Hi everyone,

I'm just new to this and have never been able to talk about what I've been struggling with

so want to start by writing it all down and getting it out of my system.

I know it's a long story but support is really all I'm after right now (and any experienced advice!)

. I'm 19 years old, Male, A student and I work part time.

I've previously worked full time and had good paying jobs and didn't have a worry in the world until I turned 18

and had my first "offer" letter from a credit card company.

I applied, and was rejected.

Then I got deep into the internet and discovered what a credit score was so immediately sent away for a copy of my own.

To my horror, weeks after my 18th birthday, I had a credit score lower than 250

and 3 defaulted accounts listed under my name at an address I had lived at in my early teens.

But I had just turned 18 how could this be?

Exactly my thoughts...

The accounts were all in my name

but had a date of birth that had been reversed (1979 instead of 97).

The accounts were active from 2009 to 2012 when I would have been aged 12-15.

I immediately raised this with Equifax and 2 of the accounts were quickly removed from my file after I provided proof of ID.

However, there was an account from Studio 24 that still had not been removed.

I contacted Studio (Express Gifts) in July 2015 both by letter and email.

I provided proof of ID and Address and copies of my credit report which showed the defaulted accounts.

I was passed from pillar to post until March 2016 when they informed the account was now closed

and the notice removed from my credit report.

All seemed well with the world and I had no need for credit at the time

so chose to push the whole fiasco to the back of my mind

and enjoy my last summer before University.

Cut to July 2016 and I receive a letter from Cabot Financial informing me that my debt of £845.87 had been sold to them by Express Gifts. The initial default amount was £120.94. I called Cabot and they rectified the situation in around 2 months, Express Gifts sent me a cheque for £85 as a "goodwill gesture."

During the whole ordeal, I also had contact with the police who believed I had been a victim of ID theft

(we moved out of the property in question in 2008).

However, nothing came to light of it and I have since moved away from my home town

and don't believe anything will ever come of it.

As a result of this right royal muck up by a business years before I could even get credit,

my score has always remained at the lowest tier

(as far as I am aware, removing default notices will not up your score but will simply change your report).

I have never been able to obtain credit and couldn't even get an overdraft facility or a student credit card.

I still can't get the latter but have managed to obtain a £500 overdraft on my student account with RBS

which has been excellent help.

On top of this,

I have now fallen into the trap of payday loans

and have probably had in excess of 10 since I moved away from my hometown,

became estranged from my family

(I had a fallout with my parents as I believed my mother was the one who used my information to obtain credit),

and started out myself.

I now only owe £250 to wageday advance but this is after 1 deferral payment last month.

On top of that,

I have an Aqua credit card with a £100 facility that I had for emergencies

- which of course sods law I had to get my washing machine repaired right before payday so used that.

My plan is to be debt free by August,

I wan't to have everything paid off and not have a single line of credit

bar my interest free student overdraft and £100 Aqua card which I may shut down

as my score has lowered even more since getting it.

I just really wanted to write everything down and see if anyone else has ever been through the same thing as me,

I'm miles away from home and have no one to talk to about it.

They told me life'd be hard, but I never thought it would be as bad as this.

hey great first post and welcome aboard.

it a really difficult thing ID theft by someone you know.

yes I suspect you are correct.

best idea is what you are doing

certainly dump the PDL's.

the other credit wont harm your score.

what defaults if any do you have

and are these old addresses showing on your file.

lets findout what is pulling it down for you.

Welcome to CAG.

You will probably find that it is the payday loans that have ruined your credit rating in recent times. I would suggest searching for a local Credit Union and start saving regular amounts each week/month with them. When the time comes that you need a small loan to cover an emergency, the CU will be able to offer a much lower interest rate than even the Aqua card.

I started saving £5 per week directly from my pay packet a couple of years ago and can now tap in to loans of up to £10,000 at an APR of 12.7% if needed.

The only other advice I can give is to keep your spending under control, try not to life beyond your means, and if you can keep away from the payday lenders, your credit score will improve. It will take time, but if you start now, by the time you get to the stage where you might want a mortgage, your choices will be greatly improved.

I now have no defaults showing on my account and keep up to date with payments on my current credit so don't have any.

The old addresses are showing up yes,

however I personally think that it should only show addresses from when I was 18 years old.

(I believe this is due to accounts that were opened that did not default

and I personally did not have the time or the patience to get removed

however I have filed disputes with Noddle over these).

Payday loans should be gone from my life come next month.

My only worry is a charge I got from Aqua for going over my limit by £1 which has resulted in me going back over my limit.

These charges all started when I used it at an ATM

and now whenever I pay money into it the charge brings it right back over the limit.

To make it worse, for some reason RBS bounced the DD for this month

and I don't have the money to pay this months bill until payday.

I'm hoping to clear this in full come payday (25th of this month).

Will this show as a default?

My next payment date to Aqua is 15/07 however I have technically missed 15/06.

Will me uploading a copy of my report (with obvious personal information omitted) be of any use?

After having a deeper look at this website, my problems seem so trivial compared to what others have had to deal with!

Credit Union is the next thing on my list come payday.

I applied to one months ago but keep forgetting to go in with my passport to finalise so will be doing this aswell.

Yeah, I hope to get the poison that is Payday loans out of my life -

they prey on the desperate!

if you got hit with an penalty [£12] fee

and that was the cause of the overlimit

and thus you then got the spiral of £12 O/L penalty fees too

and this has been shown on your CRA file

then, they are reclaimable and are unlawful

so must be removed from your CRA file.

As with the others, Welcome to CAG

If you need support in dealing with the ID Theft aftermath, please let me know. My story is very similar to yours

Id like Can I make a suggestion. Why not go on Clear Score and Noddle. Get your CRA Files online free for life