One of the main reasons for setting aside a CCJ is to clear your credit record. If it’s not paid within a month, it will be entered against your name in the Register of County Court Judgments. It will then remain on your credit record for six years.
If the judgment is set aside it’s as though the order was never made in the first place. The black mark against your credit record is cleared completely.
However, occasionally, problems can arise in updating your credit record. Even after the court has made an order setting aside the CCJ, it can sometimes remain on the credit record, which kind of defeats the object of applying to have it set aside in the first place!
What should happen
When a CCJ is set aside, the court should update their records straight away and email the Registry Trust, who manage the Register of County Court Judgments.
The Registry Trust will then update the Register and the judgment is removed. Your credit record is then clear
Bingo!
What sometimes happens
Occasionally, the court doesn’t update their records. They just forget (or so it seems) or perhaps the court officer doesn’t realise that the Registry Trust need to be notified.
As a result, the black mark remains against your credit record.
How to solve the problem
The first thing you should do is try to phone the court. If you can get through (and it can sometimes take a while), simply ask them to update their records. This ought to be enough to trigger the removal of the CCJ.
If you can’t get through to the court by phone (which is unfortunately all too common), send them an email instead. You can find the email address for any court on the Court Finder Website. Remember to include the claim number, the names of the parties and the date that the judgment was set aside.
You need to get the message across that the judgment has been set aside and their records need to be updated. You may need to persist if you don’t get a quick response but sooner or later, the message should get through and the judgment removed.
What if that doesn’t work?
If you have persisted with the court and they still haven’t updated their records, then try emailing the Registry Trust at info@trustonline.org.uk.
Unfortunately, they won’t update their records unless the court tells them to. They can’t accept notification from anyone except the court.
However, if you email to them a copy of the order setting aside judgment, they will follow up with the court and confirm that the CCJ has in fact been set aside.
The records will then be updated and your credit record will be cleared!
