Desperately need debt help/advice please!?!

in_a_pickle9

Hi all,

Thanks for taking the time to read. I will try and keep as brief as possible. I'm in a bit of a pickle and need advice....if anyone can help it would be much appreciated.....

So I am 25 female and I got myself in debt from young age. As soon as I was 18 the bank offered me a £5000 loan, £1500 overdraft and £1500 credit card which at the time been young and irresponsible I accepted and thought it was brilliant\! how wrong i was! To keep it short buy 19/20 I was in around £20,000 of debt, had to move out and live alone and couldn't afford the payments, I suffered with depression and anxiety serverely for several years and just burried my head in the sand and ignored all phone calls and letters and just didn't pay a penny to any of my creditors ands just hoped it would all go away! as time has gone by I have never known how to face it all so I have continued to ignore it. I have always been terrible with the conceot of money if I am been honest, never stuck to a budget in my life, never saved a penny and always struggled financially no matter how much I have earnt. I have been brought up in a family who always borrowed money and have never really known any different.

I am now in a loving happy relationship and I am starting to think about my future, however this is really beginning to bother me as my credit rating is terrible and me and my boyfriend are looking ti rent somewhere in the summer and hopefully buy somwehere in a few years. however I havent yet told him about my debt from all those years ago but i know it will effect us renting somehwere so I need to tell him, but before I tell him I want to have an action plan in place to try and improve my credit file the best i can over the next few years, i am also ashamed of the mess i got myself into but i know he will be understanding about it.

So I have started by retrieving a copy of my experian and equifax credit report which makes me feel ill looking at it! its a mess! my credit score is 202 which is very poor! I have also spoken with the national debt line and they have advised me to not contact my creditors that are 6 years old or are approaching 6 years as they are "statue barred" which means unless i admit liability they can no longer chase me and they will drop off my credit file. I will list all the outstanding debt below which is showing on both credit files along with the default dates so you can see how iold the debt is and when it is due to drop off my credit file. None of these debts are now with the original creditors so some of them I can vaguely remember who they were with etc. I don't really get letters for them anymore, only the ones that are more recent.

Equifax

CCJ's
£3914 court date 26/8/2008
£563 (showing satisfied 19/4/2011 but this is not satisfied???)
£4828 court date 7/1/2009
£470 court date 25/9/2006

Defaults
C L finance £3920 defaulted 5/6/2006
capquest defaulted £230 12/10/2009
arrow global £4894 defaulted 31/5/2006
arrow global £1217 31/5/2006
arrow global £1121 31/5/2006
lowel £40 defaulted 10/10/2006
lowel £314 defaulted 12/4/2006


Experian

CCJ
£3914 26/8/08

Defaults
C L finance 3629 5/6/2006
loads of wonga loans (about 10) I had a problem with these but defaulted on the last one last month and have arranged to pay £60 over 12 months so i can no longer take these out either.
capquest £230 defaulted 12/10/2009


This is everything that is outstanding and defaulted etc.
My aim is to improve my credit score over the next few years the best I can and to find out what everyone thinks the best option is for me as national debt line seem to think because most of the debt is nearly 6 year old to ignore it and it will become statue barred and drop off my credit file. I also want to become more responsible with money and in a few years look to buy a house and have a family and teach my children how NOT to do it and they will not make the same mistakes I have.

This has made me ill over the years and I have had a dark cloud following me and would love nothing more than to have a fresh start and learn from my mistakes. I am so ashamed but I do what to put this right and I would love to be able to budget every month and stick to it and save for a rainy day fund etc.

I'm sorry that I have gone on alot, I just really hope someone can help. Thankyou so much for taking the time to read xx

Growurown

Hi in a pickle, so sorry to hear about all your troubles. Don't beat yourself up about it we are all in the same boat. Credit was thrown at us before everything went pear shaped, if you didn't spend on your credit card you used to get letters offering to up your limit. We all took advantage of what seemed like easy money.

National Debtline are correct, after six years these old debts will go. Defaults last six years on your credit record too. As to the more recent debts I would ask National Debtline about how to handle them, and they have probably got advice to on how to improve your credit rating too. I expect you can find that on MSE too.

I would be open and honest with your partner about your past then he won't get any nasty surprises when you embark on house buying. He sounds like a nice guy

You have learnt the hard way so think upon this as a fresh start, put it behind you and look forward to a happy future.

in_a_pickle9

Growurown wrote: »

Hi in a pickle, so sorry to hear about all your troubles. Don't beat yourself up about it we are all in the same boat. Credit was thrown at us before everything went pear shaped, if you didn't spend on your credit card you used to get letters offering to up your limit. We all took advantage of what seemed like easy money.

National Debtline are correct, after six years these old debts will go. Defaults last six years on your credit record too. As to the more recent debts I would ask National Debtline about how to handle them, and they have probably got advice to on how to improve your credit rating too. I expect you can find that on MSE too.

I would be open and honest with your partner about your past then he won't get any nasty surprises when you embark on house buying. He sounds like a nice guy

You have learnt the hard way so think upon this as a fresh start, put it behind you and look forward to a happy future.

Thankyou for this.

So would I be right to ignore the ones that are to be statue barred this year and concentrate on the newer debt as such?

Also do CCJ's drop off your credit file after 6 years and should I arrange to set up a payment plan with them?
How long does it take for something to clear off your credit file after the default date has reached its 6 years?

Sorry for all the questions, I just have so many of them x

angel_rainbow

Hi Pickle! I think you definitely need to have a chat with your boyfriend. Having adverse credit needn't be a barrier to renting. My husband and I are in an interlocking IVA and we rent privately although we needed a guarantor. Buying is probably not something we could do until our IVA drops off our credit file at the 6 year point.
Did you not have any payment plan arranged for the CCJs at the time you were taken to court?

in_a_pickle9

angel_rainbow wrote: »

Hi Pickle! I think you definitely need to have a chat with your boyfriend. Having adverse credit needn't be a barrier to renting. My husband and I are in an interlocking IVA and we rent privately although we needed a guarantor. Buying is probably not something we could do until our IVA drops off our credit file at the 6 year point.
Did you not have any payment plan arranged for the CCJs at the time you were taken to court?

I wouldn't be able to get a guarantor which concerns me, however my partner has a good credit history as far as I am aware.

To be honest I wasn't aware of any CCJ's as just ignored letters and calls etc so I have never made offer of payment. Is this something I should look at doing?

Thanks

Carly

BlushingRose

in_a_pickle9 wrote: »

I wouldn't be able to get a guarantor which concerns me, however my partner has a good credit history as far as I am aware.

If that's the case, make sure you and your man are not financially linked, then he could be the one to get the mortgage alone until such time as your credit rating improves.

Growurown

in_a_pickle9 wrote: »

Thankyou for this.

So would I be right to ignore the ones that are to be statue barred this year and concentrate on the newer debt as such?

Also do CCJ's drop off your credit file after 6 years and should I arrange to set up a payment plan with them?
How long does it take for something to clear off your credit file after the default date has reached its 6 years?

Sorry for all the questions, I just have so many of them x

Yes I reckon you can ignore the ones over 6 years. My understanding is that CCJ's and defaults last for 6 years on your file too.

I found this link originally given by Fermi

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/faq/CCJ2.html

fatbelly

in_a_pickle9 wrote: »

Thankyou for this.

So would I be right to ignore the ones that are to be statue barred this year and concentrate on the newer debt as such?

What 'newer' debt do you have? Your first post seemed to say that the debts were incurred when you were 18-20 and you are now 25. Everything on your credit files looks pretty old.

in_a_pickle9

fatbelly wrote: »

What 'newer' debt do you have? Your first post seemed to say that the debts were incurred when you were 18-20 and you are now 25. Everything on your credit files looks pretty old.

Hi

Most of the debt is old and some of it is due to drop off my file this year.... The newer debt I have is thing like wonga , phone bills from last year etc, nothing too big and I am trying to come to an arrangement with all the newer stuff so I can get it all cleared off in a a year or 2. I'm just unsure wether to ignore all the old stuff and let it drop off my file (including ccj's) or to contact them but then as I understand the 6 years will start again do I am more than likely to get pestered.

Thanks

in_a_pickle9

Also I haven't made any payments to any of the ccj's I have. Sould I make a payment arrangement with these even though some are due to drop off my file?
I don't think ccj's ever become statue barred under the limitation act if I am correct?

Thanks

cutestkids

Hi OP

What strikes me is most of these debts defaulted a long time ago so you have not had these to pay every month but you don't seem to have changed the way you manage your finances, even after these drop off your credit file you will have to be very carefull so as not to end up in just as much mess as you were originally.

It may be an idea to post up a SOA where you can look at exactly where your money goes and where you can cut back.

The key to becomming and more importantly staying debt free is good budgeting and knowing exactly where every penny goes otherwise it will very quickly get out of control again.