Debt on credit file

[Martyboy]

Good evening all

My partner and I have some debts on our credit file that we monitor with checkmyfile. We are paying things off at the moment and know that we have got ourselves in this mess and willing to accept that.

However, I have a 2/3 defaulted debts that will approach the 6year mark in 2015/2016. My partner and I are looking to set up an agreement with a firm called step change to make 1 monthly payment to pay towards all debts, paying around £250 p/m it will take around 2.5 years to pay off. They do not take a cut for themselves and nothing has been agreed yet.

My question is, should we include my debts that are coming up to being 6years defaulted as I have read that these will be removed from my credit reference and my score will adjust accordingly. I want to get back on the straight and narrow as soon as possible. If I was to exclude these debts we would be able to repay other outstanding debts quicker.

My my partner and I have been together around 2years now, stayed together for 18months and considering a mortgage but have these hurdles to overcome first before we will be considered.

Thanks for any help

Martin

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Debt on credit file

Whether you include the debts on your DMP or not won't make any difference to your credit file. The defaults will drop off 6 years after they were recorded, regardless of whether payments were made or not. More significant is the fact that, if you haven't paid or acknowledged those debts in nearly 6 years, including them on a DMP at this late stage would reset the clock for statute barred purposes. :scared: :clock:

[Martyboy]

Re: Debt on credit file

Thanks for the reply

No I haven't acknowledged or paid them.

So it looks like it will be quicker for me to allow these to become statute barred than to include them in a DMP as it would restart the 6year wait, and also would take 3years to clear the debt.

Once statute barred, are the default notices removed from my credit report therefore improving the result/score lenders will get if they file a credit check?

Thanks again.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Debt on credit file

So it looks like it will be quicker for me to allow these to become statute barred than to include them in a DMP as it would restart the 6year wait, and also would take 3years to clear the debt.

If you're close to SBd, it would be unwise to include them in a DMP at this stage. The only reason to restart payments would be if court action was imminent and you couldn't challenge the debt in any other way.

I've also got a few debts which are just 2 years away from SBd and the last thing I'd do is restart payments at this point. :clock:

Once statute barred, are the default notices removed from my credit report therefore improving the result/score lenders will get if they file a credit check?

Thanks again.

The two are independent of each other, even though the period for both is 6 years (at least in England and Wales). Defaults on your credit file will drop off 6 years after they were recorded, regardless of whether payments were made or not. In many cases, people make payments after defaulting, so the debt is not SBd when the defaults drop off. Normally defaults would have been recorded 3 to 6 months after missing your first payment. Provided no further payments were made (and there was no written acknowledgment), the defaults would be on your file a few months after the debt is SBd. How long would depend on when they were recorded.