Help Understanding My Credit Report

HeyHeyMyMy

Finally got round to getting my credit report, but it may as well be in Chinese.

It details a list of credit I have had - I understand that.
What I don't understand is at the bottom of each lender there is a number. A few of the numbers are RED 8's which means "The account is defaulted. You have failed to keep to your credit agreement and have not responded satisfactorily to requests to put your account in order. As a result the credit agreement has ended"
Every single one of the agreements with a red 8 by it is now either "settled" or "satisfied" (what's the difference?!). Should the status, therefore, now be altered or is that still correct?

MrsTinks

The status is still correct - they will continue to show that you defaulted because you did. The status of settled or satisfied means you have dealt with it and the debt is now closed. It doesn't however remove the fact you defaulted - that will drop off your records given time nothing else.
Defaults will drop off 6 years after you settled them - only way to get them removed before is if they are on there due to an error by the creditor.

HeyHeyMyMy

I have now obtained my credit score - 758/1000. Is that really that bad? Having sifted through my report, all recent payments have been made on time and the green 0's are really beginning to build up, which I'm quite proud of. However, I still have 5 default notices on my file - these are all prior to 2005 and having read a few articles knocking around on the net it would seem there is a chance these can be removed by default (excuse the pun!)

My questions:

Is my score (758/1000) bad? I can't get credit for the life of me (not that I want to particularly - at this stage I'm just testing the water for when I get round to getting a house/mortgage). But the feeling I get is that no lenders will touch me with a bargepole?

Is what I've read about getting default notices prior to mid-2005 removed true? Ie if they can't substantiate it they have to take them off your file?

I feel I've put a lot of hard work into getting myself debt free over the last few years and am proud of what I've achieved, but I just want to stop being held back by my poor credit history. I know people on here will say "well it shouldn't matter - you shouldn't be needing to get credit if you've managed to get yourself debt free without it" but it's the freedom of knowing I can should I NEED to that I long for.

HeyHeyMyMy

HeyHeyMyMy wrote: »

I have now obtained my credit score - 758/1000. Is that really that bad? Having sifted through my report, all recent payments have been made on time and the green 0's are really beginning to build up, which I'm quite proud of. However, I still have 5 default notices on my file - these are all prior to 2005 and having read a few articles knocking around on the net it would seem there is a chance these can be removed by default (excuse the pun!)

My questions:

Is my score (758/1000) bad? I can't get credit for the life of me (not that I want to particularly - at this stage I'm just testing the water for when I get round to getting a house/mortgage). But the feeling I get is that no lenders will touch me with a bargepole?

Is what I've read about getting default notices prior to mid-2005 removed true? Ie if they can't substantiate it they have to take them off your file?

I feel I've put a lot of hard work into getting myself debt free over the last few years and am proud of what I've achieved, but I just want to stop being held back by my poor credit history. I know people on here will say "well it shouldn't matter - you shouldn't be needing to get credit if you've managed to get yourself debt free without it" but it's the freedom of knowing I can should I NEED to that I long for.

Can anyone help me with this?

GeorgeUK

Re the credit score
Different companies use different methods to calculate your credit score. They will all have a different way of doing this so although that credit score you have may not look too bad, the criteria that the lenders use may be completely different, so i'm afraid it doesn't really mean that much.

Lets look at possibilities for why you may not be getting credit though.
Are you on the electoral roll at your current address?
Do the credit reference agencies have your correct address or are there any mistakes?
How much available credit do you have compared to your income? (not including mortgage)

Do you have any accounts linked with anyone else? Do they have bad credit?