Guidance needed - very confused

Bisc124

Hi

I'm lookimg for a bit of guidance, I settled bad debts in 2013 which I had been paying back for 5 years through a debt management plan.

I am now fully debt free and would like to get a mortgage having saved up a 10% deposit since clearing the debt.

I earn a good salary, pay my current household bills by direct debit and use and pay off a credit card every month in order to improve my credit rating.

Based on the six years it take for debts to be removed from your credit file am I right in thinking there's no chance I'll be considered for a regular mortgage until 2019?!

Also, I've checked with the credit reference agencies Experian and Check My File and received very different reports.

Experian scored me 950 with a good rating, whereas CHeck My File only scored me 460. With such conflicting scores, I have no idea what to believe or how to proceed?

I'd be grateful for any advice.

Many thanks

engineer_amy

first - those scores mean nothing. Experian and check my file have scored you using their own secret internal scoring methods. Every lender will use their own criteria and score you differently, so don't put too much faith in those ratings. Also while Experian is scored out of a total of 999, check my file may be scored out of a lower total, eg. Equifax is scored out of 600 (I think)


All lenders will have their own criteria for scoring and lending and will have different rules regarding old debt.
A mortgage broker will be able to advise on who may be best to approach, given your history.


As far as I am aware, as debts get older, they will have less of an impact of your credit file i.e. defaults 4 years ago with a good record of managing your finances since then would be much more favourable than recent defaults/ccjs.


Go and see a mortgage broker with copies of your credit files, they will be able to tell you whether you have a chance of getting a mortgage any time soon, or if you should leave it for a while

Bisc124

So it could be that my rating isn't that bad at all if one company rates out of a lower number? It's almost reassuring!

How likely do you think it would be after 2 years?

Thanks again

Tixy

Forget. the. scores.

You need to look at the actual data on your files with each of the 3 credit reference agencies, experian, equifax and callcredit.

Then look at each credit account entry in turn. Any credit accounts that have a default recorded on them will drop off your credit file 6years after the default date - so you need to look at the default date and see when it will drop off.
Any credit account that doesn't have a default will drop off your files 6years after the account is closed, if you have accounts without defaults then have a look at what missed payments etc are showing on them all.

Hopefully your creditors in the DMP all registered defaults quite quickly and hopefully they have already disappeared from your credit file or about to drop off.