I
was looking through your articles on credit file & repair (extremely
helpful) and the one item that I am not completely clear on is
default notices on a credit file are they handled in the same way as
ccj's (i.e., removed from a persons record after 6 yrs), which
brings me to my real question:
I
have a default notice on my record that is about 61/2 yrs old (and
probably like a lot of people had forgotten about it) but just
recently I was contacted by a finance company stating that they had
bought the debt from the original creditors, and therefore were now
recovering the debt.
They stated that if I agreed to pay that the debt that I would be
issued with a certificate of satisfaction and that they could mark
my credit record as having satisfied this debt, is this true?
Finally, if I settle this debt and they do mark my file as settled:
on Debt Management and
Bankruptcy
Our advisors will be happy to
give you free debt advice about how you can manage your
debts
1) will this then remain on my record for a further 6
yrs? and
2) if this is the case would I not be better off (in
terms of my credit record) not settling the debt?
Many thanks for the advise, the web site that you
provide has been very informative and helpful, many of
the sites out there are very confusing but yours has
already helped a lot.
Reply
Yes, defaults are automatically removed on the sixth
anniversary. After this period the debt is dead - plain
and simple.
A formal default can only be issued where a live
agreement exists. i.e.
If you had a hire purchase agreement dated 12 Aug 1993,
and you missed the next three payments Sept, Oct and
Nov, the creditor would issue a formal default for the
three months.
If you did not settle the default, the HP company would
probably terminate the HP agreement once terminated no
more defaults can be issued, as you cannot be in default
of something that is terminated.
If the creditor failed to take action in the six years
since the default: tough!
If you have your sums wrong, the creditor, or the new
owner of the debt, can take action to recover the debt
if under six years since their last formal action.
I would still look to settle for 10% of the debt and let
them come back to you with a yes or no, and how much
they will settle for: dont be too keen to settle!
A satisfaction notice will only exist for as long as the
default has to go to reach its sixth anniversary.
