What is a CCJ? County Court Judgments Explained

Q: Does a CCJ appear on a credit report?

Yes — both company and personal credit reports pick up CCJs from the same Registry Trust data within a few weeks of registration. The underlying public record is the more reliable source for a buyer doing diligence on a specific supplier.

What a County Court Judgment (CCJ) is, what it signals about a supplier's financial health, and how to check for one.

A County Court Judgment, almost always shortened to CCJ, is a court order made in the County Court of England and Wales (with equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland) confirming that one party owes money to another. For a procurement or finance team vetting a UK supplier, a CCJ is one of the clearest public signals that the company has been failing to pay someone on the terms it agreed.

TL;DR

A CCJ is a civil court order recording that a defendant owes a sum of money to a claimant, issued by the County Court of England and Wales.
CCJs against companies are public. They are recorded on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, run by Registry Trust, not at Companies House.
A judgment is unsatisfied until paid in full; once paid, the defendant can apply to mark it satisfied on the register.
One small, satisfied, historic CCJ is a different signal from multiple recent unsatisfied judgments. Pattern beats single data points.
CCJs are distinct from High Court Judgments and from enforcement steps like a writ of control or a warrant.
Companies House does not show CCJs. This is one of the most common gaps in DIY supplier due diligence.
Searching the register costs a few pounds per name and takes minutes. Not doing it is a false economy on any contract above petty-cash level.

What is a CCJ in plain English?

It is a civil court order saying "you owe this person this money". It is not a criminal matter, and it does not in itself force payment — it confirms the debt in the eyes of the court and unlocks the enforcement options that follow.

In the typical sequence, a creditor (often a supplier, a landlord, HMRC or a finance house) issues a claim through the County Court Money Claims Centre. The defendant has a short window to respond: admit the debt, defend it, or counter-claim. If the defendant fails to respond, or responds and loses, the court enters judgment. That judgment is the CCJ. If the defendant pays within one calendar month, the judgment is removed from the register. If they pay later, it stays on the register but is marked satisfied. If they never pay, it sits there as unsatisfied for six years.

Where does a CCJ sit in the UK courts system?

In the County Court of England and Wales, which handles most civil money claims below the High Court threshold. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own equivalents (decrees in Scotland, money judgments in Northern Ireland), and Registry Trust covers all of them.

The County Court hears the bulk of low- and mid-value commercial debt claims — under £100,000 by default for unsecured debt, though the figure shifts depending on the type of claim and whether the matter is suitable for the High Court instead. For supplier risk purposes, the practical takeaway is that almost any unpaid invoice that ends up in court will end up in the County Court, and so almost any judgment you find against a supplier will be a CCJ rather than a High Court Judgment.

What does "unsatisfied" actually mean?

It means the debt confirmed by the judgment has not been paid. That is the only thing it means, and it is the single most important word on the register.

An unsatisfied CCJ tells you that, as far as the court record shows, the supplier still owes the money and has not paid it. That is a much harder signal than a satisfied one. A satisfied CCJ shows that there was a dispute or a payment failure at some point, but the supplier eventually paid. An unsatisfied CCJ, especially a recent one or one of several, is the kind of finding that should slow a procurement decision down and prompt a direct conversation with the supplier before contract.

A supplier can apply to have a judgment marked satisfied once they pay, but they have to do it; the court does not chase. So an old judgment showing as unsatisfied sometimes reflects administrative drift rather than non-payment. The way to find out is to ask the supplier for the receipt or the certificate of satisfaction. A supplier who can produce one quickly is in a different category from one who cannot.

How does a CCJ show up at Companies House?

It does not. Companies House holds filings, officers, the PSC register, charges and insolvency records, but no CCJ data. Judgments live on a separate register run by Registry Trust on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

This is the single most common gap in do-it-yourself supplier checks, and it is the gap our Companies House checks explained guide flags first. A buyer can read every filed account, walk through the officer list, look at the PSC, and still miss a string of unpaid judgments because they assumed Companies House would surface them. It will not. The Register of Judgments is a separate search, on a separate site, and you have to look for it deliberately.

How do I check whether a supplier has a CCJ?

Search the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines at trustonline.org.uk, run by Registry Trust. A name-based search costs a few pounds and returns judgments registered against that company or individual.

A few practical notes worth knowing before you search:

Search by company number where possible. Trading names and minor spelling variants will miss judgments. Use the eight-digit Companies House number for limited companies, exactly as it appears on the latest filed accounts.
Search the directors too if the supplier is a small owner-managed business. A clean company file can sit above a director who has personal CCJs from a previous trading entity.
Check the date of any judgment found. CCJs drop off the public register after six years; anything you see is therefore recent enough to be relevant.
Read the amount in context. A £400 judgment from a disputed telecoms bill is a different story from a £40,000 judgment from a trade creditor.

If a CCJ does appear, the red flags in supplier financials guide covers how to weigh it against the rest of the file — accounts trend, charges, late filings, director history — rather than treating it as a single yes/no input.

How is a CCJ different from a High Court writ?

A CCJ is a judgment — a court's confirmation that money is owed. A High Court writ of control is an enforcement step that comes later, instructing High Court Enforcement Officers to recover the debt.

These get confused often, partly because the same debt can travel through both stages. The usual sequence is: creditor obtains a CCJ in the County Court; if the defendant still does not pay, the creditor transfers the judgment up to the High Court for enforcement (this is allowed for debts of £600 or more); the High Court issues a writ of control; enforcement officers attend the defendant's premises to recover the debt or seize goods.

For supplier risk, the implication is that a writ of control is a harder signal than the CCJ that sat behind it. A supplier with an active writ has been through the full court sequence and still has not paid. That is a serious finding and is almost never compatible with awarding a new contract without explicit director-level sign-off.

What does a CCJ actually signal about a supplier?

It signals that the supplier has had at least one dispute serious enough to reach court, and either lost or did not defend it. What that means commercially depends on the rest of the picture.

A single small CCJ from three or four years ago, satisfied within a month, sitting against a company with otherwise clean filings, a stable director history and growing net assets, is usually a non-event. Most established trading companies pick up the occasional disputed-invoice judgment over the years.

A recent CCJ for a meaningful sum, unsatisfied, against a company with deteriorating accounts, late filings, or a recent change of directors, is a different conversation. That pattern often precedes formal insolvency by months rather than years. The how to check if a company is financially stable guide walks through how a CCJ sits alongside the financial filings.

Multiple unsatisfied CCJs across more than one year is the strongest of the three signals. It tells you the supplier has a settled pattern of disputes that resolve against them and that they do not subsequently pay. For most procurement teams, that finding alone justifies declining the supplier or restricting them to prepayment terms.

What should I do when I find one?

Ask the supplier about it directly, in writing, before contract. The answer matters as much as the judgment itself.

A credible supplier will know about any judgment against them, will explain it in plain terms, and will be able to evidence either payment or a current dispute. An evasive or surprised response is its own signal. If the supplier produces a satisfaction certificate, file it with the diligence record. If the supplier cannot or will not explain it, escalate the finding to whoever owns the budget for the contract.

For higher-value contracts, do not stop at the supplier's own explanation. A commissioned report (see how we check for the Vendrpulse methodology) reads the CCJ in the context of the rest of the file, weights it against contract value and sector, and ends with a written judgement rather than a list of facts to act on.

FAQ

How long does a CCJ stay on the public register?

Six years from the date of judgment. If the defendant pays within one calendar month of the judgment, the entry is removed from the register entirely. If they pay later, it stays for the full six years but is marked satisfied. After six years it drops off the register and is no longer publicly searchable, regardless of whether it was ever paid.

Does a CCJ appear on a credit report?

Yes, both company and personal credit reports pick up CCJs from the same Registry Trust data, usually within a few weeks of the judgment being registered. That is one route by which a CCJ feeds through to a credit score, but the underlying public record is the more reliable source for a buyer doing diligence on a specific supplier.

Can a CCJ be removed or set aside?

A judgment can be set aside on application to the court, usually where the defendant can show they had a good defence and a proper reason for not responding to the original claim in time. Set-aside applications are not granted lightly and they cost money. If a supplier tells you a CCJ is "being set aside", ask for the application reference and the hearing date.

Are CCJs against sole traders or partnerships visible the same way?

Yes, but you search by individual name and address rather than by company number. This matters for very small suppliers — many trade as sole traders or partnerships with no Companies House file at all, and a name-based search on the principal is the only way to surface a judgment against them.

Does Vendrpulse check the CCJ register as part of a report?

Yes. Every Pulse report includes a Registry Trust check against the company and, where relevant, against the named directors. Any judgments found are listed in the report with date, amount and satisfaction status, and weighted into the overall risk score against the contract value.