What to do About a County Court Judgment

Whenever a county court grants a judgment it is entered on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines. It will stay there for six years and will show up in any credit check conducted on the person against whom the county court judgment was entered – or on anyone living at the same address.

Default Judgments and Credit Checks

In some instances the first a person knows that they have a county court judgment registered against them is when they obtain a credit report.

Where there is no reply to a claim form the claimant is entitled to request a default judgment which will be entered on the Register in the same way as any other county court judgment. A county court judgment is not rendered invalid just because the person against whom it was entered never knew about the claim. A valid judgment can be obtained against a person even if all of the court documents were sent to an old address.

A person is not entitled to have a judgment removed or set aside purely because they knew nothing about the proceedings. However, if the claim was sent to the wrong address the judgment may be invalid. The address might be wrong, in legal terms, if:

• It never had any connection with the defendant; or,
• The claimant was aware that the defendant had left the address and the claimant knew the defendant’s new address.

This area of law - service of court documents - can be difficult to grasp. For example, service at an old address is valid even if the claimant knows that the defendant has left it, as long as he does not know the defendant’s new address.

To Pay - or Not to Pay - the Judgment

The first question to ask upon discovering that a county court judgment has been entered is whether the judgment is correct. If the debt is owed it should be paid as soon as possible. Depending on the timescale, once a judgment has been paid it may either be removed from the Register or marked satisfied.

Paying the Debt within 28 Days

If a county court judgment is paid in full within 28 days it can be removed from the Register. In practice judgments are not generally registered before the initial 28-day period has expired. If the debt is valid, and affordable, the creditor should be contacted immediately to find out where and how to make payment. When payment is made a receipt should be requested.

The county court where the judgment was entered will provide the necessary application form to have the judgment removed from the Register. Details of the judgment, including the claim number, will be needed - together with written confirmation from the creditor that the debt has been paid. A fee is payable and the application will not be processed until payment of the fee has cleared.

Paying the Debt after 28 Days

If a county court judgment is paid more than 28 days after the judgment was granted, it cannot be removed from the Register and will remain on it for six years. However, if the debt has been paid an application can be made to the county court to have the judgment marked satisfied. The application is made in the same way as an application to have a county court judgment removed from the Register.

What if the Judgment is Incorrect?

If a person discovers that a county court judgment has been entered against them incorrectly they may apply to the court to have it set aside. In order to succeed, such an application must persuade a judge that:

• The applicant has a good chance of success if the case proceeds to trial or that there is some other good reason why there should be a trial in the case; and,
• The applicant acted promptly in making the application once they found out that judgment had been entered against them.

If an application to set aside the judgment is successful the judgment will be removed from the Register. It is vital that this kind of application is made as soon as is practically possible after the judgment has been discovered.

Searching the Register for County Court Judgments

Anyone can make a search of the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines. A request must be made directly to the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines and a fee will be payable. The initial fee is currently £8 to search for one name in the county court judgment section of the Register.