CCJ Advice (Scotland)

The_Jackal87

Hello, I am looking for some advice regarding a 4 year old CCJ from May 2012....

I have an unsettled CCJ on my file for approx £17k - I have not paid a penny and do not plan on paying a penny. A long story short, my car insurance company paid out the above amount and tried to claim the amount back from myself. My lawyer at the time told me to ignore any correspondence as it was "extremely unlikely" they would chase me for the money and they were probably just chancing their arm.

After the incident involving the insurance claim, they sent an 'investigator' to my home to ask me about the accident etc and got me to sign some forms which at the time I believed were just standard forms to say he had come and spoke to me etc. I was home alone and being young, stupid and inexperienced and I signed a form which basically stated that I would cover the cost of any claim the insurers ended up paying out. I don't think this is right that I was pressured by some guy in my home when I was 20yrs old without being advised to seek legal advice before signing these documents, however that was the mistake I made and this was their main ammunition against me in the follow up, during which time my lawyer advised me to ignore it.

They ended up getting a CCJ against me but I have not heard anything else for the last 4+ years. I am now older and wiser and want to get a mortgage with my partner, but this one mistake from my past is hindering this.

I have done a lot of googling etc and the information varies everywhere. Some say that it will go away after 6yrs and not to get into any sort of dialogue with the creditors as it will reset the CCJ from the last known correspondence? Others recommend trying to settle the debt by offering a partial amount and hoping they accept and mark it as 'satisfied' on my file.

The practices they used in getting this against me, I believe, were totally wrong and through principle I do not want to pay them 1p of what they say I owe them.

The rest of my credit history is exemplary, through various loans, phone bills, car finance etc which I have always paid in full and never missed a payment - this CCJ is the only negative I have and it is very frustrating.

Does anyone have any advice on the best steps to take are?

sourcrates

Hi,

The CCJ will not just "go away" unfortunatly.

However, six years is normally concidered time enough for a creditor to excercise there rights in relation to this.

After that time, they would need to go back to court in order to get permission to re-start enforcement action.

That's how it works in England and Wales, I'm assuming the process is similar in Scotland.

National_Debtline

Hi

If the court order was made in Scotland it will be called a decree rather than a CCJ, but they're similar. In Scotland a creditor actually has up to 20 years to enforce a decree, I'm not sure how often that actually happens though.

The decree will no longer show on your credit file after 6 years regardless.

While you aren't paying the decree it is possible for the claimant to apply through court to use diligence to recover the money, such as earnings or bank arrestment or the use of sheriff officers. If they haven't tried anything in the last 4 years it doesn't sound like they're being proactive in trying to enforce payment.

If you don't want to pay this debt you could either leave it see whether they ever try to enforce it, or take legal advice on whether you can challenge your liability. You could also complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service as you don't like the way the insurance company handled your case.

If the claimant does ever try to enforce the debt you would then need to look at options to set up a payment plan and stop any diligence, such as a Time To Pay Order through the court, or a debt arrangement scheme (DAS) through an approved money adviser.

James
@natdebtline

The_Jackal87

I was going to go the ombudsman re: challenging it, however I am worried that I bring attention to it if you know what I mean and end up having to get lawyers etc involved at great expense to myself to defend it and lose anyway. If I can fly under the radar until it drops of my file then that would be good, although that's not guaranteed either. It's a catch 22.

National_Debtline

The_Jackal87 wrote: »

I was going to go the ombudsman re: challenging it, however I am worried that I bring attention to it if you know what I mean and end up having to get lawyers etc involved at great expense to myself to defend it and lose anyway. If I can fly under the radar until it drops of my file then that would be good, although that's not guaranteed either. It's a catch 22.

I understand what you mean, you don't want to rock the boat. You might be able to get some free legal advice so you could enquire about whether solicitors think you might have potential to defend if it came down to it.

You can check whether there are any Law Centres near you where you might be able to get some free legal advice.
www.scottishlaw.org.uk/lawfirms/lawcentres.html

James
@natdebtline