CCJ Query

thefoolonthehill

Hi Guys

I have a query and apologise if this has been asked before.

A debt becomes statue barred after 6 years (5 in Scotland) unless there has been a CCJ issued against it. Why then do all creditors not apply for a CCJ as soon as someone for examples misses 3 payments ina row?

Why do they wait until people are on DMP's and are paying back what they can, knowing full well that a judge will 9 times out of 10 agree that the amount that is being paid is the most the debtor can afford.

Tixy

I would think that this is primarily a cost issue - it costs money and time to get CCJs granted.

Whilst we seem to see a lot of statute barred debts on here the reality is that the vast majority of debts (even where payments have been missed) never reach this stage, most people pay towards or acknowledge a debt well within 6years due to being chased (hounded) by the creditor and DCA.

I beleive defaults were originally meant to be an action taken before taking out a CCJ, to allow something to appear on the credit report of the individual person quickly to help other financial organisations be aware of a potential problem. However defaults are now increasingly used as a punishment in themselves when the creditor has no intention of taking the debtor to court.

Even though a debt with a CCJ does not become statute barred, the creditor still has to go back to court to obtain permission to continue to chase a CCJ older than 6years and to give a good reason why the debt was not chased before.