For FAQ - How long will my DMP affect my credit report?

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For FAQ - How long will my DMP affect my credit report?

How long the accounts included in a DMP, and any DMP marker added to them, remain on your credit report depends on whether the accounts on your report have had a default recorded by the lender.


Undefaulted account.

An undefaulted account remains on your report for 6 years from the settlement date. So under a DMP where all accounts are settled together the accounts and any history/markers would remain for 6 years from the completion date of the DMP. Obviously if some are settled early, then these will be removed sooner.


Defaulted account.

A defaulted account is removed entirely from your report 6 years from the original recorded default date. Every trace of the account is removed; history, balances the default, everything. Anyone checking your report after that 6 years point would see no evidence that the account and default had existed.



All the accounts in my DMP have had a default added.

In this case all trace of the included accounts and the DMP will disappear from your report as the defaults expire, and when the last one drops off no trace of the accounts or DMP will remain.

This applies even if you have not finished paying off the DMP at that point.

However, while the accounts or DMP will not show on your credit report, if asked about existing debts/DMPs etc by a prospective lender, then you are still obliged to declare them.


I have a mixture of defaulted and undefaulted accounts.

Here the effect on your credit report will obviously lessen as the defaulted accounts drop off, the remaining undefaulted ones will still remain visible with their adverse history for 6 years from eventual settlement.

Because of this it is often advantageous if creditors do indeed default your accounts early in a long term DMP if that should have happened anyway, or was inevitable in the long run.

Arguments for when a creditor should file a default under a DMP can be found in --> ICO Guidance - Filing defaults with credit reference agencies

Some users of the Debt-Free Wannabe board in DMPs have had success in getting late defaults backdated or added. Guidance in the first instance can be sought on the DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9.


DMP/AP flags.

A lender may add a DMP or AP marker to an account to show you are acting responsibly and paying back under a DMP. A DMP marker is attached to an individual account, not your credit file as a whole, so they are removed with the rest of the account data 6 years from the settlement date.

On an account where a default is later recorded it would instead be 6 years from the default date

** DMP/AP markers do or did not apply to defaulted accounts, so one can not be added, and one that may have existed prior to the default no longer applies. However, you can add a notice of correction yourself to explain that the debt is included in a DMP if you wish.

(Note: Industry discussions have indicated that it may be appropriate to still add such markers to defaulted accounts, but I have not seen this in practice)

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