CCJ Advice - CCJ on file that isn't mine.

HappyPear

Hello - first time poster here... I hope you don't mind, I feel a bit cheeky just jumping in with questions but I've had a look around and can't find a concrete answer so hopefully one of you helpful and knowledgeable bunch can point me in the right direction!

I recently got my credit report for the first time (I'm 26). I've been a student and not the most responsible, but no debt beyond an overdraft and nothing else major (a few missed credit card payments and about £40 on a store card that I forgot about and later paid when the debt collectors wrote to me). The last time I had credit was 2007. I have tried once since then to get credit and was declined. Because I've never needed credit and tend to live within my means, and partly because I fear the worst all the time, I never bothered to look into why. I thought it might have something to do with the fact I'd lived in 6 different addresses in as many years and the onset of the recession.

Jump forward to 2012 and my credit report. I find a CCJ, with my name spelled incorrectly, issued in October 2007 without my knowledge for a water bill on a property I moved out of in around June/July 2007. I know for a fact that this is not mine, as I lived with a flatmate who is organised to the point of OCD who handled the bills. The debt is under £300, something I could have easily paid at the time as by that point I was in full time employment.

Upon speaking to my flatmate, he found a letter from United Utilities that we had to produce to confirm to our letting agent that the bill was paid. In fact we were in credit! The letter is addressed to the landlord of our house, not me, and just to confuse matters was sent to the address that a third flatmate we lived with had moved to. I have a digital copy of this letter. I don't have any proof of when I moved out of the house though, although my friend/flatmate may do. Unfortunately I can't remember if my name was ever on an account with United Utilities, or whether it was the landlord's name.

I moved into another flat in June/July 2007 and registered on the electoral roll there. Unfortunately, my local council instead of updating their record of me, created a "new" me, so there was two of me and I was still (unknown to me at the time) registered as living at the old address and in fact paying a small amount via direct debit to them from a little used bank account without realising (I'm an idiot). Presumably because I was still on the electoral roll there at the time, UU have attributed the debt to me - although this is simply a presumption. Why they got my name wrong, I don't know, but it's close enough to identify the debt as mine.

What I really want to know is, before I ramble on too long, is it worth disputing this with the evidence I have, i.e. a letter, addressed to somebody else, saying that we were in credit?

I am under the impression that as the CCJ was placed on my record in Oct 2007, after a 6 year period it will be gone - is this the case? I have also read that if I try and dispute it and fail (how likely this is I don't know), it will then remain on my record for a further 6 years as well as me having to pay the debt (an irritatingly small amount of money, but beside the point as it isn't mine!). How true both of these are, I'm not sure.

The problem is, I'm hoping to start a new degree with OU this year and getting the required loans with this CCJ seems... unlikely.

Sorry for waffling or if I'm asking something that has been asked a million times before! Any advice would be massively appreciated!

fermi

HappyPear wrote: »

I am under the impression that as the CCJ was placed on my record in Oct 2007, after a 6 year period it will be gone - is this the case?

Correct.

HappyPear wrote: »

I have also read that if I try and dispute it and fail (how likely this is I don't know), it will then remain on my record for a further 6 years as well as me having to pay the debt (an irritatingly small amount of money, but beside the point as it isn't mine!). How true both of these are, I'm not sure.

If you succeed in getting the CCJ set aside, it will be removed from the record.

But it would then be returned to the claim stage, meaning that the creditor could try to take it forward again and you in turn could defend it.

If your dispute is solid enough, then the creditor may nto even try to do that. So CCJ gone.

If they do try to take action forward again, you always have the option of just paying. Which would stop the action, and again no CCJ.

Or if you defended and lost again, that would be a new CCJ. BUT if paid in full within one month of the CCJ being re-made, you could have it removed from the record. So again, no CCJ on your file.

HappyPear wrote: »

The problem is, I'm hoping to start a new degree with OU this year and getting the required loans with this CCJ seems... unlikely.

What would be the source of the loans?

SLC doesn't give a monkeys about CCJs on your record, or even bankruptcy.

A loan on a commercial basis would be different.

fermi

Info in this link.

---> How to set aside a judgment in the county court

I would probably give them a call to chat with a professional debt advisor on what they think would be the best approach here.

HappyPear

Thank you for your replies, very helpful and much appreciated. The County Court did tell me how to dispute it, or at least the correct forms to download. Having looked at the forms, they are baffling to say the least. I'll have a read through that link when I've finished work.

I'm not eligible for another student loan, having already had one. I'd have to get a loan for my studies from OUSBA, which is subject to the usual credit checks as far as I'm aware. Either way, the chances of this being resolved by the time I ned to pay for the course appear to be nil so it might not make a difference either way.

Looks like I might as well have got into debt a few years ago as I appear to be suffering the consequences anyway! Gah.

Thanks again for your help!