County Court Judgements
You may have a County Court Judgement (CCJ) registered against you if you have owed someone money and the Court ruled that you must pay it back
Such a judgement will appear on your credit report and may affect your credit rating. It might affect your ability to rent a home if there is CCJ check undertaken as part of a landlords application vetting process.
How do I find out if a CCJ has been registered against me?
There are a number of steps you can take to find our whether a CCJ has been registered against you:-
- You can search the Register of Judgements, Orders and Fines for a small search fee.
- You may order a copy of your credit report from a credit reference agency.
- You may also find out when you apply for a loan, credit card, or mortgage.
What if I did not owe the Debt ?
You may be able to have an entry removed from the Register if you can prove to the Court that you did not owe the debt or if there have been procedural issues relating to the granting of a judgement against you.
Setting Aside a CCJ
If you do not owe the debt you can apply to Court and request that they set aside the judgement against you. This procure can be followed if you have a genuine reason to show that you do not owe the debt or if you were never advised that a debt had arisen. You will need to show the Court that the judgement was entered in error or that you were never property informed of the debt, a typical example would be a judgement entered in respect of a parking fine when you never received notification of the fine at the outset.
In order to seek consent from the Court you will need to complete the appropriate application and submit this to Court along with the relevant fee in order to begin the process.
We are able to prepare and submit the application on your behalf as well as attend any subsequent hearing where required.
Satisfying a debt within one month
If you settle the debt within one month from the date of the Judgement entered against you, you can apply to Court to have the entry removed. You will need to obtain a certificate of Cancellation from the Court to prove the debt was paid.
If your entry is removed from the register the credit ref agencies will be notified and the entry will be removed from your credit reference record.
Satisfying a debt after one month
If you settle the debt but only after a period of one month, you will be provided with a Certificate of Satisfaction -credit reference agencies will be notified that the debt has been paid but the entry will remain on your credit report for a period of 6 years.
Following an initial evaluation of the case, guidance can be provided by our Specialist Team as to the strengths and weaknesses of your case and whether negotiation and/or mediation should be considered in an effort to avoid the costs of a case proceeding to trial.
Our Solicitors will guide you every step of the way making sure that you are in the strongest position possible for success at Court.
For further information on any of the above contact Gary Hall or Fiona Gaskell for a free, no obligation interview on 0800 083 0815 or complete our online enquiry form to request a call back.
