Form N443: Certificate of Satisfaction or Cancellation

Form N443 is the application you send to a county court to record that a County Court Judgment has been paid. Depending on how quickly you cleared the debt, the court issues either a certificate of cancellation (removing the CCJ from the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines) or a certificate of satisfaction (leaving the entry on the register for the six-year period but marking it paid). The fee is £19.¹

Cancellation or Satisfaction Depends on When You Paid

If you paid the judgment in full within one calendar month of the judgment date, apply for cancellation. The entry is removed from the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines as though the judgment had never been made, and it comes off your credit file with it.²

If you paid after that one-month window, only satisfaction is available. The CCJ stays on the register for the full six years from the original judgment date, but it is marked as satisfied. Lenders treat a satisfied judgment more favourably than an outstanding one, but it still affects your creditworthiness until it drops off after six years.¹

The one-month deadline is not extendable. Once it has passed, you cannot go back and ask for cancellation, so if you can realistically pay inside the first month, that is the outcome worth aiming for.

What to Have Ready Before You Fill It In

Form N443 is a single-page PDF you can download from GOV.UK.³ It asks you to tick either satisfaction or cancellation, so decide which applies before you start. You’ll need:

The name of the court that issued the judgment, from your original paperwork.
The claim number, which appears on all correspondence from the court.
The claimant’s and defendant’s names exactly as they appeared on the original judgment. Small discrepancies cause delays.
The judgment amount, including any interest or costs added at the time of the order.
Proof of payment: a letter, receipt, or bank statement from the creditor confirming the balance has been cleared in full.

The £19 Fee and Help Paying It

The application costs £19. Pay by cheque made out to “HMCTS,” and write the claim number on the back so the court can match the payment to your file. If you’d rather pay by card, contact the court handling your case to arrange it.¹

If you’re on a low income or receive certain benefits, you may qualify for help with the fee. Complete Form EX160 and send it in with your N443.⁴ Missing or incorrect payment is the most common reason applications get returned, so sort this out before you post anything.

Where to Send It

Post the completed form, your proof of payment, and the fee (or EX160) to the court that issued the original judgment. The address is on your judgment paperwork, and the court finder tool on GOV.UK will confirm it. Submission is by post because the court needs your original signature and supporting documents.³

If the Creditor Won’t Confirm Payment

Creditors sometimes go quiet, change hands, or refuse to acknowledge that a debt has been cleared. Form N443 has a route for this. If you can’t provide evidence of full payment, explain on the form what steps you took to get proof and why you couldn’t obtain it. The court then writes to the creditor to ask whether the debt has been paid, and if the creditor doesn’t respond within one month, the certificate is issued anyway.²

An unresponsive creditor cannot block you indefinitely. Keep any bank statements or transfer confirmations showing you sent the money; they help if the creditor disputes payment.

What Happens After You File

Court staff review the form and evidence. If the creditor has to be contacted and doesn’t reply, the one-month waiting period applies. If your evidence is clear or the creditor confirms payment, the process is quicker. Once approved, the certificate arrives by post at the address on your form. Keep it. It is your permanent proof that the judgment has been dealt with.

The court then notifies Registry Trust, which maintains the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines and passes updates to the credit reference agencies.⁵ A cancellation removes the entry from the register; a satisfaction leaves it in place, marked paid, for the remainder of the six years.²

Updates to your credit file are not always immediate. If you check Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion a few weeks after your certificate arrives and the CCJ still shows as outstanding, contact them directly with a copy of the certificate and ask them to correct the record. After six years from the original judgment date, a satisfied CCJ drops off the register entirely.¹

When Form N443 Isn’t the Right Form

Form N443 assumes the judgment was valid and the money was owed. If you believe the CCJ should never have been entered against you (for example, you never received the court papers, or the debt had already been paid before judgment was given), the separate route is to apply to set the judgment aside under Part 13 of the Civil Procedure Rules. A successful set-aside erases the judgment and removes it from the register and your credit file. It involves a court hearing and different tests, and the court considers whether you applied promptly.⁶ If you did owe the debt and have now paid it, Form N443 is the right form.

1
GOV.UK. County Court Judgments for Debt: CCJs and Your Credit Rating
2
GOV.UK. N443 – Application for a Certificate of Satisfaction/Cancellation
3
GOV.UK. Form N443: Application for a Certificate of Satisfaction or Cancellation
4
GOV.UK. Apply for Help with Court and Tribunal Fees: Form EX160
5
Registry Trust. The Ultimate Guide to County Court Judgments (CCJs)
6
Ministry of Justice. Civil Procedure Rules Part 13 – Setting Aside or Varying Default Judgment