (within 30 days) or satisfaction (after 30 days), the process uses Form N443. You need:

• The completed Form N443 (available from GOV.UK)
• Proof that the full judgment debt has been paid — a bank statement, cleared cheque record, or receipt from the claimant
• The £19 court fee

Send these to the court that entered the judgment, or to the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC) in Northampton if the case was processed there.

Deciding Which Route

If you are within the 30-day window and can pay, the cancellation route is faster and cheaper than a set-aside application. But if you dispute the claim — if the builder did defective work, the landlord withheld your deposit unfairly, or the amount claimed is wrong — paying in full to get a cancellation means conceding a debt you may not owe.

The Setting Aside a CCJ Guide covers both routes side by side: the 30-day cancellation procedure, the satisfaction process, and the full set-aside application under CPR Part 13, so you can compare the costs, timelines, and credit outcomes before committing.

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