Requesting some general advice

CraigC1982

I'd like to start by saying thanks in advance for any advice I receive here, I'm a little bit torn as to what to do moving forward so I hope someone can help!

Ok firstly a bit of background;

*I ran up a ton of debt around 6-7 years ago and due to a marriage breakdown I decided the best thing to do was declare myself bankrupt.

*Since going bankrupt in 2005 I have obtained no credit whatsoever aside from a mobile phone I got on contract 2 years ago.

*I've recently obtained experian and equifax reports. Experian shows absolutely no adverse, however equifax shows 3 defaulted accounts which are settled as of Jan 2007 (I was bankrupt in 2005 so hopefully I can dispute this)

*Due to various childcare commitments over the last 2 years I have been stuck in a lower paid job than usual (I need to be close to home and do a school run every lunch time, although this ends in July). As such I've had occasions where I've had to juggle around payments due to unforseen circumstances. Example, the timing belt went on my last car, had to pay a few things late to get it fixed. This has affected council tax, electric through Npower, and my phone bill, which has had a few late payments of 1 month over the last year. Everything is completely up to date now.

*My name is down spelled incorrectly on the electoral roll. I hadn't realised this until I got my credit reports. Equifax have me down as being named, experian say I'm not. I've sent a new form with the amendment and requested they backdate it if possible- I've lived there 2 years.

*I've made hardly any applications for credit recently.

*I got a credit score from credit expert (I know I know it doesn't mean anything), they gave me a score the upper end of good, 10 points shy of excellent, despite saying I'm not on the electoral roll and also despite a couple of recent missed payments????!

*I rent a furnished property, I'm employed full time and been in the same job for 2 years.


Ok so here's the situation. My car just completely died and I obviously need to replace it quickly. I have been going through a cycle of scraping together £400 or so to buy a new one, it lasts until it's next MOT, fails, then I have to start over. I could borrow £500 or so from my parents to buy another car, but I'd be paying them £100 or so per month back. To me it makes more sense to see if I can get something for say £3500 on a car loan, over a few years it would be managable, it's also going to be far more reliable.

The reason I'm reluctant to apply now is that I don't know how badly I'll be affected by the electoral roll mix up and whether it can be resolved, and also the issue I had with recent late payments is unlikely to happen again so my credit rating will be stronger in a few months. I also wonder if experian will remove the adverse if I get in contact with the lenders in question. I don't want to take a really expensive loan now, if a cheaper option might be available in a few months.

I'm also wondering a few things;

*Will potential lenders have access to information not on my credit reports? For example I've paid my BT landline bill late a few times but there's nothing on my reports.

*How seriously will typical lenders look at adverse which was settled 5 years ago? (at least according to equifax)

*My bank declined me a few months back for an upgrade to a current account from my basic account I've had for years, is that more liklely to be due to a few bounced direct debits etc than the info outlined above? I know I know you can only speculate when asked such vague questions- just wondering whether I should switch banks now my finances are in good shape rather than risk being tarnished by things other banks simply wouldn't know about.

*I applied for a vanquis card about a year ago and was declined. I assumed it was due to historical adverse, I didn't really need it but wanted to try and rebuild my credit rating a bit, I'm wondering whether to reapply, does anyone know if a previous decline with a lender affects further attempts?


If I had a semi reliable car which was going to last another year I'm pretty sure I'd keep my head down, get the above issues resolved, maintain my accounts perfectly, then look into this again in a year. As that's not an option I'm a bit torn.

Thanks again in advance.

[Deleted User]

doesnt look like you would get a loan except maybe at horrific apr`s
could perhaps your parents lend you a little more for a slightly better car to get you over the next year?£750 at £70 a month might just get you a car that would do the job for a year,and look for one with a 12 month MOT?

jonjamie1970

Craig, a £3.5k car may not necassarily be as reliable as a run around and then your stuck with the payments, and from what I am reading you might struggle to get finance, even if you did it might be a high APR.
Obviously if you have a £500 car and then you need to spend £400 to get it through its MOT then its not great.

A couple of years ago I bought cars for £600 region off ebay friends etc and ran them, in fact I made a bit of money on occasions by selling them at the right time. I bought a 5 series BMW for £700 and sold it for £500 a year later and that car took me all over the UK on business. I bought a taxed and tested Corsa for £250 and sold it 2 months later for £550.

Search around, draft in a mate who knows about cars if you can, I did the work myself but then I had all the tools.

Join a Bangernomics website and take pride in knowing your running a car thats not cost you much, whilst running it put some money aside for the next one. When your straight financially then get something a bit shinier.

Tixy

Regarding the defaults that are dated later than your bankrupty - have a read of this Credit Reference File Clean Up Post Bankruptcy