Newbie Questions

johnpacker

Hi all,

Long time MSE reader but first time poster... so please go nice on me

I've been supporting a family since I was 20 years old (now 30) and back then I was pretty bad with money and got into a pile of debt. Credit card bills meant that I ended up not being able to pay around £15k and in the end had to enter an agreement with Payplan.

This agreement is still going and the £15k is down to under £4k and I should be able to pay off the remaining £4k within the next 6 months as my financial situation is much improved.

This is obviously all heading in the right direction which I am very happy about however I did a credit check today (via equifax) and had a few questions.

My account is showing as "Caution" - purely for the Credit Agreements section.

The questions are:

• I was under the impressions that Pay Plan would mean I have some kind of note on my account - but I can't see this anywhere, should I?
• There is a Default for Halifax which shows as defaulting in December 07 - looking on the site it seems to suggest that this is removed after 6 years (so the end of the year) - is this right?

I do have a credit card now - but use this pretty much purely for work and pay it all off at the end of the month. It is a Capital One (all I could get). I also have a Very account that is paid in full at the end of the month.

There are a few other late payments on the account but these are all pre-2008.

What is the best way to start building back up my credit now? I did attempt about 6 months ago to get a Tesco Credit card which I purely wanted to help build back up my credit but was declined - and as I was under the impressions this went on my file I have not tried again since.

Does anyone have any suggestions here?

And finally I have one more issue - I got something in the post today to say that I owed £700 from an old Halifax agreement. I read somewhere about a 6 year rule and I have certainly not paid anything on this account for over 6 years and if I am honest I have no idea what it even is. What exactly is the 6 year rule and what should I do here? Should I just phone them and ask to see a copy of the agreement to see what it was actually for? Advice on that appreciated.

Sorry I know that is a lot of questions but things are looking good now it seems

fermi

- A creditor may record a DMP/arrangement marker if you are on a DMP, but it's not compulsory. For many the only sign on your credit file will be a regularly reducing balance.

- Yes, the default and all sign of that account will be removed in Dec 2013.

For building credit may start here?

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/bad-credit-credit-cards

Regards the old debt, if yours it may be statute barred.

See: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2606811

If you are not even sure it's yours, then make them prove it is first.

See: Letter when you know nothing about about the debt - AKA "Prove it" letter

or both if appropriate: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=34906257&postcount=5

johnpacker

Thanks fermi

I will send the combined letter today, very helpful.

I've also just applied and been accepted for a first direct gold card (they are also my bank) so I will start to use this instead of / in combination with my capital one card.

Was surprised to be accepted - guess it shows that things are going in the right direction..