A reader, Ms J asked about a CCJ that suddenly appeared on her credit report.
“I check my credit record a couple of times a year and there is now a CCJ on there. It looks like it was added 2 months ago at an address I left ages ago, possibly 8 years.
I don’t even know if this is real or some sort of error. It’s only a few hundred but I don’t want to pay it if I don’t have to and I don’t know who to pay as there are no details about it.
I have sent a dispute to the credit report who say they will get the credit reference agency to look into this.
What else can I do? Thank goodness I’m not trying to buy a house at the moment!”
It is very lucky you aren’t trying to get a mortgage as these problems can take time to be sorted out.
Why aren’t there more details on the credit report?
It would be much more helpful if the credit report said who the creditor was. But the Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs) don’t have this information.
The courts pass details of CCJs to Registry Trust, who maintains the national database of CCJs. Then CRAs get the information they report from Registry Trust.
But the information from the English courts sent to Registry Trust doesn’t include the name of the claimant – that’s the firm that went to court because they were owed money. So Registry Trust doesn’t know this. And the CRAs can’t include it in your report.
You can check Registry Trust to see if you have a CCJ. They allow you to search to see if anyone has CCJs, so you can search for your own name. But you have to pay for this search and it doesn’t give you any more information that isn’t on your credit record already. So it’s not much help.
This isn’t a good system. Registry Trust is campaigning to get it changed, see Why creditors should back inclusion of claimant data, but that isn’t going to help you at the moment.
The Credit Reference Agency isn’t going to be of any use
A lot of credit reports try sound as though they may help you sort this out.
For example, checkmyfile says:
Help When You Need It
If you find Court action you don’t expect to see, or if there is a problem with any data returned, help from our Credit Analysts is available
And Credit Karma lets you raise a dispute with TransUnion, the CRA they report data from:
Log into your Credit Karma account and access your credit report. Click on the button Raise a dispute with TransUnion at the bottom of the page
But this isn’t going to get you anywhere.
You need to know who the claimant is in the court cases and no-one knows this except the court. Not your credit report, not the CRA, not Registry Trust. And for data protection, the court will only talk to you about this.
Contact the court to find who the claimant was
You can contact the court by phone or by email.
Many CCJs used to go through the County Court Business Centre – this has now been renamed to the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC) – their telephone number is 0300 123 1056 and their other contact details are here.
You can search for the contact details for other courts here.
It may take a long time for the phone to be answered. I suggest you don’t call on Monday morning or over the lunch period unless you have no other alternative.
If you don’t get a reply to your email within a week, I think you have to try phoning.
Then ask the claimant for details of the debt
If you recognise the name of the claimant, this may clarify what the debt was.
But often this is the name of a debt collector you never had any dealings with. Here you need to contact the debt collector, say you have found this CCJ on your credit record and you have no idea what the debt was. Then ask the debt collector what the original debt was and who was the creditor.
If you don’t think this debt is yours, tell the current creditor this and ask them to prove the debt is yours.
If you did owe the money, you can pay it and it can be marked as satisfied on your credit record. In this case, it will stay on your credit record for 6 years from the judgment date and continue to harm your credit score, even though it is satisfied. (A CCJ is removed if you pay it within a month of the judgment, but that deadline has passed for Ms J.)
Here one option is to talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about whether you could apply to have the CCJ “set aside”, which would remove it from your credit record. You could then settle the debt and with no CCJ it won’t be harming your credit score. A set aside application needs to be made promptly after you have found out there is a CCJ. Don’t dither and leave this for a few months.
A possibility when the debt is very old, as Ms J’s seems to be, is to apply to have it set aside on the grounds that the debt was statute barred when the CCJ was obtained. Here you wouldn’t have to pay the debt. This may not be straightforward – again talk to National Debtline about this.
If you don’t do anything, CCJs remain on the record for six years
CCJs will remain on your credit file and on the Trust Online database for six years after the judgment date. After that, they drop off however they still exist.
If you are worried that you have CCJs that are older than 6 years but you haven’t been contacted about them, there isn’t anything you do to find out about these. You aren’t very likely to be contacted about them.
They never become “statute-barred”, but after six years a claimant has to apply to the court for permission to enforce a CCJ. It is possible they will get permission, but it is unlikely as it has been so long since the judgment before they have attempted to enforce it.
If a creditor contacts you about a CCJ that is over 6 years old or goes to court to enforce a CCJ which is over six years old, contact National Debtline for advice about your situation.
Been sent a claim form? Don’t ignore it
How to stop a debt being sent to bailiffs
Can’t pay your bills or debts?
Brian Rose says
Thanks for this Sara, very interesting.
Ed Richards says
This doesn’t help Ms J, but the system is appalling as it is currently allowed to operate. Allowing service of a county court summons to an address occupied over eight years ago, is clear abuse.
There’s an industry of debt collection agencies who buy debts for a tiny fraction of their value and then take action clearly beyond either the statute barred period or at a time when the defendant wouldn’t reasonably have the recollection to properly respond.
The credit reference agencies only know that a CCJ is present, not the claimant’s identity. But they do know the address history and can trace a debtor. Hence, Ms J’s credit report was marked.
If a debt collection agency (actually their solicitors) wants to issue a summons, they should do all they can to trace the debtor. Last “known” address is simply not good enough, particularly as the credit reference agencies are able to trace, and actually did so in this case.
When Ms J discovers the actual count court registry, she should apply to have the judgment struck off for inadequate service.
Claire Skipsey says
Definitely call the County Court Business Centre at the moment rather than emailing- I spoke to them yesterday and they are working through a backlog of emails and are only up to those received before 5/5/22 at the moment.
Kate says
Hi can anyone tell me if they’ve had a refund off Safety Net Credit or Loans 2 Go please, if so what’s the timescale on the refunds. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
this question is best asked on the payday loans refund page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/
Deeanne says
This could possibly be to do with Capquest or Barclaycard.
I suddenly started being bombarded with calls and messages from Capquest yet when I answered the phone and gave my name and 1st line of address they claimed it did not match their records so I terminated the call and have since blocked them. When I checked who called me it seems the same thing has happened to 1000’s of people with many of them mentioning Barclaycard asthe initial lender.
I have since rec’d a letter through the post from Capquest about a debt from 13 yrs ago…
I will be refusing this under thge statute barred process as have not acknowledged or accepted any responsibility or recognition of the debt that they are claiming I owe.
Oryn oldpath says
I have debts but they are not mine ..my ex sis in law used my name cause hers was so bad for credit .. this started in 94 and i have tried every thing to prove the debts are not mine. I even tried to find her but to no avail .. any ideas please ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this still going on? It sounds a very long time ago – what has happened to the debts?
Lou says
Hi Sara,
Please help. I just had a man by my door who says he is from Resolve?? And says I owe £700 on a shopdirect account. I have no recollection of this. He says I opened the account in 2011. I took his details and called the company. They say its in relation to a Littlewoods account. I have no recollection of this. I asked for a contract to see if any items are familiar. They said they didnt have that. They said there was a CCj in 2014! I have never seen a CCJ on any of my reports. Though I struggle to get credit till this day.
I have asked for a copy of the ccj and again I was told they dont have a copy. The lady then said she will record this as a refusal to pay. How do I resolve this and stop people showing up to my door. Searched my emails for 2012 and any accounts and I have nothing. I only found a Next account which was paid in 2013 and closed. Pls advice.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who is the debt collector that now owns this debt? Resolve are just the company they use to make visits, not the creditor.
Madalina says
Hi.,I find out I have a CCJ in my credit file.Not to many details about it just a case number,amount and date.I don’t receive any letter at home and it look strange for me.I leave a message to the totally money credit score company for more details and why is jump on my credit file this month a CCJ and I am still wait after an response.Where to call,what to do as I am single mum,can’t find a childminder or a job between school hours,I use to work 12 hours in past before remain by myself,I am on universal credit and is first time in my life when I am scare as I don’t know how to sort this or any money to pay somebody to help me.Thank you for any advice
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is no use asking a credit report why you have a CCJ – they don’t know. Totally Money just reports what it is told by TransUnion. TransUnion don’t know the details of the CCJ either.
The article above explains what you have to do.
National Debtline are very good at helping people with CCJ issues, so call them on 0808 808 4000 if you get stuck and needs some help.
Katie says
I’ve received a ccj through the post today although I never received a claim form.
Really weirdly it’s for a wholesale account used by my business I’m a director of a Ltd company, they have applied for a ccj in my name.
I’m assuming they will say that the account was with me not the business as my name is on it.
I’m not really sure what to do as the money is owed but I didn’t receive a claim form and it does relate to the business not me personally.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Talk to Business Debtline immediately tomorrow. They are the experts – and they advise on business and personal debts – https://www.businessdebtline.org/
Michael says
I have the same name as my dad, I have not lived at the same address as him for 12 years and I now have a ccj against my name on my credit record though it should actually be against him.
How can I remove this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
complain to the Credit reference agencies that this is a “mistrace” explaining the situation.
Michael says
Thank you, I am going to email them all tomorrow with evidence of addresses and identification as evidence.
Sandra says
My partner got a ccj in july 2021. He had an account wirh Aqua paying okay then went off for months due to an operation. He tried sorting a payment arrangement but eventually it went to frederickson who ignored all correspondence as well so let it go. Covid struck and in december 2020 started getting letters from Nolan solicitors after 6 letters threatened court action and sent out paperwork. We offered a payment arrangement and a full & final settlement but was told no. We sent paperwork off to court with full explanation and asked for a time to pay which was successful.
But we were given a ccj as well. Last time i got a time to pay in 2008 i was not marked with a ccj.
Nolans basically said tough and we are paying the full amount plus fees for an account that lay forgotten about for 4 years.
I have some money coming at end of montb and offered to clear it if they would consider removing the ccj or accept a lower amount. But again no. Would it make any difference to his credit file if i cleared it as he has a default for the same account as well?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The CCJ will remain on his credit record for 6 years from the judgment date even if you pay it in full, when it will be marked as satisfied.
This will, bizarrely, not improve his credit score. It may make some lenders more prepared to lend to him, but the interest rates are likely to be extremely high. You are still likely to find getting a private tenancy difficult.
So it depends WHY you want his credit record improved if this is worth it. In most cases if they won’t give a discount you may be better off keeping your money and carrying on with the regular payments so that if you have a problem you still have the money there rather than having to borrow.
But (and this is a long shot) tell me more about the Aqua account. How large was the balance? Had Aqua increased his credit limit while he was only making minimum payments?
Sandra says
His balance was £1310 his car is getting on costing money now and he needs it for work so will probably struggle getting finance. It has gone up since last year and managed to get a credit card with capital one.
Aqua did admit Frederickson and they were in wrong for not replying to correspondence but deny affordability.
If he carries on paying it at ccj time to pay order it will be nearly 5 years of payments.
Sandra says
Yes they increased limits and when he was making token payments online they would bounce them back after a couple of days. Case is at FOS awaiting review but Aqua is refusing to let FOS look at him as he complained 6 months after the affordability complaint. They asked if there was any exceptional circumstances which it was just tail end of lockdown, he had been in hospital so was my son and his dad had died so had a lot going on.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so he needs to make all those points to the Ombudsman
Sara (Debt Camel) says
and he also needs to complain about them going for the CCJ and not responding properly to your correspondence – it’s unreasonable that he should have a CCJ because of this. They can apply to “set aside” the CCJ – he would still owe the debt but at least that would be off his credit record.
Brikena says
Hello I found yesterday through my letter box a enforcement notice stating that I have to pay £18000 to a company I don’t have a clue who they are. No prior letters no prior phone calls. Nothing at all. I just checked my credit score and this from nowhere appeared a ccj sent to my old home address. Can please anyone help me as they ask to me to pay within the 6th of February and is no way I got that amount of money.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Even if you just happen to have a spare 18k in your bank (haha) you shouldn’t pay this without finding out what the debt is and whether you do owe it.
The enforcement letter should have said who the creditor is – what is the name?
Worried says
Hi! I applied for a tenancy and it unearthed two CCJs – one from 6 and one from 5 years ago that I know nothing about. I have investigated and it seems it’s a Barclaycard and a mobile contract I’ve never had. I did have a lodger in 2016 with a lot of debt and who I was worried had used my identity. Should I just pay it? I have nothing to prove anything happened and I have no idea where this lodger is as they were from overseas.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What are the dates on the 2 CCJs? How large are the amounts?
Paying them in full will remove them from your credit record. And if they have only recently been repaid it may improve your chance of a new tenancy but it may not.
Sean says
Hi I have recently found a CCJ on my transunion report but doesn’t appear on any of the other CRAs as it is not in my name
I have written t to transunion with this stating this must be identity fraud as my name is not Dean
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It may not be fraud – it could be what is called a “mistrace” – someone’ else’s CCJ has been incorrectly matched to your credit record.
Katie says
“Registry Trust is campaigning to get it changed”
I have to disagree with you on this Sara, that would be a massive abuse of consumer privacy, my former Landlord as able to look me up and found a CCJ that I was not even aware of, but the idea that he or anyone other than myself would get the name of the claimant is abhorrent.
Registry Trust lists 39 data sharing companies on it’s website, so if they got their way that data would go to them too. What needs to be addressed is the bad practice of getting these “backdoor” CCJ’s in the first place. The companies that use this tactic file 1000 at a time and they are rubber stamped by the Court in the same way warrants are for Pre-Payment Gas meters or for Court Summons for TVL
We live in a world where you can’t live without being on one CRB or another, so if a CCJ appears on your credit file you can use existing GDPR legislation to obtain source and/or correct such data. Certainly if Registry Trust store full CCJ information claimant data should only be available to the consumer who proves their identity and that interaction should NOT be recorded by them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No one has said that Third parties would be able to see the name of the CCJ claimant.
Take credit reports – you can see the names of the lenders and debt collectors, but a lender making a search cannot see those names.
But it is NOT easy at the moment to find out who is the CCJ claimant. You may have to spend a long while on the phone.