Debt paid off, still have terrible credit?

shaz1990

Hi,

To cut a long story short, from being 18-21 years old (I am now 25) I ran £4000 worth of debt up, I ignored letters, phone calls, moved addresses a lot until early last year when my nan so very gratefully took me a loan out to pay them all off which have now been defaulted on my account.

I am now ready to grow up and settle down and look to the future.. A mortgage, new car etc.. Only that my bad credit is ruining my plans ahead.

My debts were phone contracts, a small loan, silly little things I wrongly did being young and stupid are now ruining my future.

I know consolidated debts will remain on my credit for 6 years so does that mean I'll have to wait until I am 30 before lenders will even consider me?

I was recently granted an AquaOne credit builder card for a limit of £300 (very shocked) which I have been paying off monthly and now my credit is rock bottom?

Anyone in the same situation who can shred me some light from this never ending dark tunnel?

Thanks kindly

[Deleted User]

The accounts will fall off 6 years from default.

Continue to use your aqua card and clear in full each month. Ignore any scores the CRAs give you.

shaz1990

Thanks for replying, I have been paying the credit card off in full but my credit score always stays in very poor? I was thinking about cancelling it all together as there has been no change.

I'm scared to do loan searches or apply for any as that also has a negative effort!

robin58

As with all credit usage, it's how you manage your monetarily affairs over a period of time, maybe for awhile that will improve your score.

You did things when you were young and that is now leaning towards you.

I would not cancel that credit card unless you know you can get a better one because you have at least got a card which you are showing you can manage.

Also Credit scores are the worlds scourge. All they are for is for the CRA's to scare the pants off of people and create a money cow for them, not you.

[Deleted User]

shaz1990 wrote: »

I have been paying the credit card off in full but my credit score always stays in very poor?(

This is because your credit score is made up and means nothing. You may as well measure your credit worthiness by counting your freckles.

Smedders11

Credit-file building takes time. You'll probably not notice any improvement in your credit score (which at its very best is an incredibly crude measure of creditworthiness) for about 6-12 months once everything has been wrapped up.

The fallout from your defaults may take about a year before smaller credit lines become more readily available. There is much more to your credit file than an arbitrary score that lenders wil never see--what matters is the information on the report (missed payments, defaults, correct addresses, associations...), and information such as your income and outgoings.

For the time being don't cancel the card, just keep on clearing it every month. And do you actually need a loan right now, or are you just tempted to test the water?

pcman1985

I paid off a loan a last month a nd just got my updated report from Clearscore, and the "score" went down by 12 "points".
Shows how worthless and stupid these "scores" are
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: