County Court Judgements (CCJs)

Mike Campbell, Lancaster

"All my CCJs were included in my DMP and now I don’t have to worry about them at all."

Around 10,000 CCJs are registered every month in England & Wales with most granted automatically as the defendant did not appear in court. People are often confused by the legal process and many find complicated paper work they are sent daunting.

Others ignore the problem until it is too late and once given a CCJ it can (it remains on a credit file for six years) be extremely damaging and stop you from gaining credit or buying a home. At Debt Trust Direct our first aim is to stop you being issued with a CCJ.

If you have already received one the next job is to see if we can get it removed or settled.

How to avoid a CCJ

A CCJ is usually the last resort and you should have received months of warnings and demands before the case proceeds to court. It is never easy dealing with debt collectors but we would always encourage people to speak to your lender as soon as possible. At Debt Trust Direct we can do this on your behalf and have been very successful in stopping legal action…even at the last minute.

The major banks are approachable and willing to listen and as such a reasonable offer of payment should be accepted. A token payment of £1 a week could stop further action and avoid a CCJ being registered against you.

Removing a CCJ

Lenders have to follow strict rules when applying for a CCJ and by proving they didn’t we may be able to get the CCJ reversed and completely removed from your credit file. For example the plaintiff should have issued you with a default notice prior to applying for a CCJ and if we can show this wasn’t the case then by sending form N244 to the court it could be set aside.

However it is important to remember a N244 form should only be sent to the courts if you have a valid reason, the court may impose a fine or other penalties if they believe you are wasting their time. If you feel that your CCJ may have been issued in error or that the lender didn’t follow the rules why not complete our free 60 second test and see if we can help.

Settling a CCJ

Most CCJs cannot be removed and as such the best way forward is to settle the outstanding debt. At Debt Trust Direct we can act on your behalf and as your account will be classed as a bad debt this puts us in a strong negotiating position. CCJs can often be settled for a fraction of the debt (many lenders will be happy to receive anything at this stage) and at that point we can apply to have the debt listed as satisfied on your credit file.

A certificate of satisfaction will be obtained from the court and once received and acknowledged by the credit reference agencies your credit rating should improve. A settled CCJ shows you are committed to dealing with your debt responsibly and they are viewed far more favourably by lenders.

 If you have a CCJ or have been threatened with one then why not our
free 30 second test today!