diff --git a/.rubocop.yml b/.rubocop.yml
index e9964b1c0..34d5b0bda 100644
--- a/.rubocop.yml
+++ b/.rubocop.yml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ Metrics/ClassLength:
   Max: 125
   Exclude:
     - 'app/models/conversation.rb'
+    - 'app/models/contact.rb'
     - 'app/mailers/conversation_reply_mailer.rb'
     - 'app/models/message.rb'
     - 'app/builders/messages/facebook/message_builder.rb'
diff --git a/app/models/contact.rb b/app/models/contact.rb
index 7b257bab4..ebddb6828 100644
--- a/app/models/contact.rb
+++ b/app/models/contact.rb
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class Contact < ApplicationRecord
   has_many :messages, as: :sender, dependent: :destroy_async
   has_many :notes, dependent: :destroy_async
 
-  before_validation :prepare_email_attribute
+  before_validation :prepare_contact_attributes
   after_create_commit :dispatch_create_event, :ip_lookup
   after_update_commit :dispatch_update_event
   after_destroy_commit :dispatch_destroy_event
@@ -146,10 +146,19 @@ class Contact < ApplicationRecord
     ContactIpLookupJob.perform_later(self)
   end
 
+  def prepare_contact_attributes
+    prepare_email_attribute
+    prepare_jsonb_attributes
+  end
+
   def prepare_email_attribute
     # So that the db unique constraint won't throw error when email is ''
-    self.email = nil if email.blank?
-    email.downcase! if email.present?
+    self.email = email.present? ? email.downcase : nil
+  end
+
+  def prepare_jsonb_attributes
+    self.additional_attributes = {} if additional_attributes.blank?
+    self.custom_attributes = {} if custom_attributes.blank?
   end
 
   def dispatch_create_event
diff --git a/db/migrate/20220111200105_update_nil_contact_attributes_to_empty_hash.rb b/db/migrate/20220111200105_update_nil_contact_attributes_to_empty_hash.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..31881fe1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20220111200105_update_nil_contact_attributes_to_empty_hash.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+class UpdateNilContactAttributesToEmptyHash < ActiveRecord::Migration[6.1]
+  def change
+    # rubocop:disable Rails/SkipsModelValidations
+    Contact.where(custom_attributes: nil).update_all(custom_attributes: {})
+    Contact.where(additional_attributes: nil).update_all(additional_attributes: {})
+    # rubocop:enable Rails/SkipsModelValidations
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index ad5bc66b0..34bcdce36 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 2021_12_21_125545) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 2022_01_11_200105) do
 
   # These are extensions that must be enabled in order to support this database
   enable_extension "pg_stat_statements"
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 2021_12_21_125545) do
     t.string "timezone", default: "UTC"
     t.boolean "enable_email_collect", default: true
     t.boolean "csat_survey_enabled", default: false
-    t.boolean 'allow_messages_after_resolved', default: true
+    t.boolean "allow_messages_after_resolved", default: true
     t.index ["account_id"], name: "index_inboxes_on_account_id"
   end
 
@@ -830,4 +830,4 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 2021_12_21_125545) do
     "NEW.display_id := nextval('camp_dpid_seq_' || NEW.account_id);"
   end
 
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/spec/models/contact_spec.rb b/spec/models/contact_spec.rb
index 4306e9e44..f8b701a3a 100644
--- a/spec/models/contact_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/contact_spec.rb
@@ -11,4 +11,36 @@ RSpec.describe Contact do
     it { is_expected.to belong_to(:account) }
     it { is_expected.to have_many(:conversations).dependent(:destroy_async) }
   end
+
+  context 'pepare contact attributes before validation' do
+    it 'sets email to lowercase' do
+      contact = create(:contact, email: 'Test@test.com')
+      expect(contact.email).to eq('test@test.com')
+    end
+
+    it 'sets email to nil when empty string' do
+      contact = create(:contact, email: '')
+      expect(contact.email).to be_nil
+    end
+
+    it 'sets custom_attributes to {} when nil' do
+      contact = create(:contact, custom_attributes: nil)
+      expect(contact.custom_attributes).to eq({})
+    end
+
+    it 'sets custom_attributes to {} when empty string' do
+      contact = create(:contact, custom_attributes: '')
+      expect(contact.custom_attributes).to eq({})
+    end
+
+    it 'sets additional_attributes to {} when nil' do
+      contact = create(:contact, additional_attributes: nil)
+      expect(contact.additional_attributes).to eq({})
+    end
+
+    it 'sets additional_attributes to {} when empty string' do
+      contact = create(:contact, additional_attributes: '')
+      expect(contact.additional_attributes).to eq({})
+    end
+  end
 end