How long does bad credit actually last?

If you have just had a CCJ, read this first

If you pay a county court judgment in full within one calendar month of the judgment date, it is removed from the Register of Judgments entirely — not marked as satisfied, removed. That is a statutory rule, and it is the single most valuable thing on this page, because the window is short and almost nobody is told about it in time.

Pay it after that month and it stays for six years, marked satisfied. Satisfied is much better than unsatisfied, and it is not the same as gone. The removal is not automatic: the court needs proof of payment, and you normally apply yourself for a small fee. If you are inside the month and can pay, the timing matters — and if paying it would be a struggle, StepChange or Citizens Advice can help you decide what comes first.

How long each thing stays

• CCJs — six years from the judgment date, unless paid within the month above. More on getting a mortgage with a CCJ, including set-aside.
• Defaults — six years from the default date, not from when you clear the balance. Paying it does not restart or shorten the clock; it marks it satisfied. More on getting a mortgage with defaults.
• Missed and late payments — six years, held month by month, so they age off one at a time rather than all at once.
• IVAs — six years from the start date, or until the IVA finishes if that is later. A five-year IVA is normally still showing for about a year after the final payment.
• Bankruptcy — six years from the order.
• Hard searches — around a year for most lenders' purposes, though visible for longer. This is the one people worry about far too much and the one they do most damage with, by applying repeatedly.

Why six years is the wrong date to plan around

Lenders do not treat your file as a pass or fail at six years. They band it, and their bands are much shorter — typically counted in months since the event, with meaningfully different treatment as you cross each one. Somebody two years past a satisfied default is in a very different position from somebody four months past one, and both are years away from six.

So the useful question is not "when does this disappear" but "when do I cross the next threshold that changes my options". That is usually a date I can give you on the phone, and it is often much sooner than you have been assuming.

What to do while you wait

• Check all three credit reference agencies — they hold different data, and lenders do not all use the same one.
• Dispute anything wrong. Errors are common, especially after a house move, and they take weeks to correct, so do it well before you apply.
• Get on the electoral roll at your current address. It is free and it genuinely helps.
• Do not apply speculatively while you wait. A cluster of applications makes the next lender warier, and it is the one kind of damage you inflict on yourself.