'Satisfied' CCJ Advice

WingDagger

Hi, all!

I'm hoping somebody might be able to give me some clear advice here, as I'm getting conflicting directions from different reputable sources. A little context first, however!

I am in the process of applying for a mortgage, however, I have a couple of CCJs on my credit file that my mortgage advisor suggested I should clear as it would give us access to better rates and a higher amount. I had received a payout for the injury that led to one of the CCJs, made a deal with both creditors, and cleared both in December 2022. Since then, my credit rating has updated twice, and is due to update again on the 12th of this month, however, neither are yet marked as 'Satisfied' on my file.

According to the help tabs on the MSE Credit Club, this is the procedure:


"If your judgment is registered in England, Wales, Isle of Wight or Isle of Man:

You can contact the court involved personally and inform them that you've paid it, but the bank or financial institution involved will do this for you also. The court then lets the Registry Trust Ltd know, and then they inform the credit reference agencies (Experian, Equifax & Call Credit) know. As a result of this, Experian will update your Experian Credit Report."


This should apply, as the original judgements were both held in Northampton. However, upon contacting the Registry Trust directly, I was given this response:

"In order to have the above judgments marked as satisfied, you will need to contact the claimant (the person/company who took you to court and owe the money to) and ask the claimant for a letter of satisfaction, which should state the court case number and the date they received the full and final payment from you.  

 

Once you receive your letter of satisfactions from the claimants you will need to send them to the court for the court to update their records.

 

Once the court has updated their records, they will send notification to us to update the public Register, we will then send notification to the credit reference agencies.

 

If you do not know who the claimant is (the person/company who took you to court and owe the money to), please contact the court and give them your case number and state that you are the defendant in the case and would like details of the claimant."


I contacted the court via email several weeks ago, but have not yet received a reply. The two creditors have both confirmed that the debts have been paid off in-full, and I have an email confirming one and an actual letter from the other stating the same, and both agree that this is the procedure that they should follow, but cannot tell me if it has happened, or when it will happen if they have not yet updated my details with RT.

I have read about a form that I can submit to the RT, is this something I should be pursuing, or is it just a case of waiting to see what happens?

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

cymruchris

When you say you have emailed the courts - have you sent them the documentation around the 'letters of satisfaction'?

Have you called the courts directly to discuss the issue, and ask them how they'd like to receive the documentation needed? It may be that you have to print and post it. Most courts from experience aren't great with emails.

I know that once action to mark a CCJ is satisfied takes place, it's not instant on your credit files. The courts send an updated list once a month - it's not done daily or weekly - so if you miss the first one by a day or two, it can be quite some time until you see the changes actually happening on your credit reports (and can be even slower if you're acccessing the free credit reports, as they themselves tend to only update once a month).