Banging my head up against a brick wall...

spookytookey

Hi,

I'm all new to this, I'm in need of some advice please, I hope someone can help....

Almost three years ago, my hubby and I decided to try and sort our terrible credit rating out, it was mainly through overstretching ourselves, a bit of bad luck, and having a sub prime mortgage with massive monthly repayments which we could not afford, so after much deliberation, we sold our house, and paid off every debt we owed (with the exeption of an o/d of £500 which we use when needed). It left us debt free, but without a penny of savings etc.

So we then moved into a rented mobile home on a farm, where we stayed for 18 months. Initially we had no credit as we thought (wrongly) that this was the best way to build up our credit rating. We were then advised that the quickest way to build up your credit rating was by having credit - I applied for and got a sub prime credit card which I use purely for groceries and pay off in full each month, and a small sub prime loan for a car - of which the payments are made religiously, never been late etc.

Needless to say the car is very poorly now, and it's looking terminal - so I was hoping to get another normal loan in order to pay off the subprime one (to save me a bit of cash) , as well as a little extra for a new car, as I thought that my credit file would show that I am a good payer now - when I have checked my files, they don't even show the sub prime loan I have - I have queried this with the lender, and apparently they don't log the regular payments - they only log them if you default! Really helpful. I have also noticed that there is a gap for the whole of the time that we lived in the caravan - as even though we were on the electoral roll, and we have proof of this, which I have provided to them all - Equifax still does not show that we lived there, so the time that we spent there seems in vain!

I applied for a loan with Tesco last week - they sent me all the paperwork, and a poorly worded letter which gives you the impression that you have been checked and approved - I had to send bank statements, which I did. I then had a letter the following day stating that they needed clarification from me on certain facts. I contacted them and they have advised that they can not complete the credit checks in full as my previous address is not listed. I have explained the situation and stated that I have managed to get 2 out of 3 credit files with my previous address on all ok, but they have said that I need to contact Equifax to get this sorted - they can do no more!

Phew - sorry for the long story - but I seem to come up against a brick wall every which way I turn, we want to get a mortgage again at some point, and it seems like all I can do is wait for these old defaulted (but now paid off) accounts to dissapear from my file due to age ....

Help!!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks:o

rubyslipper

Hi Spooky

I'm afraid I don't have any gems of wisdom on this one but didn't want to just read and run.
You're in just the right place and I'm sure the experts will be able to help you out.
Keep posting and let us know how it's going.

Ruby xx

hypno06

Hi Spooky, the first thing to do is to complete an SOA - have a look on the stickys at the top of this board, and there should be one for new posters with loads of info for you to look at, together with the link for the SOA.

Then post those figures on here, and we can start to look at where you can cut back and make changes.

It might seem like you are up against it, but believe me, once you make a start, you will soon feel more in control!

Spend time mooching around the various boards, read some of the diaries on the diary board, and see how we manage when things dont go according to plan, and it will give you a few ideas!

spookytookey

Thanks hypno - not sure if I made myself very clear in my waffle - the problem isn't with debt now - we manage fine and are actually enjoying some of the 'finer things' in life such as broadband and being able to pay our bills on time.

The big issue for me if the credit rating relating to when we were in debt - despite two years of behaving impeccably (in the financial sense), our credit rating is not improving.

I check my files monthly through checkmyfile.co.uk as recommended on here, and I know the 'ratings' mean nothing really, they don't seem to be improving. The time spent at the caravan doesn't show on the credit file as apparently we didn't exist for that period of time - even though we have proof, ie council tax receipts etc and proof that we were on the electoral roll. Also the small loan I took out to try and prove that I can pay backl credit, is not showing on my file - the lender has said that they only notify the credit agencies if it defaults, not when it is being paid - very helpful.

So my question really is, does anyone have any ideas how we can improve our credit rating a little more quickly? I am sure this is the million dollar question, but I just feel so cross that yes we did mess up financially, but we have put it right, we never got as far as CCJ's etc, and we have maintained all payments ever since the debts were paid off, but yet still almost three years on we are being penalised for it. I have even been told that I will probably have to just sit it out for the six years it takes for the information to come off your file - really hope that's not the case, as we desperately want to get back on the property ladder.

Anyway - off to look at the diary boards for some ideas.