Unknown CCJ

Zhanmusi

Hello,


I recently married and decided to buy a home with my new wife. I started with a free check of our credit history via 'Noddle'. My wife's 'Noddle' account shows that she has an active CCJ from January 2009.


My wife didn't know she had a CCJ. The 'Noddle' account doesn't tell us what is for. Due to the timing and the amount, my wife believes it can only be a claim for a university course that she never attended.


In 2008 my wife applied for 2 higher education courses through an agency that assists foreign students in the UK (my wife is now a UK citizen but wasn't at that time). She was offered 2 courses. She accepted one course but the other university at the time wrote and phoned her asking her for to pay for their course. That university requested payment on a number of occasions (she still has an invoice) but my wife refused to pay because she wasn't attending the course.


Shortly after my wife moved home to a different city in order to attend the course that she had accepted. She probably didn't tell the other university of her change of address because she believed she didn't owe them any money.


Now, all of this happened a year before I met my wife. Her English at the time wasn't perfect. She was also arranging the courses through an educational agency which apparently no longer exists. I cannot say for certain that she doesn't owe the money. What I do know is that she never attended the course so if she does owe the money it must be on some technicality in the terms and conditions that she didn't understand at the time (and which may not have been known to her due to having used an agency to apply for a place.)


If she does really owe the money, then we are in a position to pay it.


So I have a few questions:


1. How can I know for sure what the CCJ is for? If I write to the court for more information will the inform the debt holder that we've inquired about it? And could that then start any actions against us?


2. If the CCJ is for the university course I mention above, is there any way I can ascertain whether the claim is valid or not? Will the court provide information as to why the money is owed?


3. If the claim is not valid, then I assume I will be able to challenge it?


4. If the claim is valid, would paying it now still have an affect on the ability of my wife to apply for a mortgage in the near future?


5. Since the CCJ will have been in existence for 6 years in January 2015, would it be worth not paying it even if it is a valid claim? Or would the existence of the active CCJ still have an affect on our ability to get a mortgage after that point?


Thanks for any advice you can give.

happy_bunny_2

Can't help with all your questions.

1. you can ask teh court to tell you who the claimant is.

3. Yes, you can apply to have it set aside if you have a good reason.

4. it would look better if paid.

5. it will drop off her credit report at the 6 year point and that account will only ever appear again if a dodgy DCA re-registers the default, which they should not do, but are known to.

The debt still exists after 6 years, but the claimant would have to ask the court for permission to enforce it and explain why they hadn't bothered in the 6 years they had. these are rarely granted from what I read on here.

Zhanmusi

Hi happy bunny,


Thanks for your reply. I guess I need to contact the court as quickly as possible and find out who the claimant is and why they think my wife owes them money.


Hopefully that will contain information from which we can decide whether the CCJ is invalid and can be challenged.


Another question:


If we wait until the 6 years have passed (next January) without paying (assuming that we couldn't have the CCJ set aside) will mortgage lenders still ask whether my wife has had a CCJ (outside the 6 year period) and would we still have to report it?

happy_bunny_2

Not sure of the wording exactly, but application forms ask about money owed, whether on your report or not. Even if it was an unpaid defaulted account without a CCJ.

There might be specific questions for CCJs also.

I would presume its fraud to answer incorrectly, but in reality, they could not find out easily.

Zhanmusi

I finally have an update on the mysterious CCJ. After emailing and writing to the Bulk Collection Court it took them about 3 weeks to reply by email. They were engaged every time that my wife tried to call them.

Anyway, the court replied that the CCJ is in fact related to the tuition fee for the course that my wife never attended. They have given us a name and contact number for the solicitor.

I don't really know how to proceed forward. I don't know what constitutes proof that my wife owes the money that they claim she does. My wife never received the form that would notice her of the claim because she moved home to attend another course. Therefore she wasn't able to contest the claim initially.

I understand that CCJ's can be contested at a later date because they are either invalid, or because they have not been chased for collection. But I don't know what the court would consider evidence that the CCJ is invalid.

So, these are my questions:

1. Do you think Citizens Advice Bureau or another organization would be useful to speak to in this instance? If another organization can anyone recommend one?

2. Do businesses have to provide the court with evidence of the debt? For example, do they provide signed documents showing that the defendant has committed to spending money? My wife doesn't believe that she ever did this but all of this happened a long time ago.

3. If businesses do provide evidence is it possible to find out what that is? For example, by writing for more details to the court or communicating with the solicitor acting for the claimant?

4. Could there be any negative consequences for contacting the solicitor? For example, they've never yet chased my wife for the debt but could they start again if she speaks to them?

5. Does anyone know what the criteria are to have a CCJ cancelled based on the fact that it has never been chased?

6. Does anyone know of any resources that go into a lot more detail about CCJ's and contesting them? The resources I have found so far are fairly light on substance and only give a brief outline of CCJ's and a list of your options without details of the ins and outs of following each option.

Thanks again happy bunny for answering previously and for anyone else who answers from now.

ZhanMuSi

fatbelly

3 weeks for a reply is standard - though I've just had a reply from them that took longer!

In 8 months this will drop off her file. It's a pain, but I'd probably let it run its course.

You questions deserve answers so here goes:

1. Do you think Citizens Advice Bureau or another organization would be useful to speak to in this instance? If another organization can anyone recommend one? CAB possibly though the quality of advice can vary. National Debtline probably more consistent

2. Do businesses have to provide the court with evidence of the debt? For example, do they provide signed documents showing that the defendant has committed to spending money? My wife doesn't believe that she ever did this but all of this happened a long time ago. No, they just issue a claim. If the claim is uncontested, a ccj is awarded in default. They can send the claim to 'the last known address'

3. If businesses do provide evidence is it possible to find out what that is? For example, by writing for more details to the court or communicating with the solicitor acting for the claimant? See above

4. Could there be any negative consequences for contacting the solicitor? For example, they've never yet chased my wife for the debt but could they start again if she speaks to them? The full range of options is open to them: bailiffs, including High Court if over £600, attachment of earnings, 3rd party debt order, bankruptcy if over £750...

5. Does anyone know what the criteria are to have a CCJ cancelled based on the fact that it has never been chased? They don't have to chase anything

6. Does anyone know of any resources that go into a lot more detail about CCJ's and contesting them? The resources I have found so far are fairly light on substance and only give a brief outline of CCJ's and a list of your options without details of the ins and outs of following each option. The National Debtline site is your best bet

Zhanmusi

Hello,


Thanks fatbelly for answering the questions. I think I definitely need to contact National Debtline or CAB before I continue and see if I can get a better understanding of our options.


But I have one more question I've not yet seen a clear answer to:


In January 2015, 6 years will have passed since my wife had the CCJ and it will no longer be on her record. If we have to pay the supposed debt my wife is claimed to owe, would the time the CCJ is on her record be extended?


I ask because I've read that mortgage providers won't give a mortgage until at least 1 year has passed from a CCJ being paid off. But if we only have 8 months left now and we paid, would the mortgage provider still be totally unaware in January that my wife had had a CCJ?


Or would the length of time the CCJ is on her record be extended until 12 months from payment. So if we paid in June 2014, would the CCJ then stay on her record until June 2015?


I hope that's a clear question but if not I can rephrase.


Thanks again everyone who's helped so far and who may in future.

happy_bunny_2

It falls off the report 6 years paid or not.

They may well have questions on the mortgage application form that you are obliged to answer honestly regarding CCJs.