Decree affecting Credit score, can it be removed Scotland

littlezenvibes

Hi all. Looking for some advice on behalf of a friend please.

Scenario
Student Loans company overpaid them by £505 in 2019. Company claims it sent notification of this overpayment in January 2020 (friend never received this). Company have not documented any further correspondence until
February 2024 which again wasn't received (this would have been the letter threatening legal action).
Next thing sheriffs officers arrive at her parents address and issue paperwork under the Simple Procedure process (Scotland).
Out of stubbornness (has the money to pay it outright, has never had other debt, never had a credit card or other loan etc.) she sets up a payment plan immediately, £50 a month.
Never appreciated the impact this could all have on her credit score, which it obliviously now has done and is wondering if there is a process of applying to get this removed from her credit file quickly if she pays ot all?
I read somewhere that of she had paid it in full within 30 days, it could have been lifted. Is this correct? At no point was she ever told that this would protect her credit score and it isn't in any of the paperwork she was served.
Has anyone had experience with successfully doing this and can offer advice please?
Thanks

TadleyBaggie

Credit scores are just made up numbers that no one else can see. 

Alderbank

Lots and lots of posts on this site about the importance (or otherwise) of credit scores.

They are made-up numbers by the various reference agencies so they won't be referenced in any official paperwork.

No-one but your friend will see her various credit scores. Lenders can't see them but wouldn't be interested anyway. They all operate their own assessment systems which are based on credit history.

MSE's founder Martin Lewis has written a useful blog for your friend 'Why you shouldn't worry too much about your credit score – it’s not actually a real thing.'

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2021/06/martin-lewis-credit-score-myths/

Hoenir

Credit files are a historical record of events. Being clever can as you friend has found can have secondary effects. Learning from experience can indeed be costly. 

sourcrates

First off, information on CCJ`s, or Decree`s in Scotland, is freely available on many websites including the .Gov website/ministry of justice website, and many debt advice sites on the net.

Obviously they are not a good thing, and will show in the public information section of her credit file for 6 years, regardless of whether the debt is repaid or not.

Paying the full balance within 30 days of judgement would have seen it removed, but that time has now passed.

The process for removing judgements/decree`s early, is called "set aside", or in Scotland it is known as being "Recalled", there would be a fee to pay.

Certain criteria must be met before you can apply, one of which is that you do not owe the money, clearly she does, so this would not be available to her and if applied for, the court would deny the application.

Only time can now remove this unfortunately.

littlezenvibes

sourcrates said:

First off, information on CCJ`s, or Decree`s in Scotland, is freely available on many websites including the .Gov website/ministry of justice website, and many debt advice sites on the net.

Obviously they are not a good thing, and will show in the public information section of her credit file for 6 years, regardless of whether the debt is repaid or not.

Paying the full balance within 30 days of judgement would have seen it removed, but that time has now passed.

The process for removing judgements/decree`s early, is called "set aside", or in Scotland it is known as being "Recalled", there would be a fee to pay.

Certain criteria must be met before you can apply, one of which is that you do not owe the money, clearly she does, so this would not be available to her and if applied for, the court would deny the application.

Only time can now remove this unfortunately.

Thanks for the response. I've read lots of information, but it's the 'recalled' aspect that is  confusing me. Is the option to apply for it to be recalled only available if she had paid it within 30 days? 
Let's say she makes arrangements to pay off the money now, could she then apply for it to be recalled?

sourcrates

No, it doesn`t work that way, you must meet certain criteria in order to have a decree recalled.

National Debtline (Scotland) explains it better here:

Recall of a decree | National Debtline