ccj's are they written off after six years?

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I had a ccj which did not get repayed in full. Another company are now chasing for the balance, can they persue me for it? Can they take me to court for it?

Help needed please.

-- stacey (spatten@ic24.net), March 15, 2001

Answers

I think that your local CAB will have the answer to this (although someone who knows may well post here). It might be a good idea to talk to the CAB anyway, as this seem to be coming on top of your 'shortfall' problems detailed further down tis Q&A board. But make sure that you read this site first - it has more up-to-date information on it than any other source I can think of.

-- Eleanor Scott (eleanor.scott@btinternet.com), March 15, 2001.

It is certainly possible for the new company to have bought the debt from the original company. And, yes, they can take you to court in an attempt to recover it, provided they have sufficient evidence that the debt exists. (Shame debtors can't sell debt really).

I don't actually agree with not paying debt and I would be sad if people thought this site was encouraging debtors not to pay it. I am opposed to:

1) lenders claiming debt that they are not able to prove or are unwilling to prove 2) debt that is unexpected because a MIG, endowment or mortgage was misrepresented as a traditional "insurance"

Lee

-- Lee (repossession@bigfoot.com), March 16, 2001.


They can go to the court and get a "Warrant of Execution" (no guillotines involved). This can be used when a ccj is not paid or monthly payments are late. It gives them the power to call in the bailiffs. The other company have obviously bought the debt and are looking for you to resume payments in preferance to the above action. A ccj is not written off after 6 yrs, but, assuming payments are maintained it should not appear after 6 yrs from the date of default on your credit referance files, even if you have not paid it in full by that time. If you were to pay off the ccj after this time, then it may reappear on your file again as "satisfied" for a further 6 years.

Hope this helps,

Stephen Pooley

-- (stephen.pooley@ntlworld.com), March 16, 2001.


Sorry to disagree with the above answer but:

A CCJ stays on your file for 6 years and then "drops off" regardless of whether it has been paid (satisfied) or not. Even if you are mid- way through making payments to satisfy the debt the CCJ will be removed from your file. It is worth checking your credit files with both Equifax and Experian as they both have a habit of "forgetting" to remove the information after the 6 years is up.

A warrant of execution does, indeed, allow bailiffs to attend your property. However, they have NO RIGHT OF ENTRY. If you do not let them in, or you are out when they call, there is nothing they can do. If you do let them in, they are allowed to force entry on subsequent visits. Note that bailiffs will force entry for house repossessions regardless of you being there or not.

If you refuse to pay at this stage the options left to the lender are to have a charge put over your property - this means that when you sell your property they get paid from any proceeds from the sale. As an alternative they can ask to an Attachment of Earnings order, which means your employer is forced to make monthly payments from your salary direct.

Your best advice is to contact the lender or bailiffs and try to come to some arrangement - the Citizens Advice Bureau is the best place to help you do this (look in your phone book or ask at the library).

-- Chris X (chrsh@hotmail.com), May 15, 2001.


Whilst CCJ's do "drop off" after six years on your credit file..they stay on the Registry Trust's records forever. These records, I understand, can be accessed by the usual suspects, for a fee. It is an "independent" body established by the Lord Chancellor's office. Hmm.

-- Too scared to say (iwasduped@yahoo.com), May 15, 2001.


Yes - CCJs drop off the Credit Reference Agencies after 6 years. But the Registry of County Court Judgments hold the data forever. The Registry is managed by a not-for-profit organisation called Registry Trust which is contracted to the Lord Chancellor's Dept to run the register for them. The Government gave them the contract. Registry Trust is run by a Board of Directors. Companies House records show the voting ones are representatives of Banks, Finance Houses, Morgage Lenders and suchlike. The Chairman is a Public Relations guy from a city firm and the rest are from the agencies - cosy eh!

Registry Trust is funded by selling the Court Judgment information to Credit Reference Agencies, both the well known consumer agencies like Experian and Equifax but also others like MCL Software, and Business information Agencies like Dun and Bradstreet and Infocheck etc. There are about 6 altogether, plus a new one starting up in the UK - Callcredit - a joint venture between the Skipton Building Socioty and Dun & Bradstreet - details on the Skipton website.

As you already have a CCJ - you cannot get another one for the same debt but they can seek an attachment of earnings order if you are working or a warrant of execution - but a warrant is pretty ineffective if you refuse to answer your door or let them in or all your stuff is owned by your partner or parents.

The best thing to do is try to pay it off and get a certificate of satisfaction from the Court and Tell Registry Trust so the records at very agency are marked 'Satisfied'.

-- xxxxx (xxxx@freeserve.co.uk), June 29, 2001.


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