County Court Judgments or CCJs are a paper-based formal decision (not necessarily a hearing in all cases) handed over by a court in England or Wales if you owe money and have defaulted on your repayments. According to the Money Charity, 2083 judgments are issued everyday with an average value of £2,158, which supports the fact they are anything but uncommon.
It is also worth bearing in mind that a CCJ served to you will remain on your credit rating file for six years unless you repay your debt in full within one month of the judgment served to you (in which case the judgement will not be recorded on your file). These judgements can very seriously affect your future because they increase the likelihood of, for example, a guarantor loan application refused.
At Guarantor My Loan, we assess each application individually on its merit, but we do take a good look at CCJs on your credit file while we assess your loan application irrespective of the amount you want to borrow and the amount of debt for which you have a CCJ. You can read more about how we assess your application here.
According to a recent survey by the Debt Advisory Centre, one in 10 of those with a CCJ have debts of £250 or less and not just for debts running into thousands of pounds (a very common myth).
One insight that caught our attention the most is the likelihood of young people i.e. aged 18-24 years, to have a CCJ or Court Degree (Scottish equivalent) is the highest. Over 14% of 18 to 24-year-olds have had a CCJ or Court Decree granted against them since March 2009, compared to just one in 50 (2.1%) over-55 year olds.
There also appears to be a regional variation, with more Londoners having received a CCJ in the past five years than residents of any other region. Nearly one in five (19.5%) people in the capital said they have had a judgement granted against them during this time, compared to just 3.9% in East Anglia.
Although there are plenty of resources and advisory help available, The Debt Advisory Centre also learnt that nearly two in five people were not aware or did not understand the different powers debt collectors, bailiffs and high court enforcement officers have. It is possible for debtors to avoid judgments spiralling out of control and not blemish their credit ratings for good.
Help isn’t far away and often provided without any cost to you, but there are many instances where people have chosen to not move on a judgment because they are uncertain about what to do; confused or unable to grasp the gravity of such an order. Once the formal notification is served, you will have 14 days to file a response and for which you have several options. It is advisable to seek help and understand which option is right for you given your circumstances such as income, affordability, size of debt etc.
You can arrange to speak or visit advisors at charities such as Step Change and the Debt Advice Foundation. These charities can also advise you on the best options for you to borrow (or whether borrowing in your circumstances is a right thing to do not), and advice on how to budget for and maintenance while paying off our debt.
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