CCJ debt (which I ignore) has been sold to a creditor I make repayments to. What will this mean?

Lagroid

Hello,

I have a series of historical debts which I'm paying off in monthly instalments. 

There's one debt which I don't make repayments to, as it went to a CCJ. I have about 16 months before it's completely off my credit report. 

I received a letter today saying the CCJ debt (which I ignore) has been sold to another debt collection agency (Lowell). 

I checked my bank, and I already make repayments to Lowell for one of the other debts.

I'm curious to know what can/will happen regarding the debt I ignore? Can this payment to a separate debt be treated as me communicating with Lowell? I have no intention of making any repayments to the CCJ debt and am waiting for it to be removed from my credit report. Does this mean they can claim a fresh CCJ after the remaining 16 months has elapsed? 

Thanks,

MorningcoffeeIV

You can't get a fresh CCJ, but you can probably expect them to ask you to start repaying.  The debt won't become statute barred.

Lagroid

MorningcoffeeIV said:

You can't get a fresh CCJ, but you can probably expect them to ask you to start repaying.  The debt won't become statute barred.

Interesting, so if it doesn't become statute barred, and they can't obtain a fresh CCJ, what legal action could they even take?

Thanks

MorningcoffeeIV

The usual. Secured against property, ongoing collection activity, attachment of earnings, etc.

Lagroid

MorningcoffeeIV said:

The usual. Secured against property, ongoing collection activity, attachment of earnings, etc.

Thanks, and the last question, if you don't mind. Is the reason this debt won't become statute barred purely because it's sold to an existing debtor? Do credit card debts after the 6 year CCJ period typically become statute barred?

MorningcoffeeIV

No. CCJs don't become staute barred.

Lagroid

MorningcoffeeIV said:

No. CCJs don't become staute barred.

Appreciate the help. I will likely set up a repayment plan with this CCJ debtor in that case. 

sourcrates

Lowell are the creditor, you are the debtor.

Once legal action has been taken, that removes the right of the debtor to use the limitation act as a defence, so a debt subject to a CCJ will never become statute barred.

However, after 6 years have elapsed, if a judgement has not been enforced, or paid, Lowell would need to go back to court in order to gain approval to do so, on the whole, courts take the view that 6 years is long enough to enforce your rights on a judgement debt, so it`s unlikely such a request would be granted.

Lowell can still ask you to pay it, but cannot force you through legal means to do so.

fatbelly

Sounds like Lowell have 16 months to decide if this is worth enforcing or not.

If you have some spare money (and it sounds like you do if you're offering repayments) then you might want to think about saving this and offering a sum in full & final settlement.

People don't often think about doing this on a ccj because there is a court order to pay the whole sum but you can see from Lowell's perspective, having paid a small sum for it, they can still show a profit with a payment less than 100% of the balance.

Lagroid

fatbelly said:

Sounds like Lowell have 16 months to decide if this is worth enforcing or not.

If you have some spare money (and it sounds like you do if you're offering repayments) then you might want to think about saving this and offering a sum in full & final settlement.

People don't often think about doing this on a ccj because there is a court order to pay the whole sum but you can see from Lowell's perspective, having paid a small sum for it, they can still show a profit with a payment less than 100% of the balance.

I racked up a lot of debt when I'd lost my job. Couldn't keep up with the repayments, so made the decision to stop paying them all. Once I got back on my feet, I contacted all my debtors to make payment plans. This one, I didn't get in time before it went to a CCJ. 

Based on the information above from @sourcrates I will wait and see if they try to enforce during the remaining 16 months. If not, I'll assume it's as good as gone. If they ever were to be provided a court order after the 16 months, I'll do what you've said and pay off an agreed (reduced) amount. Before it was sold, I received several reduced offers.

Thanks for all the advice.

ToxtethO'Grady

Lagroid said:

fatbelly said:

Sounds like Lowell have 16 months to decide if this is worth enforcing or not.

If you have some spare money (and it sounds like you do if you're offering repayments) then you might want to think about saving this and offering a sum in full & final settlement.

People don't often think about doing this on a ccj because there is a court order to pay the whole sum but you can see from Lowell's perspective, having paid a small sum for it, they can still show a profit with a payment less than 100% of the balance.

I racked up a lot of debt when I'd lost my job. Couldn't keep up with the repayments, so made the decision to stop paying them all. Once I got back on my feet, I contacted all my debtors to make payment plans. This one, I didn't get in time before it went to a CCJ. 

Based on the information above from @sourcrates I will wait and see if they try to enforce during the remaining 16 months. If not, I'll assume it's as good as gone. If they ever were to be provided a court order after the 16 months, I'll do what you've said and pay off an agreed (reduced) amount. Before it was sold, I received several reduced offers.

Thanks for all the advice.

Very much your decision and it will not reappear on your credit file if they do take it back to court to action it again. They would add their costs onto the debt if this was the case. Has any enforcement happened on it previously? Such as a warrant of control?

Any previous enforcement, rather like a payment within the limitation timescale, restarts the clock on the 6 years.

I hope it hasn't but just want to give you all the information to make an informed decision.