re waking 5 year old debt for better credit rating?

tommyessex

done a few hours searching and not really any clearer on what to do, i owe £288 to lowell portfolio for a debt from december 2006, I was made aware of this by a recent credit check i did. my credit score is showing as 801 and apart from this debt my account is managed well. I want to take a car loan out soon and want to know what will be most beneficial to my rating.

Should i ignore this old debt as paying it will make my score worse or make it show on my credit report for another six years?

Or even though its 5 1/2 years old pay it off in full and see my credit score improve?

My only concern is my credit score as i want this loan in a few months, i want to do the right thing and pay it off but only if it will benefit my score and not make it show on my report for longer or reduce my score.

Also after payment how long will it usually take for my report to be updated?

I apologise if this is a question asked lots of times before. I did try searching but had no luck

paulmapp8306

Forget that credit score - its meaninless. If the debt is 5.5 years old - just let it drop off in 6 months time. VERY few lenders will take notice of something that long ago if everything else has been good since.

Tixy

Hi

Whether or not you pay off this debt it won't change how long it appears on your report. It will drop off your report 6years from the date of the original default.

If you did pay it off then it would usually take anything from 2-6weeks roughly for this to be reflected on your credit file.

In general a satisfied default looks better than an unsatisfied one.

Whether you'll be able to get a car loan with a small old unsatisfied default - you may find you are able to, though some top lenders may well decline you - or you may be offered a higher APR. You'd probably be more likely to get finance secured on a car, than an unsecured loan.

Ideally could you wait until after the default has dropped off before trying to obtain a loan?