"I have no history of bad debt"

SL24

Due to some ill-advised decisions and a small problem with impulse control, I got myself into a fair amount of debt and rather deep hole in my youth. Thanks to the help of this board, I entered into an IVA in 2000 and completed the IVA in 2007. I left the country to work abroad in 2011 and I am looking to return to the UK next year. Having learnt my lesson, I've had not more money issues since then so now I'm just planning my move and looking at reestablishing my credit after only leaving a single bank account open from before.
My question is, given that the IVA was completed 13 years ago and thus off my credit record, do I need to disclose this in any applications? Can/should I make the statement "I have no history of bad debt?"

[Deleted User]

No, as it would be a fraudulent statement. 

IVAs are bad, but CIFAS markers are much much worse.

sourcrates

After you are discharged from bankruptcy there is no legislation saying you have to declare this in the future. You are however legally obliged to disclose your bankruptcy if directly asked.

SL24

sourcrates said:

After you are discharged from bankruptcy there is no legislation saying you have to declare this in the future. You are however legally obliged to disclose your bankruptcy if directly asked.

Just so I'm clear, would IVA be the same as Bankruptcy in this case? i.e. I would be legally obliged to disclose I was in an IVA or debt management program if asked directly?
If asked if I was bankrupt at anytime I should not answer yes?

sourcrates

If you are asked directly "have you ever been bankrupt ?" "ever been subject to an IVA ?" "ever been in debt mangement ?" you would answer yes.

Mostly you will just be asked, "have you been bankrupt in the last 6 years ?" or some other specific yes/no answer.

A lot of the time they won`t bother with such questions, 6 years is deamed long enough to be forgiven for our past financial mis-givings, most companies you once had debt with, will lend to you again, once negative information has gone from your credit file, its what keeps the world moving.

mwarby

if its for a mortgage or similar you'll find a lot of questions on the form which ask if you've ever had a bankruptcy, Iva, dro, dmp etc. I posted the questions on my mortgage application form a while back. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6141139/is-dro-still-visible-on-file-after-six-years

Not 100% on law, but if your asked a question and you chose to answer it, it'd better be answered accurately, if you answer falsely you might find you get a fraud marker, if yiu don't answer it they may not want to do business with you