Six years expiry of unpaid default approaching - Should I pay?

robin2999

Hello,

Hoping someone could take a moment of their time to help me, would be much appreciated.

I have a default of around £2000 from a bank - which was then passed over to a debt collection agency. (Student debt & I have never made any payments and have been living abroad for some time, however plan to return to the UK)

In July it will be six years passed, where I expect the default to drop off my credit report....

My question is should I pay a settlement on the debt?

I'm worried that a CCJ may be issued and potentially extend the damage to my credit report for another six years. Is this possible? Or likely?... i'd imagine if I was a debt collector its what I would do....

As i'm hoping to get a mortgage within the next 12 months this would be a disaster for me.

Does anyone know what I should do?

Thanks!

Westminster

I never had any CCJs so this is my understanding and someone more knowledgeable may tell you something different - but here goes:

You won't receive any notice of the CCJ unless the bank / DCA has a current address for you.

It could be a bit of a gamble as its not unknown for DCAs to fire in a CCJ towards the end of the 6 years and if you don't receive notice then you won't be able to settle the CCJ within the 28 days to prevent it going on your credit file for another 6 years.

If you notify them of your CCJ then it could impact whether the debt can be statute barred any more &/or will remind them that you exist etc. Either of these outcomes is likely to be unfavourable for you if you hope to go under the radar and for this debt to become statute barred.

It all depends how worried you are, whether you have the money to clear the debt (or make a reasonable full & final settlement) and how bad the impact will be on your financial plans for the next 6 years to have a CCJ on there.

robin2999

Thanks Westminster!

This is the article that has worried me -
Paying a defaulted account & your credit score
on Debtcamel
(cant post links as im a new user - comes up on google)

, which alludes to what you mentioned about a CCJ towards end of debt.

I live in Northern Ireland - I don't know that makes any difference from a legal point of view.

I was offered a settlement deal of paying 700 to close the debt a while back - maybe its a good offer to take

PixelPound

I assume you know what address you were last living at in the UK? Was that where the bank a/c was registered to? Most likely CCJ notice would go to there. It is a gamble, if you get one and pay n full after the first month, it still stays on there for six more years. Does your credit report say which DCA has it? Could be worth phoning and asking if they have discounted settlement figure. Since they usually buy these for peanuts you might be able to get away with paying a few hundred and know it won't go any further.

PixelPound

You will be returning to the UK, as in returning to NI, or you are already in the UK in NI abd thinking of returning to GB?

Arleen

Contact them, say that you want to do full and final settlement of the account, take whatever offer they will give you and pay it. You clearly have the money so repay your debts.

pappa_golf

umm coming up to 6 yrs?

not living in the UK
a:you are back in the UK
if they took you to court and you were found "guilty", you would be given 28 days to pay before a CCJ was issued


b: you are non UK
if they take you to court , upon your return you would or could apply for a set aside which would remove this and reset to court stage , at which point refer to a: