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Schrodinger's CCJ
In 2018, I received a default that subsequently led to a court claim. However, I settled the amount within the designated 30-day timeframe, under the impression that this action would nullify the County Court Judgment (CCJ) and prevent its appearance on my credit report.
During this period, I was also addressing 10+ negative marks and defaults on my credit, primarily stemming from an array of payday loans. Fortunately, the financial ombudsman deemed most of these as results of irresponsible lending, leading to the removal of 90% of these. Currently, only two defaults remain as negative markers on my report, both of which are nearing their six-year expiry. I believe one of these is for the undermentioned CCJ I discovered.
About a year and a half ago, my partner and I applied for a mortgage. Despite some remaining negative marks and the recency of the defaults, we managed to secure a mortgage. It wasn't the most favorable deal, but it was the only choice for getting on the property ladder, so we took the rate and had no issues making payments since.
Recently, we initiated the process of remortgaging, expecting a smoother experience given the age of the defaults. However, our application was unexpectedly declined and I was advised to check the credit reports individually. I have historically only used ClearScore for a general credit overview and Checkmyfile for a comprehensive overview (as it claims to check all credit bureaus) neither of which had ever indicated a CCJ.
Upon a more detailed inspection of individual statutory reports from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, I discovered that Experian listed a CCJ against me from late 2018. This was a shock, as I had settled the claim associated with this CCJ within the required timeframe. I immediately paid for a report via TrustOnline, which confirmed there were no records of this CCJ.
I took today/tomorrow as annual leave from work, to investigate this further. First thing this morning I called the court and spoke with a person, explaining the situation, who seemed just as confused as myself that there was a CCJ registered on one of my credit reports. I was advised to pay for a certificate of cancellation, which I received via email 5 minutes after the call.
Next, I contacted Experian's customer support for assistance and was informed that the confirmation of payment had to come directly from the court to Experian; this was something I could not provide evidence of myself. Following their advice, I promptly reached out to the court again, only to be left waiting on hold for 30 minutes before the call unexpectedly ended. Given the poor line quality of my initial call with Experian, I chose to contact them once more, seeking clearer information and hoping to avoid another lengthy period on hold with the court – where I suspected I’d only be batted back to Experian anyway.
During this call, the line was clear, and I spoke with a new advisor at Experian. They informed me that the CCJ on my file was now under investigation, a status change that had occurred since my conversation with the previous advisor, less than an hour prior. The advisor seemed puzzled by the CCJ's presence on my file, mirroring my confusion. I clarified that I hadn't requested an investigation during the previous call, as that option hadn't been presented to me; it appeared that Experian had initiated this process independently. The advisor recommended that I send the CCJ's certificate of cancellation directly to Experian's customer service email to help speed up the investigation process. They assured me that no further action was needed from my side, nor was there a need to contact the court again, as Experian would handle the investigation from this point.
I am currently awaiting Experian's review of my documentation which, presumably, will remove the CCJ after inspecting the certificate of cancellation. I’m not thrilled that we have to pause our remortgage efforts until this is taken care of, I suppose ultimately I’m at Experian’s mercy until they take action.
Ultimately, I am seeking advice on the following:
During this period, I was also addressing 10+ negative marks and defaults on my credit, primarily stemming from an array of payday loans. Fortunately, the financial ombudsman deemed most of these as results of irresponsible lending, leading to the removal of 90% of these. Currently, only two defaults remain as negative markers on my report, both of which are nearing their six-year expiry. I believe one of these is for the undermentioned CCJ I discovered.
About a year and a half ago, my partner and I applied for a mortgage. Despite some remaining negative marks and the recency of the defaults, we managed to secure a mortgage. It wasn't the most favorable deal, but it was the only choice for getting on the property ladder, so we took the rate and had no issues making payments since.
Recently, we initiated the process of remortgaging, expecting a smoother experience given the age of the defaults. However, our application was unexpectedly declined and I was advised to check the credit reports individually. I have historically only used ClearScore for a general credit overview and Checkmyfile for a comprehensive overview (as it claims to check all credit bureaus) neither of which had ever indicated a CCJ.
Upon a more detailed inspection of individual statutory reports from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, I discovered that Experian listed a CCJ against me from late 2018. This was a shock, as I had settled the claim associated with this CCJ within the required timeframe. I immediately paid for a report via TrustOnline, which confirmed there were no records of this CCJ.
I took today/tomorrow as annual leave from work, to investigate this further. First thing this morning I called the court and spoke with a person, explaining the situation, who seemed just as confused as myself that there was a CCJ registered on one of my credit reports. I was advised to pay for a certificate of cancellation, which I received via email 5 minutes after the call.
Next, I contacted Experian's customer support for assistance and was informed that the confirmation of payment had to come directly from the court to Experian; this was something I could not provide evidence of myself. Following their advice, I promptly reached out to the court again, only to be left waiting on hold for 30 minutes before the call unexpectedly ended. Given the poor line quality of my initial call with Experian, I chose to contact them once more, seeking clearer information and hoping to avoid another lengthy period on hold with the court – where I suspected I’d only be batted back to Experian anyway.
During this call, the line was clear, and I spoke with a new advisor at Experian. They informed me that the CCJ on my file was now under investigation, a status change that had occurred since my conversation with the previous advisor, less than an hour prior. The advisor seemed puzzled by the CCJ's presence on my file, mirroring my confusion. I clarified that I hadn't requested an investigation during the previous call, as that option hadn't been presented to me; it appeared that Experian had initiated this process independently. The advisor recommended that I send the CCJ's certificate of cancellation directly to Experian's customer service email to help speed up the investigation process. They assured me that no further action was needed from my side, nor was there a need to contact the court again, as Experian would handle the investigation from this point.
I am currently awaiting Experian's review of my documentation which, presumably, will remove the CCJ after inspecting the certificate of cancellation. I’m not thrilled that we have to pause our remortgage efforts until this is taken care of, I suppose ultimately I’m at Experian’s mercy until they take action.
Ultimately, I am seeking advice on the following:
- Who might be responsible for the erroneous listing of the CCJ on my Experian report since November 2018?
- Could this CCJ have negatively influenced our initial mortgage application in mid-2022?
- Why did Checkmyfile not reflect the CCJ, despite claiming to source data from Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and Crediva?
