discharged bankrupt

winnit_2

hello fellow bankruptees my story started when i was 18 got a loan, credit cards, catalogues etc etc. fell ill and started my downward spiral into the world of debt. declared myself bankrupt on january 2006 and was discharged in july. i now obtained my credit report and it still says im insolvent if im discharged will this be updated or will i have to prove to them im discharged
since being bankrupt my finances are much better im as tight as a gnatts chuff lol and have over £1300 in savings. any advise really appreciated thanks

shameless-about-money

As soon as you are discharged from bankruptcy it is wise to make sure that your Credit Reference Files are showing the correct data. This will not be easy and needs perseverence to see it through. First step is to get copies of all three CRFs from the CRAs, which are:

Experian Ltd
Consumer Help Service
PO Box 8000
Nottingham
NG80 7WF
Tel No 0870 241 6212
https://www.experian.co.uk
(You can order your credit file on the internet or by telephone).

Equifax Plc
Credit File Advice Centre
PO Box 1140
Bradford
BD1 5US
Tel No 0870 010 0583
https://www.equifax.co.uk
(you can order your credit file on the internet)

Callcredit plc
Consumer Services Team
P O Box 491
Leeds
LS1 5XX
Tel No 0870 060 1414
https://www.callcredit.plc.uk

You should send the request for your file, enclosing £2.00 and your address(es) for the last six years.

Once you have your files, you may find that your discharge from bankruptcy is not showing. The first thing then, is to inform the CRA that you were discharged from bankruptcy on such and such date and you will need to send proof of your discharge. This can be by obtaining a copy of your discharge from the Court which will cost £60 unless you are on benefits then the charge can be waived by filling in a P160 Form. You will need to make several copies of this Certificate of Discharge. Another way you might try, is to ask your OR for a letter confirming your discharge. A third way is, if your entry is still showing on the Insolvency Register with the discharge date, then you could print off copies to send to the CRAs.
That is phase one and the easy part.

On looking through your file, you will or should see, defaults against your former debts. These defaults should be no later than the date of your Bankruptcy Order. This is important! Your BO will fall off automatically on the 6th anniversary. Where there are defaults registered after the date of your BO, they will stay on later than your BO, which of course is wrong. You will then need to ask the lenders to update their data. Not only that but they must also mark their entries as either "Settled" or "Satisfied".

Some lenders may prove to be belligerent about this but they are wrong. The correct procedure to lenders is laid down by the Information Commissiioner who oversees the Data Protection Act which states that all records held by Agencies must be truthful. There follows the ICs ruling on former debts in bankruptcy. This could also be copied and sent along with your request to have your files corrected by the lenders:


Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
https://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

plenty_o'_nuttin

Many thanks for this, shameless - I went bankrupt just under a month ago, but it'll be extremely useful come the glorious day!:j

I think the P160 form you referred to is now known as the EX160, and can be obtained from the County Court or online at http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex160_1205.pdf.

Please correct me here, but I believe another possible advantage of obtaining a Certificate of Discharge is that it'll be published in the London Gazette, whereas normally only your original bankruptcy order gets published there. This will put your discharge in to the public domain more quickly. Any ways up, many thanks again!