How Long Do Late Payments, Defaults and CCJs Stay on Your UK Credit File?

One of the most common questions after a difficult financial period is simple: how long is this actually going to follow me around? The honest answer is that most negative marks on a UK credit file have a fixed shelf life — and knowing exactly what it is changes how you plan.

The general rule: six years

Most negative information on a UK credit file — including defaults, missed payments, and CCJs — is removed automatically after six years from the date of the original event (for a default, that's six years from the default date; for a CCJ, six years from the judgment date). This happens whether or not the debt has been paid, and you don't need to request it.

Late payments

A single late payment typically has a smaller and shorter-lived impact than a default, but it still sits on your file and is visible to lenders for the same six-year window, gradually mattering less to most scoring models as it ages.

Defaults

A default is a more serious marker, recorded when a lender formally treats an account as having broken down — typically after several missed payments. It stays on file for six years from the default date, regardless of whether you later pay it off. Paying it off doesn't remove it or shorten the timeline, but it does stop it accruing further negative status, and some lenders view a settled default more favourably than an unpaid one.

County Court Judgments (CCJs)

A CCJ also runs on a six-year clock from the judgment date, and a paid CCJ still showing as unsatisfied is a separate problem worth checking for. The one meaningful exception: if you pay a CCJ in full within one calendar month of the judgment being made, you can apply to have it removed from the public register entirely, rather than waiting out the six years.

What actually changes once something drops off

Once the six years passes, the entry is removed automatically by the credit reference agencies — you shouldn't need to request it, though it's worth checking your file around that date to confirm it's actually happened, since data errors do occur. Once removed, that specific piece of history stops being visible to lenders checking your file going forward.

What this means for planning ahead

Knowing the exact date something is due to drop off changes the conversation from "will this ever go away" to "here's the date I can expect this specific weight to lift." For anyone planning a mortgage application, a car finance application, or simply trying to know where they stand, that date is one of the most useful numbers on the whole file.

Six years isn't a punishment — it's a fixed, knowable endpoint. The work in the meantime is making sure everything else on the file is accurate while you wait it out.