CCJ & Credit card

Millie_2

O.k, long story cut short but i need some advice.

After never having any debt in my life, six years ago i seperated from my husband, which eventually ended in divorce.
We had a joint bank account, which was £50 overdrawn, we couldnt close it until it was back in credit, i paid half of that amount back into the account and he promised to pay the same the next day which i thought he did, as he said he had done.

Two years later i discovered he hadnt done so and for the sake of £25 i was given a CCJ
I was gutted and immediatlely repaid the outstanding debt.

Although the debt has been cleared for four years now, i have never made any applications for interest free credit, credit cards ect for fear of being rebuffed because of the CCJ, even though ive never actually knowingly had any outstanding payments/debts in my life.

I would desperately love to apply for a 0% interest free credit card and transfer my small balance on my present credit card but am frightened of a
'credit search' and of being refused because of this CCJ which will now have run its course and like i say, i paid it off anyway when i found out about it.

What do you think, should i apply for a credit card or not?

YorkshireBoy

I think the best thing you could do would be to order your £2 'statutory reports' from the 2 main credit reference agencies, Experian & Equifax.

You could then see what any prospective lender will see when they 'score' you for a product.

You can order online, paying by debit card, here...

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/index.html?order

https://www.econsumer.equifax.co.uk/consumer/uk/sitepage.ehtml?forward=gb_elearning_credit14

There are ways to get a 30 day free trial with both the above, but if you fail to cancel in time it will cost you £50-60 with each organisation.

Millie_2

Thanks i did think about doing that, but became concerned when i realised that can 'add' to your searches as i wanted my credit references to be allowed time to heal so to speak by being untouched if you know what i mean?

YorkshireBoy

Millie wrote:

Thanks i did think about doing that, but became concerned when i realised that can 'add' to your searches as i wanted my credit references to be allowed time to heal so to speak by being untouched if you know what i mean?

The fact that you have searched your own file is not seen by lenders.

From Experian's "Your credit report explained" booklet*...

Why have you done a search on me?
We will keep a record of you asking for your credit report. This will show the information you gave us on your application. This information is seen only by you and us. It allows you to see when you asked for your report. Lenders cannot see this information when searching your records.

* Download a copy from here...

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/index.html?order

Pauls

CCJ's are only held on file for 5 years, so you shouldn't have any problems.

Click Here for a free 30 day trial of creditexpert from experian, which gives you 30 days free access to your credit file.

Be sure to cancel before your 30 days expire though, otherwise you'll end up paying a subscription. I'd suggest you cancel it as soon as you have a copy of your report

YorkshireBoy

Pauls wrote:

CCJ's are only held on file for 5 years, so you shouldn't have any problems.

According to Experian, it's 6 years...

If you pay the amount of the judgment within one month, we remove it from our records as long as a court has issued a certificate of satisfaction. If you pay the judgment after one month, it will stay on our records for six years but it will be shown as being settled if the court has issued a certificate of satisfaction. If a judgment was recorded against two people, it will say so on your credit report.

Source: Experian's "Your credit report explained" booklet (already referenced in a previous post above).

Pauls

It's a fair cop YorkshireBoy, I stand corrected :doh:

And you'd never guess where I work
(but no, not in credit!)

Millie_2

Thankyou all so much, you have helped me more than i can say and i really appreciate that, especially the tip about my own searches not showing, so i will do it that way and see what happens.

Many thanks for your great advice and help. :beer:

calibrax

Pauls wrote:

CCJ's are only held on file for 5 years, so you shouldn't have any problems.

Click Here for a free 30 day trial of creditexpert from experian, which gives you 30 days free access to your credit file.

Be sure to cancel before your 30 days expire though, otherwise you'll end up paying a subscription. I'd suggest you cancel it as soon as you have a copy of your report

Don't use the link in the above post - it takes you to creditexpert.com, not the UK version at creditexpert.co.uk.

Millie_2

Thanks for that, i had already tried the link above and it did confuse me i must say, but it doesnt take much these days...lol

Pauls

:doh: Now I look even more stooooopid

Only trying to help though :silenced: