Debt Talk: How Long Does a CCJ Last?

Taking on debt is one of those areas that you need to give a lot of thought to whether its right for you. Personally, I’m okay with debit in the form of mortgage, but I don’t have any personal debt, and I don’t run debt on credit cards. I think it’s such a waste of money to pay high-levels of interest. 10K on a credit card can easily cost you 25% or 2,500 per year, while it’s challenging to get a personal loan for less than 6%.

What is a Count Court Judgment (CCJ)

If you don’t pay your loan, or a creditor thinks you’re not going to pay your loan, the creditor may ask the court to issue a CCJ to tell you to pay the money back. In this situation, you’ll receive a formal letter in the post outlining the details of the debt and what you need to pay. At this point, you can either;

  • Pay the full amount of the debt
  • Ask to defer the payment to a later debt
  • Ask to pay the debt in instalments
  • Dispute the amount in the claim

The most important thing to remember if you receive a CCJ is to respond. You cannot ignore the CCJ otherwise, the court may take more severe action, which could include sending bailiffs to take your belongings to pay the debt.

How long does a CCJ stay on your credit file?

If you pay your CCJ in full within one calendar month of your CCJ being issued, it will not be recorded, and a credit file will not be created for you. The only other way to avoid a CCJ on your credit file is to dispute the CCJ and prove to the courts that you’re not at fault. For everything else, your CCJ will be recorded on the Register, it will be added to your credit profile.

Once you have a CCJ on your credit file, it will stay there for a period of six years. If you ever apply for a loan, credit card or even letting a property, your CCJ will be shown to anyone who checks the Register. Generally, it’s complicated to remove a CCJ, however, it’s possible in the following circumstances;

  • You can prove you have paid the CCJ within one calendar month
  • Its been six years since you received the CCJ and it should have been automatically removed.
  • You were successfully cleared through the courts
  • An insurance company was responsible for the debt.

How to Re-Build Your Credit Profile After A CCJ

Once you’re confirmed to have a CCJ, your file will be added to a public database called the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines. This is a public database for anyone to see, and will negatively affect your ability to get credit for up to six years.

This means that it will be doubtful you’ll be able to get things like a loan, a credit card and even a mobile phone contract could be not possible. That all said, if you act in the right way, you can avoid the worst of the CCJ and repair your credit file quickly and easily.

  • Before Your CCJ is Reported – Once you know that you cannot pay your debts, it’s important that you contact the lender in advance to discuss your options.
  • During Your CCJ – Once you have repaid your CCJ it will be marked as satisfied on your credit profile. This means that while people will be able to see that you have a CCJ on file, but it looks a lot better on your file and will possibly allow you to get debt, but probably not at very good rates until it has aged slightly and so long as you manage any other credit agreements sensibly.
  • After Your CCJ has Expired – you can have it removed from your credit file. It’s important that you get a copy of your statutory credit report and ensure your credit details are correct.

Final Thoughts

CCJ’s are something that you need to take seriously. Remember, a CCJ will last for six years on your credit report, and during this time, it will be very difficult to get any form of debt.

Remember anyone can request a CCJ check on either an individual or a company. With late payments being rife within the UK, it’s a great idea to check out a company and the status of their payments before you do business with them. If they have a series of CCJ’s against them, probably they’re not the best business to do business with.

TheRetirementBlog.co.uk

TheRetirementBlog.co.uk is written by David Jacobs who is on a quest to retire early and get out of the rat race. David is a financial expert who lives for early retirement. Follow his journey making money, saving and investing to retire early and get the best out of his retirement.

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