CCJ Removal Guide

There are two legal grounds to set aside/remove a CCJ.

1. CPR 13.2 (mandatory grounds). A CCJ must be set aside if it was issued to the wrong address or where you filed an Acknowledgment of Service or a Defence within the timeframe or where the Claim was paid in full before the judgment was entered.

2. CPR 13.3 (discretionary grounds). A CCJ may be set aside subject to the Court’s approval where the Claim was issued to the last known or usual address (this can be a previous address) but you have a real prospect of successfully defending the Claim or you have a good reason for the judgment to be set aside (you didn’t receive the Claim as it was sent to a previous address) or you should be allowed to defend the Claim

There are two ways you can apply to remove a CCJ.

Option 1

A Draft Order agreement can be agreed where you are willing to pay the balance on the condition that the CCJ is removed. If this is the case then we can draft the Draft Order and propose this to the Claimant or provide you with a copy of this for you to agree this directly with the Claimant.

If the Claimant is agreeable to this then they would sign and return the Draft Order. You would then need to sign this and send this to the Court for approval. The Court fee for the Draft Order is in the sum of £119.00 per CCJ which would need to be paid directly to the Court after the Draft Order has been sent to the Court for approval.

Once the Draft Order has been referred to a Judge, the Judge may do any of the following:

Approve the Draft Order. If approved, the Court will write to you via post and provide you with the sealed copy of the Order and remove the CCJ. You must then pay the outstanding balance to the Claimant and that is the end of the matter.
Defer the Draft Order. If this is deferred then the Court will write to you and provide a reason for the deferment. Usually this is where the Court requires more evidence from you to understand your grounds.
Reject the Draft Order. Whilst the Court very rarely rejects a Draft Order, the Court does have the power to do this. Nevertheless, where the Draft Order is rejected, the Court will write to you and inform you as to why it has been rejected.

The approximate timescales for the Draft Order can be 3-4 months depending on the Court’s backlogs. There is no Court hearing for Option 1 the Draft Order route.

Option 2

If the Claimant does not agree to Option 1 or if you dispute the Claim in full and do not intend to make any payment proposals then the only way you can challenge the CCJ is by fling an N244 Application to set aside the judgment.

We can draft the Application and the Witness Statement however; you would need to sign and file this at the Court and pay the Court fee in the sum of £303.00 per CCJ. Once this has been paid, the Court will process your Application and list this for a hearing (most likely a telephone hearing) where the Court would decide whether the CCJ will be set aside or not based on your grounds, evidence and circumstances.

The Court will also consider promptness and require you to file an Application to set aside the CCJ within 30 days of the judgment being entered against you and in some cases (where you have only just become aware of the CCJ), within 30 days of you becoming aware of the judgment. If you are beyond the 30 days then promptness is the Court’s discretion and only the Court can decide whether it deems your Application to be prompt or not.

The approximate timescales for the Application to be listed for a hearing can be 3-9 months depending on the Court’s backlogs.

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