AnswersCourt, and what comes after
The company applied to set aside the judgment. What happens now?
The short answer
The court decides. It must set the judgment aside1 if it was entered wrongly, for example before the company's time to respond had run out, so check your own dates first. Otherwise it may do so only if the company has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim1, or some other good reason. Until the court decides, the judgment stands.
England and Wales only. WolfX is software, not a law firm.
What you can add
A £5,200 invoice, judgment entered on 7 September
Say you invoiced another business £5,200, due on 17 July 2026. It went late on 18 July, so the 11.75% rate for the second half of 2026 applies. You issued a claim, with the particulars in it, on Tuesday 18 August. The claim form was deemed served on Thursday 20 August, so the company's 14 days ran out on 3 September. Nobody answered, and judgment was entered on Monday 7 September, 52 days after the due date.
- The invoice£5,200.00
- Interest: £5,200 × 11.75% ÷ 365 × 52 days11£87.05
- Fixed sum (invoices from £1,000 to £9,999.99)12£70.00
- Court fee to issue the claim (claims from £5,000.01 to £10,000)8£455.00
- Judgment entered on 7 September 2026£5,812.05
The company pays £321 to ask the court to undo it8. Until the court decides, the judgment stands. Here your dates hold: judgment came four days after the deadline. So the company has to pass the second test.
The road ahead
Seven steps. No fee for you.
Step 1: Check your own dates
Write down the issue date, the day the claim form was deemed served (the second business day after posting)4, and the day you asked for judgment. The company had 14 days from service to respond, or 28 if it filed an acknowledgment of service3.
A judgment entered while that time was still running, or after a defence was filed2, was wrongly entered. So was one on a claim paid in full before judgment1. The court must set those aside.
Step 2: Read what the company filed
The company files form N2449 with papers to back it1 and pays £321 on notice8.
You get a copy and at least 3 days' notice5. If your claim started in the Money Claims Centre and the company is not an individual, the application goes to a preferred hearing centre1.
The hearing may be at your or your solicitor's local county court9.
Step 3: Gather your papers
A one-page timeline with every date, proof of how and when the claim was served, and the order, invoice, delivery note and messages showing the debt was not disputed before the claim.
Then a short witness statement answering two things: the defence they say they have, and the delay. Promptness is one thing the court must weigh1, not a bar. Leave everything else out.
Step 4: Email the company
Use the email below. It goes to the company, or to its solicitor if one is named on the application. It asks what defence they say they have and why they did not respond, and it leaves the door open to a payment proposal.
Step 5: Keep enforcement in view
Part 13 does not pause enforcement. The company can ask separately for a stay of execution7, for special circumstances or because it cannot pay.
If the court sends you that request, tell it in writing within 14 days whether you object, and why7. Say nothing and a court officer can suspend the bailiffs' warrant on terms of payment.
Step 6: File your statement, then go to the hearing
File the statement at court and send the company, or its solicitor, a copy with your papers6, as soon as you can. The latest is 4pm at least 2 days before the hearing6, unless the court has set another date.
Take the timeline and your papers. The judge hears the company's reasons and then your account. If the judgment is set aside, the court may attach conditions1.
Step 7: Act on what the court decides
Application dismissed: the judgment stands and enforcement carries on. Judgment set aside: the claim goes on as a defended claim, and the court asks the register of judgments to cancel the entry10.
A third way is a payment plan agreed by consent before or at the hearing. Take it only if you can live with it.
A letter you can copy
Reply to the application to set aside
Send it once the court's notice of the application arrives.
Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.
Send it by email so it is dated, and keep a copy with the court's notice. If a solicitor is named on the application, write to the solicitor, not the company.
When not to bother
When it isn't worth it
- You asked for judgment too early. The court must put that right1, so agree to set it aside. If the company still does not respond in time, ask for judgment again.
- The defence is real and you cannot answer it. A consent order, or mediation, may save a hearing. Raise it in your email before the court date.
- The company offers a payment plan you can live with. Take it. A plan agreed by consent ends the application without a judge deciding anything.
- The company looks to be failing. Check its Companies House record before spending more time, because a win at the hearing is worth little against a company with nothing to pay with.
- Your case is in Scotland or Northern Ireland. These are the England and Wales rules, and the courts there have their own.
The Wolf's note
An application means the court will look, not that you have lost. Your own dates are the one thing you can check tonight, and a slip in them is a fault the court must put right. After that, the company has to show its case.
Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX
What comes next
Your next move
What is a CCJ against a company, and what does it actually do?
A CCJ is a court order to pay, not the money.
6 min read · Letter included
I won in court but they still haven't paid. How do I make them pay?
Three routes to enforce a CCJ against a company: bailiffs for its goods, a third-party debt order for its bank balance, a charging order for its land.
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The debtor admitted the claim but asked to pay by instalments. Can I refuse?
Yes. Refusing instalments does not reopen the claim.
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Don't want to do this yourself?
The Wolf does every step for you. He works out the sums, writes the letters and keeps track of every date. Nothing goes without your yes.