Reapairing Credit Status - Experian etc -- WHY WORRY ANYMORE

[jimbo45]

Hi all

Since most people using CAG (including me) have got themselves for whatever reason into a spot of bother I do wonder why there are so many posts where people seem to worry endlessly over their "Credit Rating" listed by Experian etc.

 

I would advise anybody to think VERY SERIOUSLY why they need credit - especially if they have had any trouble in the past with any type of debt.

 

With ordinary Bank Cards (Debit cards) you don't need to carry large amounts of cash on you and these cards can be used in all cases where a Credit card can be used such as making online travel reservations / purchases etc etc.

 

It doesn't take too long to learn to live without a Credit card -- and if you own a property you won't get caught out by the sneaky "Charge Order" provision whereby Credit Card debt - supposedly unsecured can be turned into a secured debt against your house.

 

The best way of getting rid of all DCA **** is to TEAR UP YOUR CARD as soon as you can.

 

Some "Credit Repair" companies are also just basically rip off merchants offering you a "supposed VISA" card which requires you to keep a fixed amount on deposit -- for which you pay a HUGE amount of interest to "use the facility" -- which you can do for FREE by usuing an ordinary Bank Debit card.

 

So my best advice to ANYONE reading CAG posts this year is TEAR UP YOUR CREDIT CARD(S) and look with real pity on those hapless individuals who open their wallets and let a whole string of these cards out into full public display -- they will soon learn reality - especially in these uncertain times when jobs can be lost / outsourced at a moments noticed etc etc.

 

No credit -- then WHO CARES what experian et al hold on you. (Some of it when disclosed to unauthorized 3rd parties in any case could be construed as a breach of various Data protection acts anyway) --- waiting hopefully for a test case here to get these tittle tattlers shut down as well. Might never happen but even these bods have to slip up once -- and then BINGO.

 

 

Cheers and a happy DEBT FREE new year.

jimbo

[B3rty]

Can't tell you how true this is...I took the "wait six years route in 2006-07" and just live with out credit cards the feeling of having had a nice Christmas without debt is tremendous.

[PriorityOne]

In an ideal world... we'd all be debt free. Unfortunately, life isn't always so black and white.... I was one of those "hapless individuals" once

 

One reason people turn to credit cards is as a means of survival. This may not sound sensible, but when your back's against the wall, it's what happens in a bid to juggle income/outgoings and make sure things get paid.

 

Another reason is because they offer additional insurance on purchases which means that if a holiday company goes belly-up for example, then you would get a refund of monies paid (or the cc would).... but if you paid by debit card, then you would have a bigger fight on your hands and probably lose out.

 

Difficult subject.... but you make a valid point nonetheless.

 

[jed52]

Quite agree Jimbo.

I couldn't care less whats on my credit file. In fact I have never looked at it. I know for a fact that it will be trashed for a good few years yet. Especially since we lost everything 5 years ago. I dont have a mortgage, I rent, and the next time I buy a house is when I win the lottery next week.......

The only loan I've got, and hopefully the only one I'll need, is to buy a car, and I knew I'd have to pay through the nose for that so I budgeted for it.

I wouldn't have another credit card or loan unless it was absolutely neccessary.

jed

[lickthewallfatboy]

agree fully with the sentiments in post 1

 

the only reason I see to check credit files is to investigate the possibilty of taking them to court for publishing wrongful and/or duplicate defaults

 

£1000 per default

[jon888999]

Spot on! Until 2005 I had a perfect Credit Record, although to keep this meant some creative juggling money around cards. I could borrow what I wanted> Hence I ended up 100k in debt. Then the company I worked for went bust. I was earning about 60K A YEAR!! I had to take a job on about half the pay.

I agreed waht I thought were long term agreementys to pay reduced payments and this worked until late 2006 when HSBC sold my account to Phoenix. Marlin started harrassing me,then I found this site!!!

Now marlin shot thereselves in the foot taking me to court as now they get nothing! No CCA existed!

I cca'd my creditors and stopped paying, because I couldn't even afford the reduced payments.

The thing is that without credit I can afford to live a reasonable standard of life. You soon learn not to have a credit card, infact I only got a debit card again last year. I used a prepayed card during this time. Now I've got a Solo Card I know some people moan about these but i'm happy with it. The only place i've found you can't use it is Motorway services, although you can in the Petrol Stations.

I own my own house with a mortgage, the fixed rate ended in 2008 and I haven't tried to get it fixed again. I'll wait 2 years until as I understand it my credit file will be ok again. Infact just remembered it's 2010 so less then 2 years.

Can still get mobile phone contracts, budget accounts for Car Insurance and Home insurance etc. These have always been payed on time so these will be on my file as good payments.

But I don't intend taking out another Credit card or Loan as it's a downward spiral.

 

I've never checked my Credit File and don't intend to. To many cases where your information is misused when you do check it!

[sleepingdog]

Hi jon888999 , fully agree with what you say . One thing though about fixed rate mortgages , if you are not borrowing any more and just going for another product with the same company you are likely to be accepted as they don't check your credit record in those circumstances, only if you try changing mortgage company or increase borrowing do they credit check.

sleepingdog

[Adfax]

It is interesting that one of the main threats that DCAs use when trying to get a payment is that they will wreck your credit rating etc. The moment you stop worrying about your credit rating is the moment that the DCAs lose their hold over you.

 

And lets face it, if a DCA is chasing you, the chances are that your credit record is trashed anyway.

 

Having been - until very recently - one of those people who had loads of credit cards in his wallet, I can concur with the comments about soon learning to live without credit. It is a great feeling to know that Christmas was paid for using money I had in the bank - for the first time in years I am not dreading the thud of credit card bills landing on the doormat.

[sosumi]

Isn't it interesting to think that the former Directors/Executives of the banks who sc**ewed this country up are probably the only people who have perfect credit ratings?

Ooo don't get me started on CRAs!!

[Belaflat]

Its now approaching 6 years since all my woes started and I have managed all that time without any additional credit.

 

BUT......this year, well now in fact, I really need some additional funds but know its not going to happen. My daughter needs dental work doing and it has to be private since there is no NHS dentist available for her..(she is not at school before anyone asks)...work has started and a filling is due next week but I have no more money until the 26th of Jan. I have £120 to last until then but have to buy food with that and fuel for the car or I wont be going to work.

To top all that off, my central heating boiler has just packed in, great timing with this weather, but not too bad as I also have coal fires so I can get some heat in the house but I now have no hot water so thats the hard part.

 

In spite of my past experiences, if I could get credit now to tide me over I would.....sometimes the need is there rather than the want.

[ihpj]

Well done to the OP for starting this thread. It puts what we take for granted into perspective.

 

We all need credit of some sort from time to time, and I would like to be back into a position where I can access credit should I need to - but I fully intend to survive with what I have ... and live without what I have not.

[merlin100]

Same here, greedy ex wife coupled with my own naivety cost me plenty - but now, had 2 jobs for last 13 months, taking home £850 a week between them!

Wouldnt have a credit cared ever again even if they were free!!

And to be honest, a lot of hard work really pays off - I went into Comet just after Christmas and paid £700 in cash for a 50" TV. what made it all the better is the amount of people I saw paying with credit cards - I felt so free!!

So why worry people? Let the "industries" of this country do their worst. They can talk about me all they want, but as long as they dont know what Im earning, or where it is - Im having the last laugh!!!

[Pinky69]

I'm not bothered about my credit rating but since the 2 banks and 1 DCA who put defaults on them did so after the agreements were unlawfully rescinded I am going to have them removed and sue them for damages. By the way, I got myself out of debt and still have 2 gold credit cards, both fully paid with zero balances, and a premier cheque account at the bank. Howzat!

[pda123]

I just cancelled my 2 credit cards with RBS + Barclays.

I was not using them, RBS used more often but Barclay's had been £0.77 in credit for 14 months. They tried to get me to keep it open with different rates/offers etc (has anyone noticed how difficult it is to get your accounts closed?!)

 

I must say, the knowledge that I can't just go and purchase some random thing I don't really need is amazing.

 

I've even opened a wee savings account to fund some travelling later this year.

 

I'm now debt free, which is, as others have said, a great feeling.

Good luck to everyone 2010, let's hope this is a lovely debt free/ DCA free year for all.

[nuke em]

quote=pda123;2680315]I just cancelled my 2 credit cards with RBS + Barclays.

I was not using them, RBS used more often but Barclay's had been £0.77 in credit for 14 months. They tried to get me to keep it open with different rates/offers etc (has anyone noticed how difficult it is to get your accounts closed?!)(

 

.

 

The reason why they want you to keep it open is not because of any balance you might have on there,( they don't care about that) it is because of the granted facility ( via your signature) is their basis for money creation, ie they monatise it. so, if you have a 5k limit with a CC Company , they use that 5k and sell it off as a securitised Instrument It doesn't matter if you never use the card. Your signature created the facility which they use under their fractional reserve system . Hence, if you want to cancel your account your are canceling their underlying security !!! that's why they will offer you anything to keep it open. Best way to give it back to the banks is to CLOSE down as many CC accounts as you can,

[spartathisis]

Totally agree with OC.

 

A bit like Pinky in that I have a gold card and bank account, both held for nearly25yrs, both kept clean and right. I am amazed I still have them as I owe 29k to 6 creditors and have done for 10yrs, paid small regular amounts (£80pm total) until I found CAG.

 

I now pay nothing and only use the credit card for paypal payments, life is more difficult but i'm not bothered about my credit file either.

 

I wonder when the financial institutions will have to start lending to those the y blackist, as they number must be going up at a ridiculous amount per annum?

[fuzzybobble]

I've managed without credit for almost 3 years now. If I can't afford it, I do without or wait a while and save up for it. Not only does it mean that I save a ton of money in interest charges, but also I know exactly what I have to spend each month and also avoid bank charges now. It also taught me to appreciate what I have instead of buying tons of crap gadgets and impulse buys using credit cards. My Attic is testament to my past where I must have blown thousands on stuff I didn't really need, and is now worth a couple of quid on a car boot sale at the most.

 

As most on CAG only know too well, when things go bad and you owe thousands on credit, the creditors and the DCA vultures will show you no mercy whatsoever. The banks have enslaved us and now we're paying big style for it. You should never need any more credit than a mortgage, and in these times where nobody has job security anymore, I would even question that.

 

My credit rating will be clean again in 3 years time, and I will mess it up again on purpose, so I can't be tempted. But I doubt I will be. The hell I went through 2 years ago will never be forgotton, and I very much doubt I will ever intentionally put myself in that situation again.

 

 

Some good has come out of it all though. New sense of responsibility. Appreciation for what I have, instead of worrying about what I don't have. Less stress, and for the first time ever I have a savings account with a four figure sum in it. It's been a long slog fighting off the DCA's, etc, but now there is light at the end of the tunnel.

 

I will miss taking the pee out of the DCA scumbags though. I still have a couple left to deal with, so I will make the most of them while I can.

 

There is life after debt, as long as you learn the lessons from it.

 

Good luck peeps.

[fuzzybobble]

I wonder when the financial institutions will have to start lending to those the y blackist, as they number must be going up at a ridiculous amount per annum?

 

I was wondering about this too. Citizens Advice recently said they had 3 million requesting help with debt problems. Add to that the number of people who use sites like CAG, and the ones who seek help elsewhere, and sadly the ones who don't have any help yet, I have a feeling that there could be 1/6th of the UK has a knackered credit rating. Now add the people over 65 who are unlikely to get credit, peeps under 18, and that easily bumps it up to a huge amount. Plus once the General Election is over and we start seeing huge tax increases to pay the money back Gordon gave to the banks, then we'll see more businesses going under and more people with debt problems.

 

2 years from now I can easily see 80% of the population who could have got credit 4 years ago, not being able to. It will be interesting to see what the banks next move is. I can guess it will be in the interests of short term massive profits to the detriment of the rest of us, and the whole sorry saga will happen all over again in the future.

 

When you look at the past history of the human race, we seem to make the same mistakes over and over, and hardly ever seem to learn from them.

[royalscot]

Can't tell you how true this is...I took the "wait six years route in 2006-07" and just live with out credit cards the feeling of having had a nice Christmas without debt is tremendous.

Me too ....Wot an eye opener , ive got a credit card with a £200 limit and its for internet shopping only , i dont have the number for it , apart from that i have no outstanding debt . Six years is a long run but ive learned a hell of a lot about myself and how to manage debt ...never again will i get a bank loan or myself into unmanagable debt

[dpick]

Hi I have just started to receive offers of loans and credit cards again even though I have 1 credit card marked default with >£5000 on it and they must know that I had another credit card cleared by another creditor. Or as I suspect they are getting desperate to give credit that they can now recover as the CCA 2006 allows creditors more scope for recovery.

 

dpick

[postggj]

Being Debt Free Is Like A Breath Of Frsh Air

I Have A Cap 1 Card With A 250 Quid Limit On It

They Keep Putting It Up And I Say Put It Back Or Ill Close The Account

 

Credit

 

Who Needs It

 

Its A Mugs Game

[t-star]

i'm the same as you postggj...

 

Cap1 card with £500 limit. they are lucky if i use £100 per month, then its payed off on payday. The way i see it now is the same as Sir Fuzzybobble, if i can't afford to pay cash then i'm not interested.

 

t-star

[nuke em]

By 2011 or 2012 at the latest there will be no such thing as a credit rating ( or for that matter credit ref agency's)

[reallymadwoman]

It is now almost exactly 6 years since I had to give up an extremely well paid job due to my health. Admittedly I get a huge amount more than the average person on benefits because of my disability, but in those 6 years I have not borrowed one penny from anyone and throughout I have been able to 'save for a rainy day' so when the garage roof needed to be replaced, I could pay for it. If it had been the house roof, I might have struggled though!

It hasn't been easy, but after 6 years I am now so much in the habit of being 'economical' - and that doesn't mean buying the cheapest you can find - that even though my circumstances have now vastly improved, I still do it and will keep on doing it.

I do once again have a credit card - I'm a second card holder on the OH's account - but it's only to buy things we would have bought anyway and can pay for, but would prefer to have s75 protection, e.g. flights, furniture which has to be ordered etc and the bill is cleared every month without fail. I also have a small overdraft facility on my personal account, but would actually prefer not to since I've never used it. However, try getting the bank to take it away!

My credit file is completely shot and will be for another 3 years yet (it took them that long to register all the defaults) but I've had no difficulty in arranging utilities etc in my name for the new place and I am constantly bombarded by mail begging me to apply for loans, mortgages and credit cards. They all go straight in the bin. I will never take another loan as long as I live - mortgage is in OH's name - so to me, my credit file is and will be forever irrelevant.

 

PS It isn't a case of once bitten - I did this twice, admittedly with a huge amount of help from the ex. It won't happen again.

[jon888999]

Hi jon888999 , fully agree with what you say . One thing though about fixed rate mortgages , if you are not borrowing any more and just going for another product with the same company you are likely to be accepted as they don't check your credit record in those circumstances, only if you try changing mortgage company or increase borrowing do they credit check.

sleepingdog

 

Thanks for that info, I think i'll give that a try soon, as rates can only one way now.