Previously unknown CCJ from 2013 - best / cheapest course of action to resolve?

frangipan23657

I've been trying to clean up my credit report recently having finally cleared debts from the past 15yrs, only to find out recently that I now have an active CCJ against me from Northampton court dated from November 2013!

This is total news to me as I moved from my last address in 2014, but don't recall ever seeing a CCJ come in before then, and I certainly would not have ignored it. Further investigation shows that it was lodged by Bryan Carter Solictors on behalf of Lowell Portfolio, for a small, defaulted cc debt from way back in 2001. On investigation I don't think it is statute barred yet as I had a standing order going to Lowell for £5 per month up until 2013... For some reason I do not know why the payment was cancelled.

I looked up Bryan Carter Solicitors to find out more today and to look into ways to try to settle this and get more info, but noticed that they closed in March, and the site now links to Fredpay?

I am not sure what I should now do as it has been sometime since the CCJ was raised - the debt last quoted by BCS included court fees, but my credit report shows the amount owing is a bit less. The original debt was only half of this (£250).

My question is, how should I move ahead with trying to get this CCJ removed / settled? Is there a way to find out if the debt was statue barred? If not, should I contact the court or FredPay? I can't afford to settle the amount in full right now as I am on maternity leave, so I was wondering if I could (or should) just offer a Full and Final settlement at this point for around the original debt, but if I do this, to whom would I offer it and how, and would that clear the CCJ or is it too far gone with notice of issue of warrant already having been given to me. I have no idea if the bailiffs turned up at my old address or not as it was years ago!

Any advice really appreciated! This is the only thing affecting my credit rating now, and I really want to sort it out. The thought of bailiffs and things is really really scary.

National_Debtline

Hi frangipan


Now that the CCJ is more than a month old, it will continue to cast a shadow on your credit report until November 2019 even if you settle the outstanding balance immediately.


You say that you had a £5/month standing order going out to Lowell for this debt until 2013, but you don't state when this was set up. If the debt was already over six years old by the time you set that standing order, and there had been no payments or written acknowledgements on your part during those six years, the debt may have already become "statute barred" by the time that repayment arrangement began. In that case, you may be able to ask for the judgment to be "set aside" - that is, for you to be given a fresh opportunity to respond to the court papers and dispute the debt if necessary.


It will cost up to £255 to set a judgment aside, however, and so you should get your facts straight before risking that money. If you have no recollection of the key dates involved, you could simply state to Lowell that you believe the debt may be statute barred, in which case they will be expected to prove you wrong by supplying proof to that effect.


I would say that the likelihood of bailiff action in this kind of scenario is relatively small. Even if it did come to that, we are talking about bailiffs with no powers to force entry, and suspending their involvement is fairly straightforward. More information can be found in our fact sheets:


https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/25%20EW%20Time%20limits%20for%20recovering%20debts/Default.aspx


https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/howtosetasideacountycourtjudgment/settingasideaccj.aspx


Dennis
@natdebtline

frangipan23657

Thank you - that's really helpful advice! I will look again at my bank statements and see how long the standing order was setup for. I believe it was for several years so it's possible I've just wasted a lot of time and money not knowing about the statute barred rules. The cost of risking a request to set aside the judgement does seem a bit high, given that it constitutes most of the debt owed!

Am I right in thinking that if I can manage to stay out of touch with Lowell or the court that issued the CCJ until 2019 then it'll disappear, or will it stay on my file until I resolve it one way or another?