CCJ Removal

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Legal )



It happens even to the best of us. You thought you had already settled an obligation, only to find out that the same thing has come back to haunt you in the form of a County Court Judgment or CCJ.

What is a CCJ?

Suppose you bought a subscription to the Wall Street Journal but later failed to pay for it because you have moved away to a new address. The subscription journal company will then file a case at the county court with you as the defendant, demanding that you settle your bill. But because it was at your old address, of course you don't respond and the court declares a CCJ.

The court forwards the CCJ entry to major credit reference agencies who will store the information in your credit records. Given its adverse nature, the CCJ entry can now be used as a basis to decline your future loan or credit applications.

Sometimes a CCJ will inadvertently appear in your records even if you thought you had settled the debt, due to lack of coordination among the creditors, credit agencies and courts.

As defendant, you have the responsibility to make sure that your creditors and the credit reference agencies have been informed about the settlement and thus the need to "set aside" the CCJ.

To "set aside" the CCJ, you need to follow a few simple steps.

Valid Reasons to Remove a CCJ

The most valid reason is that you have never received the summons. Since the summons does not use registered mail, there is a big chance that this might happen.

Or perhaps you have received it but decided to settle out-of-court. However, the court may not have been aware of such settlement and so it declares a CCJ.

Another good reason is that you and another party were named in the summons, but only you were able to settle.

You can check online sources for other valid reasons.

How to Remove the CCJ

You need to get a copy of the original summons from the court, the plaintiff who issued it, the case number, and the court where it was issued. If this is not available, consult the central registry in writing to get the details.

Write to the credit agencies to know which court holds the CCJ, then to the court to secure details of the CCJ.

Then fill out form N244 to request removal of the CCJ, attaching copies of all the letters from the credit agencies and the court. If you want to, you can also submit a duly notarized affidavit stating your reasons for requesting the removal.

Once the court has confirmed removal of the CCJ, you can now write back the credit agencies and creditors to inform them of such, and to have them remove the CCJ from your credit records as well.

After several weeks, contact the credit agencies and banks to confirm that they have updated your records with this removal.


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