Will defaults affect me for the full 6 years?

Legacy_user

Hi all,

So basically, I have a small question that I've not been able to find info on... so I have around 7 defaults from 2015, most are now paid off and I have one final debt with £500 before it becomes satisfied.

I have a credit card with a limit of £1250 and 2 cars on monthly insurance which is reported to my credit file. I've not missed a payment on anything in a long time, but my credit still remains low due to my defaults.

I'm still unable to open a full bank account with Halifax/Nationwide etc and am still stuck with the basic accounts. Will this ever stop happening before the 6 years are up? Or am I poised to get stuck for the next 2.5 years? Ideally I want to upgrade my Halifax account to a full current account, with no overdraft etc but it seems impossible to do.

enthusiasticsaver

It takes 6 years for defaults to fall off your record so even if they are satisfied they will still show up on credit searches. What does the full Halifax current account give you that you do not get with a basic account?

System

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

It takes 6 years for defaults to fall off your record so even if they are satisfied they will still show up on credit searches. What does the full Halifax current account give you that you do not get with a basic account?

Apple Pay! Lol, I often forget my wallet, it's not a huge issue but it's quite annoying.

Suseka97

Unfortunately the answer is yes - defaults remain on your credit file for 6 years from the date they were reported, irrespective of whether you've paid them or not.

enthusiasticsaver

Cant you open up a basic account with a debit card which can be used with Apple pay? I think Barclays does one. Is it because Halifax uses Electron?

enthusiasticsaver

Nationwide flex basic will support Apple Pay.

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accounts/flexbasic/features-and-benefits

System

Halifax switched to visa debit now, I think up until a year ago.

Will take a look at Nationwide, I've been with Halifax for 5/6 years, but I guess a switch wouldn't be the worst thing.

I'm hoping after 4/5 years, they'll still affect me but won't stop me from getting a single thing like they do now. Or is this not the case?

Willing2Learn

vq12 wrote: »

I'm still unable to open a full bank account with Halifax/Nationwide etc and am still stuck with the basic accounts. Will this ever stop happening before the 6 years are up? Or am I poised to get stuck for the next 2.5 years? Ideally I want to upgrade my Halifax account to a full current account, with no overdraft etc but it seems impossible to do.

I upgraded to a Santander 'everyday' current account after about two years of having their basic account and four years remaining of my defaults. I did a further upgrade to the Santander 123 account another year later (still three years left before my defaults were to drop off).


The reason I've typed all the above is to show you that maybe you can get a normal account. Have you phoned up Halifax or gone into a branch to enquire? Have you phoned other banks too?

System

Willing2Learn wrote: »

I upgraded to a Santander 'everyday' current account after about two years of having their basic account and four years remaining of my defaults. I did a further upgrade to the Santander 123 account another year later (still three years left before my defaults were to drop off).


The reason I've typed all the above is to show you that maybe you can get a normal account. Have you phoned up Halifax or gone into a branch to enquire? Have you phoned other banks too?

Funnily enough, I do have a Santander current account but don't really like the app. Seems petty, but I don't like that to view pending transactions, you need to look at another app. But I'll definitely consider it, maybe I should just use it then switch back to Halifax when I can upgrade.

Halifax told me I'm not eligibile and they check every month, so I was just going to wait 6 months and try again.

lulabelle01

I’ve just opened a basic Santander account and it says on the website you can make contactless payments with Apple etc