In most cases, yes. A County Court Judgment narrows your options rather than closing them. Three things decide how much: how old it is, how much it was for, and whether it has been satisfied.
The three questions every lender asks
How old is it? This matters more than anything else. A CCJ registered four years ago is treated very differently from one registered last month. Several mainstream lenders will consider a CCJ that is more than three years old, particularly if it is satisfied and modest. Specialist lenders will go considerably more recent than that.
Is it satisfied? A satisfied CCJ — one you have paid — is materially better than an unsatisfied one. It shows the matter is resolved. If you can pay it and get the register updated, do so before applying. Some lenders will not lend at all while a CCJ remains unsatisfied.
Paying it can dip your score before it improves it. Settling a CCJ sometimes makes your credit score fall in the weeks immediately afterwards, because the scoring models register a large, recent change on your file before they register that the debt is resolved. This alarms people who pay expecting instant improvement. It is a temporary effect — your position keeps improving as the payment ages — but it is worth knowing in advance, and it is not a reason to leave a CCJ unpaid.
How much was it for? Many lenders apply a threshold below which they will disregard a CCJ, particularly an older one. A £300 judgment and a £9,000 judgment are not treated the same, even at the same age.
What a CCJ actually is
A County Court Judgment is a court order confirming you owe money. It sits on the public Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for six years, and appears on your credit file for the same period.
Two things worth knowing:
If you pay within one month of judgment, it can be removed from the register entirely. Not marked satisfied — removed. If you have just received one, act quickly.
After six years it drops off automatically, whether satisfied or not.
The CCJ people did not know they had
More common than you would think, and worth checking specifically.
Judgments can be issued to an address you no longer live at. If a creditor used an old address, the paperwork went there, you never saw it, and the judgment was granted in your absence.
People routinely discover these only when applying for a mortgage.
Check the register directly — it is searchable — as well as all three credit reference agencies. If you find a judgment you knew nothing about, or one that is factually wrong, you may be able to apply to the court to have it set aside. That is a legal process and worth taking advice on, but a successfully set-aside judgment is removed rather than merely marked.
What improves your position
Deposit. The strongest lever. With a recent CCJ, expect to need 10% to 25% depending on age and value. A larger deposit widens the lender pool and improves the rate.
Time. Everything gets easier as the judgment ages. If you are close to a threshold — three years, say — waiting a few months can move you from specialist to mainstream lending, which is worth far more than any negotiation.
Clean recent conduct. Lenders look hard at the last twelve to twenty-four months. A CCJ three years ago followed by a perfect record since reads very differently from the same judgment followed by missed payments.
No further adverse credit. One CCJ is manageable. A CCJ plus defaults plus recent missed payments compounds quickly.
What does not help
Applying to several lenders yourself. Each hard credit check leaves a footprint, and a run of them looks like repeated declines. Find out which lenders suit your circumstances and apply once.
Assuming your own bank's answer is the market's answer. It is one lender applying one policy.
Waiting for it to "disappear" without checking. Confirm the date it was registered, so you know when it will actually drop off.
The usual route
Most clients with a CCJ follow a two-stage path: a specialist product now at a higher rate, then a remortgage to a mainstream lender once the judgment has aged and there is a clean payment record behind it.
The first rate is not permanent. It is the cost of getting started, and we will diarise the review.
Bring your credit reports
Get reports from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — they hold different information — and bring them to a first appointment. We will build the case around what is actually recorded.
Call 0116 277 7536 or see adverse credit mortgages in Leicester.
More guides: specialist mortgage guides for Leicester.
