How to find out about a possible County Court Judgement?

September 21, 2010 10:02 AM

How to find out about a possible County Court Judgement?

It's possible that there is a County Court Judgement entered against my name over a debt. According to this page "Most entries stay on the Register for six full years". The matter in question is over a decade old, and I haven't been in the UK for over a decade.

So, a few related questions:

How would I go about determining if such a judgement exists?
If it does exist, could I expect this to hamper the renewal of my UK passport?
If it does exist, could I expect this to hamper my entry into the UK?
If it does exist, could I expect this to hamper my employment in the UK?

(You Are Not My Solicitor)

posted by anonymous to law & government (3 answers total)

I'd be a amazed, frankly.

My old boss had two CCJs against him and treated them with disdain. I don't think it caused him much pain at all. The UK's various official departments are notoriously unjoined up.

A CCJ is a civil judgment. I'm not a lawyer, but again I'd be amazed if it had any impact on immigration or employment status.
posted by MuffinMan at 10:23 AM on September 21, 2010

Free trial at creditexpert.co.uk, check our rating, cancel the free trial. The Passport Agency doesn't do a credit check as part of its decision process for issuing a passport. You either qualify for one or you don't. That's a matter of your immigration status, not your financial status. If, on the other hand, you were applying for the right to have a British passport/remain in the UK for the first time and you had bad/significant debt against you then that might be a problem. Your current situation however gives no reason to be alarmed.
posted by Biru at 10:35 AM on September 21, 2010

A CCJ (on its own) wouldn't affect passport renewal or entry.

You might want to see if it shows on a credit check (via all three reference agencies - Experian, Equifax, Callcredit - if you want to be sure, they don't always contain the same information), because this is what an employer or lender will see if they run a check too. Unlikely to be a major issue for employment, unless you're working in some financial or legal field.

Btw, just because a judgment is over 6 years old does not mean it is no longer enforcible. If you're in default, then the right of the creditor to apply for enforcement never goes away. If you really want to know, you can always just ask whoever sued you, though there are obvious drawbacks to that ...
posted by wilko at 12:33 PM on September 21, 2010