Credit report duration

achitsyerself

I had to close my company in June 08, due to cash flow, credit crunch and bank panic and have been unemployed since Jan 09.
On benefits I fell behind with various bills etc and now have a very bad credit report with these agencys which I believe will stay there for 5 years after you pay up.
I am 52 and it could take me years to pay off what I owe, then a further 5 years to clean up these reports, that could well put me past retirement age.
I was just wondering if anyone new if credit reports can be be reset sooner, or if anyone has taken up the cause against the injustice of a 5 year sentence. I as well as many more are victims of the current crisis, but it seems to be one sided as to where the help goes. Surely a sentence of 12 months would be more than enough, before letting people rebuild their lives.

skylight

Are you in Scotland??

In England, its 6 years that defaults remain on your credit files. Which I think is fair. 12 months is not enough to reflect a persons position in life.

And its 6 years from the date the default was placed on your file not after the last payment date. So, if a default was entered today then its 6 years from now, even if it takes 10 years to pay off. And you can only have one default per debt, so the bank in this example could not re-default in year 7 (if you see what I mean).

You can help to re-build your own credit history. The best places to start are new basic bank accounts - get those little green '0's appearing on your file again by using the new basic accounts correctly. I have a Co-Op Cashminder that I have not used for more than 6 months but has about £1 in it - still earning my green '0's for that one.

achitsyerself

Thank you.
I live in N Ireland, same rules as England I think, good to know it's 6 years from default, but is default from when payments stopped or from court decision, some people are still threatening court proceedings, so I do not know where I stand at the minute as courts are not back until Sept, 1 or 2 creditors are threatening to make me bankrupt.