Newbie needing advice

super13man

Hi guys im new here and was after a little advice. I have recently got a new job paying alot better than my previous one and as such think its time to try and repair the damage i did to credit score when i was younger and also repay off my debts. I have a query if a debt has been sold to a DCA and is showing up as partially settled on my credit file will paying off the amount the dca are chasing me for effect my credit score because as far as i can see the dca are not on it so can they update it. Also will paying off outstanding debts that are on my credit file improve my score at all. Basically im trying to build my credit score and get debt free but not sure which is the best way to go about it.

any help would be appreciated cheers

kittykat17

I'm pretty much in the same situation as the OP. I had to give up work to care for my mother almost 10 years ago. I went through all my savings before I knew I could claim Carer's benefit, etc. Ended up having my house repossessed two years ago and have a lot of debts. I couldn't go into a debt management plan through being on benefits and had too much debt (because of the mortgage company) for an IVA. My mother died in February so I'm now able to start working part-time. I was very lucky and was offered the first job that I had an interview for. The money's not great and I can't claim WTC as I will only be working 25 hours a week but it's a start. I'm also waiting for a decision on my PIP claim (11 months since I first applied) which, although the money is to help with my care needs, will mean that I can claim WTC. Do I start paying off all my debts or go though Debt Management? Thanks for any advise.

Tixy

The debt that is partially settled on your credit file - did you agree a reduced partial settlement with the lender? Does the account show there is a balance outstanding or nil outstanding?
Are you being chased by a debt collector for this debt?
What is the default date for the debt on your file?

Assuming your credit file shows a nil balance then paying anything further to this debt is unlikely to increase your ability to get new credit.

The other outstanding debts you mention - are these debts that you are up to date with repayments or debts that have defaults on them?

If defaulted then satisfied defaults are considered to be a little better than unsatisfied (but still not very good), so paying them off should help your ability to get some credit, but you may well be limited to subprime credit for a while.

If up to date accounts then reducing the outstanding amounts or paying them off should improve your chance of getting new credit.

super13man

Tixy wrote: »

The debt that is partially settled on your credit file - did you agree a reduced partial settlement with the lender? Does the account show there is a balance outstanding or nil outstanding?
Are you being chased by a debt collector for this debt?
What is the default date for the debt on your file?

Assuming your credit file shows a nil balance then paying anything further to this debt is unlikely to increase your ability to get new credit.

The other outstanding debts you mention - are these debts that you are up to date with repayments or debts that have defaults on them?

If defaulted then satisfied defaults are considered to be a little better than unsatisfied (but still not very good), so paying them off should help your ability to get some credit, but you may well be limited to subprime credit for a while.

If up to date accounts then reducing the outstanding amounts or paying them off should improve your chance of getting new credit.

Hi no i didnt agree a partial settlement and the balance now says nil. Im thinking that a dca bought the debt and the debt was settled by them. The default date is march 2010.

The other debts also have defaults on them but these came at a later date. I basically took out more credit at the time than i could actually afford stopped making payments and now its biting me in the !!!.

Thanks for the reply

longtermplanner

super13man wrote: »

Hi no i didnt agree a partial settlement and the balance now says nil. Im thinking that a dca bought the debt and the debt was settled by them. The default date is march 2010.

If the balance says nil, why are they chasing you? If they raen't, then just forget about this debt. It's odd that you didn't make a partial settlement, but if you have other debts then there is no point in worrying about this one!

Whatever happens your credit record is not going to look good until it drops off 6 years after the default date. No point in trying to pay the rest of it so it is shown as fully settled because the Default will still be there. Use your money to clear your other debts instead.

sourcrates

Sometimes the outstanding balance stated on a credit report has no actual bearing on the real situation, they do not always update balances, so don't pay too much attention to these figures, are you sure you didn't partially settle the account at some point in the past ?


A DCA would not settle your account for you, are they still writing to you at all ?