Bankruptcy Credit Reference File Clean Up - Discussion

folkestonelisa

Thank you Fermi, you are a wonderful person, taking the time to help others :j:T

jez123cars

Hi All

My wife and I were declared BR on 9th Dec 2009 and discharged a year later, it has now been 6 yrs since our BR so we assume we are officially out of our BR (please advise if this is not the case).

We have never done the credit file clean up thing as we never seen to have found time to do it, we know this was silly but ho hum.

What we want to know is

Now that we are 6 yrs down the line and out of BR do we still need to do the credit file clean up by getting our files from a credit reference agency and then writing to each of our creditors and then waiting a couple of months a re-apply for our credit files or, as we are now 6 yrs down the line will our files be cleaned automatically? Should we still apply for our credit files anyway just to check them?

Please could someone advise us.

Many thanks in advance

Jez

fermi

You would have been "out of" BR after 12 months. The credit file issue is just how long the fact of that stays on there afterwards.

It would be advisable to check your credit files with all 3 agencies, yes.

You may be lucky to find that everything to do with or covered in the BR is gone, but the point of the cleanup is that often creditors do not default for months or even years too late, or sometimes not at all, meaning that 6 years later there are still bad things left on your report.

So as said, I would at least check your files to see if there is anything there that shouldn't be. Then if there is, you can write to just those if it's going to be a while before they come off.

phoenix777777777777

Very useful thread, thanks!

I've been discharged today (whoop!). All of the accounts are showing as 'Default'. Is this just because I've only been discharged today? Should I just leave it for a few weeks and let it catch up?

tigerfeet2006

Give them a couple of months to get their act together and then start from there.

This is the sticky where you start from http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=677875

sfjnet

I see on the original instructions for clean up that it says "Default date MUST be NO LATER than (date of the Bankruptcy)". I'm just wondering if it makes a major difference if the default date is slightly later. In other words, I went BR on 7 April 2010 and several of my listings on the Experian report show the debts as "Satisfied" but may have a default date later (e.g. in May 2010). Does this mean that I would just have to wait that extra month or so for the BR to come off their records, or must all entries show the same date?
Thanks!

fermi

Yes, it would just take that little bit longer to come off. Up to you if you want to bother trying to sort it.

Roxy73

Hi all,


Apologies, but I really need someone's help and advice on this. I was declared BR on 15 July 2010 and discharged early on 03 Feb 2011. As technically I am due to be free from it this year, I want to make sure that my credit file is as clean as it possibly can be.


So far, I've got my file from Experian, and have a copy from Noodle but this will need updating due to a change of name and address in this time from my bankruptcy and now.


At the moment I'm just working on the Experian information. I have some showing up as satisfactory with a balance of settled, which are both pre and post bankruptcy. The majority are showing as default and satisfied which are all post bankruptcy, and there are some that are showing as default but are showing with a balance outstanding which are all post bankruptcy. Are these the worrying ones that I need to address, or is it all of the default ones too? I'm just a little confused by it all, apologies if this has been asked a million times before.


Also, is it worth updating my Noddle file to my new name and new address to see what they hold, and then is it worth obtaining the CallCredit file too?


As a side issue, my house was repossessed in the October prior to the bankruptcy thanks to my ex-husband taking out a second loan and it was this company that repossessed and not the bank, so I know that this is separate to my personal bankruptcy, but does this remain on my credit file indefinitely?


Many thanks for any help, advice and guidance that people can give to me:j

fermi

Accounts are removed from your credit file 6 years from the original recorded default date, so that is the critical thing to be right. It should be recorded as a date on or before you BR date, to ensure it drops off by the 6 year anniversary of that.

A repossession should also be listed as a default, and likewise that goes from your report 6 years later.

folkestonelisa

Just wanted to say thank you for all the help you gave me. One of hubbies files was updated and it pushed his credit score up by 42 points :j so now it's just poor not very poor :rotfl:.

So one again thanks for all your help :T: