FS Register FRN 1029698
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13+ years specialist broking experience
Business Insurance With a CCJ — Placed by a Human, Not a Credit Score
County court judgments, adverse credit, a poor company credit rating, or a director with a judgment of their own. We place all of it through UK specialist insurers and Lloyd's markets that read the file rather than the score. Appointed Representative, Firm Ref 1029698, and this is the core of what we do rather than an exception we make.
Yes, you can get business insurance with a CCJ. A county court judgment is not an insurance disqualification — it is a credit marker, and most insurers rate the trading risk far more heavily than the credit file. What a CCJ reliably breaks is the automated quote journey and the monthly payment facility, because both run on credit scoring. Placed manually, expect a loading of roughly 10–35% and, in many cases, none at all where the judgment is satisfied or historic. Two things matter more than the premium: a judgment paid in full within one calendar month can be removed from the Register entirely rather than merely marked satisfied, and a judgment obtained at an old registered office can often be set aside. Miller & Partner places adverse-credit risks as routine weekly work.
A CCJ is a credit marker, not an insurance decision
Underwriters price the chance of you having a claim. A county court judgment says nothing about whether your scaffolding is safe, your kitchen is clean or your advice is sound — and most insurers know that. The problem is that you rarely reach an underwriter, because the credit check sits in front of them.
What most people with a CCJ are never told
Two of these can remove the judgment altogether, and the third explains why you keep getting refused. None of them appear on a comparison site, and all three are worth acting on before you accept a loaded premium as the price of your situation.
Pay within one calendar month and it disappears completely
If you pay a judgment in full within one calendar month of the judgment date and provide proof to the court, the entry can be cancelled and deleted from the Register entirely — it comes off your credit file as though it never existed. Miss that window by a day and paying only gets it marked "satisfied", which still sits there for six years for every lender and insurer to see.
Almost nobody is told this while the window is open. If you have had a judgment in the last few weeks, stop reading and go and check the date.
The judgment you never knew about
Most business CCJs are default judgments — entered because nobody responded to the claim, not because a judge decided anything. And claims are served at the address the claimant supplies, which is very often an old registered office or a previous trading address. Registry Trust told Parliament in 2025 that a significant number of judgments are issued against defendants at old or incorrect addresses, leaving them unaware a claim was ever made.
Where you were not properly served, or have a real prospect of defending the claim, you can apply to set the judgment aside on Form N244. A set-aside deletes the entry outright. It is not automatic and there is a court fee, but it is the difference between six years of adverse credit and none.
The refusal is usually the finance house, not the insurer
Two separate decisions happen when you buy insurance monthly. The insurer decides whether to cover the risk; a premium finance provider decides whether to lend you the premium. They are different companies applying different criteria — and it is routinely the lender that says no, not the underwriter.
Which is why people conclude they are uninsurable when in fact they are simply un-lendable-to that month. Paying annually, taking a larger deposit with a shorter term, or using a specialist finance house that prices adverse credit rather than declining it all solve a problem that was never an underwriting problem.
CCJs, defaults and credit scores are not the same thing
These get used interchangeably and they behave very differently. Knowing which one you actually have changes both what you can do about it and how an underwriter will read it.
The Register of Judgments
A public statutory register maintained by Registry Trust and searchable by anyone. Regulation 26(a) of the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines Regulations 2005 requires removal six years from the judgment date.
Satisfied vs cancelled
Satisfied means paid but still visible for the full six years. Cancelled means gone. Only payment within one calendar month, or a successful set-aside, produces cancellation. The distinction is worth real money.
Six years from judgment, not payment
A common and expensive misunderstanding. Clearing a four-year-old judgment does not restart anything and does not shorten anything — the clock runs from the judgment date regardless of when you pay.
Defaults and missed payments
Recorded by credit reference agencies rather than the court. They also last six years, but they are not judgments and should not be described as such on a proposal form. Accuracy here protects you later.
Company credit score
An agency's opinion, not a public record. Heavily influenced by late filing at Companies House, which is one of the cheapest things to fix and one of the most commonly ignored.
Disclosure duty
Under the Insurance Act 2015 you owe a duty of fair presentation. Judgments are public and insurers search for them — disclosed adverse credit gets priced, undisclosed adverse credit gets policies avoided.
What a CCJ actually affects — and what it doesn't
Adverse credit does not hit every line equally. Knowing where it bites lets you structure a programme around it rather than accepting a blanket loading across everything.
Public & Products Liability
Largely unaffected on the underwriting side. Rated on trade, turnover and claims experience — a clean loss record does most of the work here regardless of what the credit file says.
Employers' Liability
Compulsory and readily placeable. Rated on wage roll and occupation. Credit history affects how you pay for it far more than whether you can buy it.
Property & contents
Straightforward, though some insurers apply a credit-referenced excess or ask for annual payment. Sums insured and security matter more than the score.
Motor fleet
One of the most credit-sensitive lines. Fleet underwriting leans on credit scoring, and a CCJ frequently means a larger deposit or annual settlement rather than a refusal.
Professional Indemnity
Underwritten on activities and claims, not credit. Watch the retroactive date if you are moving insurer, and see Professional Indemnity for how it is structured.
Directors & Officers
Financial-condition questions do appear here, so adverse credit is relevant. Worth placing carefully rather than adding as an afterthought to a package.
Cyber
Effectively unaffected — underwritten on controls, backups and authentication. A useful line to place early because it evidences a well-run submission. See Cyber insurance.
Trade credit
Different product, opposite direction — it protects you against your customers failing. Your own credit position affects terms. See Trade credit insurance.
Premium finance
The line that actually bites. Structured around the credit position — specialist lenders, larger deposits, shorter terms, or staggered inception dates across policies to spread the cash-flow impact.
Do not leave it off the form. Judgments are on a public register that anyone can search, and insurers do search it. A disclosed CCJ is a rating factor worth a modest loading; an undisclosed one is a breach of the duty of fair presentation that can let an insurer avoid the policy at claim stage — refunding your premium and leaving you to carry the loss yourself. The five minutes it takes to explain a judgment is the cheapest insurance you will buy all year.
General information, not advice. This page describes the types of cover we arrange. It is not personalised advice, a personal recommendation or an offer of cover, and it does not take account of your own circumstances. Cover is subject to insurer acceptance, underwriting criteria and the full terms, conditions, limits and exclusions of the policy issued. Any figures shown are illustrative and are not quotations. Our full regulatory status and complaints information are set out in the footer of every page.
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MEET THE Director
Hey, I'm John!
I started Miller & Partner with the aim to bring back personable, approachable broking to UK businesses who were tired of large corporate brokers and feeling like they were just another number.
I have built this brokerage up with no pushy sales techniques or big business tactics, just honest, approachable and professional relationships with my clients.
Over 13 years experience in business insurance
Client first approach
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Office: Vivian House, Roman Bridge Close, Mumbles, Swansea, SA3 5BG
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