Customers with CCJs flock to seconds

Customers with CCJs flock to seconds

Customers hit by a county court judgements (CCJs) are increasingly taking out second charge mortgages, anecdotal evidence suggests.

Seconds lender Equifinance claims the profile for customers taking out a second charge mortgage has changed significantly against the backdrop of CCJs in 2016.

The Registry Trust reports that there were 912,389 CCJs against consumers in England and Wales during 2016, more than any year on record.

Tony Marshall, managing director of Equifinance, said: “Although the number of CCJs registered against consumers in the second half of 2016 rose by nearly 20%, we haven’t seen a discernible Brexit effect.

“As second charges have been presented as a real option with significant benefits for many customers, we are seeing this reflected in a changing customer profile.”

The other growing sector is customers who were made redundant and went self-employed a few years ago but are now back in full-time employment.

Equifinance said many in that situation are looking to re-establish their credit profile with the help of a second charge mortgage.