Certificate of Satisfaction

Introduction

In England and Wales, a Certificate of Satisfaction , stating that the debt has been paid, can be obtained from the County Court in which the case was heard. If the debt was not paid through the court, for example, it was paid direct to the lender, the court will require evidence that the Judgment has been satisfied , i.e. paid. The court will need the case number of the action. The number and the name of the court are shown on the Register of County Court Judgments, under your name, and on your credit reference file. The court will then issue a Certificate of Satisfaction to you and automatically inform the Registry Trust that the debt has been paid. There is no statutory time limit within which the court must do this.

When your CCJ or county court judgement is paid off,  a 'Certificate of Satisfaction' will be sent by the court. The certificate of satisfaction should be kept for your records in case the credit reference firms do not record it.

Click here to get a copy of the form Notification of Request for Certificate of Satisfaction or Cancellation. (PDF 380Kb)*

What is the fee to obtain a certificate of satisfaction?

The fee payable in most instances for a certificate of satisfactions is £10.

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County Court judgments and certificate of satisfaction

County court judgments ( CCJ's) are held on your credit report for six years from the date of the judgment. Experian receives the information from Registry Trust, an independent organisation set up by the Lord Chancellor's Department.

Judgments that are paid within one month of being issued are removed from your records as long as a Certificate of Satisfaction has been requested from the court. Judgments paid after one month are kept on file but marked as 'satisfied' once you pay the court for a Certificate of satisfaction.

If you have been declared bankrupt, credit reference agencies will obtain this information from the official gazettes. It is kept on your file for six years after the date of the bankruptcy order.

If you believe a county court judgment, or CCJ, has been recorded incorrectly, you should contact the county court, quoting the case number included on your file. If the judgment was recorded incorrectly, the county court will alter their records. Credit reference agencies are told about any such changes within four weeks, but if you give them original court documents, in the form of a Certificate of Satisfaction or Cancellation, they may be able to make the changes sooner if necessary.

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What is the procedure if a CCJ has been satisfied but the debt is still marked on my credit reference file?

If the CCJ is satisfied, then it has to be marked as such, if not then it is an incorrect personal data record that to the court has failed to amend.

If this happens please follow the following steps:

Get a receipt or letter from the creditor confirming payment has been made in full. (or in the case of bankruptcy your bankrupty notice)

Then, write to the county court who gave the judgment.

• quote the case number
• enclose a copy of the receipt
• enclose a cheque for the current fee payable HM Paymaster
• ask for a Certificate of Satisfaction

Then you need to write to each of the credit reference firms enclosing the certificate of satisfaction, and request them to mark the CCJ as satisfied.

If the court refuses to issue a certificate of satisfaction, then you can only appeal to the Department of Constitutional Affairs through the Information Control Officer.

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Where can I find out about the law relating to certificate of satisfaction?

• Supreme Court Of England And Wales
• County Courts, England And Wales
• Magistrates' Courts, England And Wales
• The Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines Regulations 2005

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The following is an excerpt from the regulations:-

Application for, and issue of, a certificate of satisfaction

17.

1. A registered debtor may apply to the appropriate officer for a certificate ('certificate of satisfaction') as to the satisfaction of the debt.
2. An application under paragraph (1) shall be
   1. made in writing; and
   2. accompanied by the appropriate fee.

18.

1. (1) In the case of an application for a certificate of satisfaction in respect of an entry in the Register to which regulation 8(1)(a) applies (judgments entered in the High Court or a county court), the application under regulation 17(1) shall be accompanied by -
   1. sufficient evidence that the debt has been satisfied;
   2. a statement that the registered debtor has taken reasonable steps to obtain such evidence, but has been unable to do so; or
   3. a statement that the registered debtor believes such evidence is already in the possession of the appropriate officer.
2. For the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), sufficient evidence that the debt has been satisfied includes a signed statement by the creditor to that effect.
3. Where paragraph (1)(b) applies, the appropriate officer shall send notice of the registered debtor's application under regulation 17(1) to the creditor together with a request that the creditor confirms within one month of the date of the notice whether the debt has been satisfied.
4. For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c), evidence which is already in the possession of the appropriate officer includes where -
   1. the debt has been paid as the result of court enforcement proceedings taken under Part 70 of the 1998 Rules;
   2. payment of the debt has otherwise been made to the court.

19.

1. Where an application has been made under regulation 17(1) and -
   1. the appropriate officer is of the opinion that the debt has been satisfied; or
   2. a notice has been sent in accordance with regulation 18(3) and the creditor has not responded within the time limit provided, the appropriate officer shall issue a certificate of satisfaction to the registered debtor.

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