Bankruptcy badly affects your credit record for six years.
This article looks at what should show on your credit record after you are discharged from bankruptcy. For almost everyone, discharge happens after a year.
But if lenders don’t record bankruptcy and your discharge correctly, they will continue to damage your credit record for longer than they should.
Even if you never want to get into debt again, a good credit score makes it easier to rent a house or get insurance – and it’s essential if you want a mortgage. So making sure the bankruptcy and your discharge is reflected correctly will help you.
Contents
The best time to start
There is no hurry to do this, Your credit score isn’t going to get back to good for years…
Lenders take time to change your credit records, so let them have a few months after your discharge. At least three months I suggest.
If you start this too early, it just means more work for you as you will be tackling some “problems” that the lenders would have sorted out themselves.
First check your credit records
There are three different Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs) in Britain. You need to look at all three of them as many lenders only report to one CRA.
Get the Statutory Reports from each of the three CRAs, there is no charge for this, see How to check your credit records for free.
Even if you can get other reports for free, the Statutory Reports are best:
- they are simple
- they can easily be downloaded
- they are “real-time” so you get a current picture of your credit record.
How bankruptcy should be recorded
The key document from SCOR/ICO
The Steering Committee on Reciprocity (SCOR) is the creditor body that decides how credit records should be updated. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) published Principles for the Reporting of Arrears, Arrangements and Defaults at Credit Reference Agencies in July 2016.
This includes details of what should happen when you go bankrupt and when you are discharged from bankruptcy. Here I call it the SCOR/ICO paper for short.
Check your debts have the right default date
Bankruptcy will be shown in the Public Record section of your credit record. It can sometimes take a few weeks for the entry to appear, but when it does, the date on it will be the date your bankruptcy started.
What should happen:
- an unsecured debt – credit cards, loans, overdrafts etc – should be marked as defaulted with a default date which is your bankruptcy start date.
- there will be no change for any unsecured debts which have already been marked as defaulted.
The end result of this is that all debts in your bankruptcy should be marked as defaulted on or before your bankruptcy.
Secured debts such as mortgages
The situation with a mortgage (or a secured loan or car finance) is slightly more complicated.
If you carry on paying your mortgage after going bankrupt and there are no arrears a default should not be recorded.
When you had stopped paying the mortgage before bankruptcy or when you go bankrupt, a default should be recorded with the bankruptcy start date. This is stated in the SCOR/ICO paper which says:
“The default date must be consistent with that of the CCJ/bankruptcy or IVA; therefore a default should be filed as being no later than the date of the insolvency order. [page 7]”
When you are discharged
The Insolvency Service will notify the CRAs who will add your discharge to the Public Record section. This doesn’t remove the bankruptcy marker which will stay for the rest of the 6 years.
This is what the SCOR/ICO paper says should happen:
Your record should be closed and marked as partially settled if…. your account is included in an insolvency such as a bankruptcy or IVA which is discharged/completed and less than the full amount is paid. [page 8].
So all the balances on the bankruptcy debts should be shown as zero.
There are two exceptions. CCJs cannot be marked as partially settled and will continue to show a balance even though you no longer owe any money. And if you have been paying a secured debt such as a mortgage, that will continue to show as up to date.
Six years after you went bankrupt
Everything should vanish and your credit rating will improve significantly!
The bankruptcy marker will drop off your credit record. And all the debts in your bankruptcy will drop off if they had a default date on or before your bankruptcy, as they should have had. CCJs also drop off after 6 years.
The only reason why a debt in your bankruptcy doesn’t drop off when the bankruptcy goes is if the default date isn’t right.
Correcting problems
1) Creditor doesn’t use the right default date
Ask the creditor to correct the record. Don’t complain to Experian, Equifax etc about this – they only report what the creditors tell them.
Don’t do this on the phone – you may be talking to staff who don’t understand what you are saying. Instead complain to the creditor in writing – email is best as you keep a record of it. Put COMPLAINT ABOUT CREDIT RECORD as the subject.
For all debts except for mortgage shortfalls, use this template:
I went bankrupt on dd/mm/yyyy. I attach a copy of my Bankruptcy Order.
I am writing to ask you to correct my credit file for the above debt. At the moment [there is no default date shown / the default date is shown as dd/mm/yyyy]. This is incorrect as there should be a default date not later than the start date of my bankruptcy. See the SCOR/ICO 2016 guidelines which say “The default date must be consistent with that of the CCJ/bankruptcy or IVA; therefore a default should be filed as being no later than the date of the insolvency order”.
Recording incorrect information on my credit record is also a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. There should be a default date not later than the start date of my bankruptcy.
Please correct this entry within 28 days or supply me with a written reason why you will not do so.
Recheck your credit file after say six weeks. If it has not been corrected, put in a complaint either to the Financial Ombudsman (for consumer credit, mortgages and any insurance debts) or to the ICO (for other debts). Attach copies of your email or letter to the creditor and any reply from the creditor.
2) Problems with mortgage debts
For some reason, mortgage debts can cause problems. Some lenders say that mortgage debts are not included in bankruptcy. That is not correct.
The Financial Ombudsman has explained the facts in this case against Platform:
To clarify, the Insolvency Act covers secured as well as unsecured debts. The main difference being that most unsecured debts will be written-off as there’s no asset the creditor can take into possession to recover the debt. With a mortgage (or indeed a loan secured against any asset, such as a car for example) the lender can repossess the item the loan was secured against – in this case a property – to repay some, or all, of the debt. This doesn’t mean secured debts don’t fall within the Insolvency Act, just that the lender has an additional level of security as there is an item it can take possession of so it doesn’t just write-off the debt. This is the difference between the right to enforce its security over a property, and the right to require a borrower to repay the debt.
And the same applies if you no longer live there but your ex does and is still paying the mortgage. Here is a case against Santander.
In this case, Santander told Miss K incorrect information:
In its final response letter, Santander said as the mortgage is a secured debt it wasn’t included in the bankruptcy and Miss K remains jointly and severally liable for it. And so it said it would continue to report this to her credit file.
The Ombudsman explained this was wrong and said:
Santander should update Miss K’s credit file to show the account defaulted at the date of her bankruptcy and the debt as partially satisfied on the date of her discharge with no entries after this. I said it should pay £250 for the upset and inconvenience this had caused Miss K.
Some lenders say they can only record a default when a house has been repossessed. That is also wrong. the default should not be later than the date of your bankruptcy if you weren’t paying the mortgage.
Use the above template to complain to your lender but add an extra sentence in referring to the Platform decision:
“As the Financial Ombudsman says in https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN2624267.pdf, secured debts such as mortgages are included in bankruptcy. I have not made any payments to this mortgage since the date of my bankruptcy and a default should be added with the date of my bankruptcy.”
3) Debt not marked as satisfied after discharge
The creditor doesn’t have to mark the debt as fully settled/satisfied. So there is no point in complaining if the debt has been marked as partially settled/satisfied.
But if your debts are still showing as having a balance owing, this needs to be sorted,
You can get a Certificate of Discharge from the court where you went bankrupt (this costs £70 and £10 for additional copies) however many lenders will accept a copy of the free letter from the Official Receiver that you may have received. Then send the following letter to the creditor:
I [went bankrupt at xxxxx County Court / had my bankruptcy approved] on dd/mm/yyyy. I was discharged on dd/mm/yyyy. I attach a copy of my [Certificate of Discharge/letter of discharge].
I am writing to ask you to correct my credit file for the above debt. The SCOR/ICO guidelines state that my credit file should show the debt was partially settled on the date of my discharge.
Please correct this entry within 28 days or supply me with a written reason why you will not do so.
Again, complain to the Financial Ombudsman or ICO as above if the entry is not corrected.
NB There is one exception here. There is no ‘partially settled’ status for a CCJ and the court only has to mark a CCJ as satisfied if you have paid it in full, which you haven’t. So any CCJs will continue to show as unsatisfied.
Is it worth doing this?
It is definitely worth correcting the dates of default unless they are just a few weeks late. If these are months late, this delays the time until your credit file is clean as these defaults will still remain after your bankruptcy marker has gone.
Marking your debts as satisfied after discharge is less important. Even if you get this amended, applications for credit, a normal bank account or a mortgage may well be refused whilst bankruptcy is still on your credit file. If you are close to the six-year drop-off, then you could decide to wait and let that clean everything up.
However, getting a debt marked as satisfied will improve your credit rating slightly, which may be enough for you to be approved for a ‘bad credit’ card, see below. It also prevents the debt being ‘sold on’ to another Debt Collector, which is annoying as you have to correspond with yet another person and send them details of your bankruptcy.
Getting positive markers on your credit file
In addition to cleaning out the bad stuff from your credit history, you want to get new, positive credit marks after you are discharged. First make sure you are on the electoral roll, that your address etc are correct on your record, that your bankruptcy discharge is shown and start the clean-up process above. This may take several months to complete if you have to go to the ICO.
Then you have two options.
Get a “bad credit card”
You can apply for a bad credit card such as Vanquis, Aqua or Luma. If you are refused, double-check your credit file really is clean with all three credit reference agencies and wait six months or so, then apply to a different card.
This sort of credit card is dangerous. They are aimed at people with very bad credit and they charge a very high rate of interest. This doesn’t matter if you use the card every month and repay it in full every month, so you never pay interest.
Your credit rating will not improve faster if you leave a balance on this card and pay interest. The best thing for your credit rating is to repay it in full each month.
If you find your balance is creeping up because you are not clearing it in full, stop spending on the card until it is cleared and have a re-think about budgeting.
Start saving with LOQBOX
This is a product where you make regular savings for 12 months but it is set up as a loan. So making the savings shows as loan repayment, improving your credit record. At the end of 12 months you have a nest egg saved up that you can withdraw and a credit score that is starting to improve. See How does LOQBOX work for details.
This all takes time
If you were expecting discharge from bankruptcy to make an immediate improvement to your credit score, it usually doesn’t… There isn’t a way to speed this up. while the bankruptcy marker and the defaulted debts in the bankruptcy are still on your credit record, your credit score is never going to get to Fair.
The template letters to your creditors here are very likely to work. If they don’t, putting in a complaint to the Ombudsman or ICO is the best way to repair your credit.
Never pay any firms offering a ‘repair your credit’ service because either they don’t work at all or will be no better than doing what is described here.
This article is kept updated.
How to use a credit builder card
Can’t pay your bills & debts?
How does discharge from bankruptcy work?
Raja says
Dear Sir/
Will bankruptcy effect on my taxi license? And if i go for bankruptcy and after 1 week i have to go abord in emergency can i go?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Taxi license – on your application were you ever asked if you had been bankrupt or insolvent? Or was a credit check done? If No and No then you are probably ok, but talk to Business Debtline about this https://www.businessdebtline.org/. The OR can’t make you stay in the country, but if you go abroad you still need to cooperate with the OR.
Raja says
Hi Sara Thank you for your replay no i don’t think they asked for bankruptcy on application form. And they do not check credit file but they asked for CRB
Andy says
I am just after some advice regarding an IVA which I was in and failed in 2011, I initially agreed a repayment plan of £450 a month for 5 years with Payplan in 2009 and kept up to date with regular payments. in 2011 I agreed a 3 month break with them as things were getting on top off me like rent arrears and car repairs. Payplan actually offered me this 3 month break which I gladly agreed to, only to find that they then started pestering me when a new case manager took over my agreement and told me I was behind with payments, she was very bossy and wasn’t interested in the agreed break, I was urged to catch up on missed payments forcing me to give them my whole months salary in August 2011 and they then discharged me when I missed a payment in September. This has always bugged me as I paid them around £10,000 and only a small portion of this went to my creditors. Do you think I would get any compensation if I complained to them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I very much doubt it – this is way too long after the event to complain.
Rebecca F says
Hello. My husband was discharged from bankruptcy in November 2011. I had to buy the interest in our joint property and restrictions from the Land Registry (B178) in October 2010.
How do I go about a) getting my husband back onto the property and b) restrictions lifted on the land registry. Do I need a letter to confirm the discharge?
Many thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have a mortgage?
Are you sure the restrictions are still on the property?
Rebecca F says
Yes we do and have never deferred on payments.
I have no idea. I don’t know if it automatically gets taken off. This is one of my questions.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Check the Land Registry entry for your property: https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry.
My guess is that the restriction has been removed, your husband’s name is still on the deeds and the mortgage. In which case you don’t need to do anything :)
josie says
Hi Sara,
Thought you might like to know that following an entry for an old debt appearing on my credit report . I rang Link Financial who think I owe them money. It turns out that Co operative credit card have passed them a debt that was settled following my bankruptcy 3 years ago. They now agree that I don’t owe them any money and advised that I am not the only person this has happened. so pleased I have regularly been checking my credit reports. Thanks for your excellent site.
Antony says
I had a debt relief order that ended in August 2017. The debts that were held by Lowell are still showing on credit report . All other debts now say 0 balance. Is this normal?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Antony – it’s not right. See this article which looks at post-DRO credit records: https://debtcamel.co.uk/repair-credit-record-dro/ and has the template letter you need.
Adam says
Hi Sara. Great site! Really useful information that I’ve been looking for. I just wanted to confirm – i have 3 free credit agency reports – Clearscore (Equifax), Noddle (Callcredit) and Moneysavingexpert (Experian). It appears they all get the reports from the 3 major agencies, so I don’t need to sign up directly with them and pay as well to get the credit reports, do I? My other question: I was discharged from bankruptcy in May 2013, it appears on 2 of the reports, but not on the Clearscore one. 5 of my credit card accounts that were part of the bankruptcy show balance, but show last payment around the time of the bankruptcy (one a bit later of July 2012). On Clearscore they show as closed accounts with balance, Noddle show them as open accounts with default dates in 2012. Moneysavingexpert shows them as default accounts with the detail ‘account settled’. Do I need to be concerned with all of these showing the same info, but in a slightly different way? Or is this quite normal, and it appears they should fall off my report around May 2018? Thanks so much in advance and sorry for the long questions!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“I don’t need to sign up directly with them and pay as well to get the credit reports, do I?” No need to do that.
People are often amazed at how messy and different their credit reports are! If all the debts in your bankruptcy have default dates athat are before or on the date you went bankrupt, then as you say they will all go in May next year.
At this point it hardly seems worth trying to get them all to have zero balances. In theory that makes it easier to get a bad credit card at the moment, but it will take you a couple of months to do it, so is it really worth the hassle?
Adam says
Thanks for the really quick response. Strangely one of the accounts has dates between late June and July 2012 on the various reports, even though the bankruptcy was in May. So should i just assume that one will go a bit later then because of that?
I agree there’s no real need to get the zero balances after this amount of time now- i was more concerned that they were showing in a way that they wouldn’t be removed, but from what you’re saying, apart from the one that has dates after the discharge, the rest will disappear.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it’s up to you if you think it’s worth getting the debt with the wrong date corrected. It’s only one letter so if it was me I probably would try!
Adam says
That’s enough to convince me. Thanks again!
Toni says
I’m wanting to clear my bankruptcy early from my credit score. I have 1 year left but am looking into option to get this removed early . Is this possible if so how can I do this
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The only way to get the bankruptcy marker removed early is to have your bankruptcy annulled. This will require you to pay all your bankruptcy debts in full and also the bankruptcy expenses which can be very high. If you have sufficient money for this, I suggest you consult a solicitor who specialises in insolvency.
Anyone offering a “bankruptcy removal service” may well be a scam.
Sue A says
I went bankrupt on 06/06/2012 and was discharged a year later . Date of order 06/06/2012. Discharge date 06/06/2013
My noddle report has the the debts that were part of the bankruptcy still listed they appear as defaults.
My issue is from one with O2 and two from Lloyds they were all included in the bankruptcy and listed. They are still showing a default balance which is incorrect they should be 0. Lloyds Bank (Was Lloyds Tsb) £ 163 28/02/2018 Default. Account type Current Account. Account start date 29/07/1988. Date of default 06/08/2012. Default balance £ 162.
O2 Uk Limited. £ 269. 01/03/2018 Default. Account start date 13/12/2010. Repayment frequency Monthly. Date of default 20/10/2012
Default balance £ 269.
Lloyds Bank (Was Lloyds Tsb) £ 4,384 28/02/2018 Default. Account type Unsecured Loan. Account start date 01/07/2010
Opening balance £ 6,173. Repayment frequency Monthly. Date of default 29/06/2012. Default balance £ 4,383.
Halfway through the bankruptcy which was a total of 16,500 Lloyds made an additional PPI payout of £8900 into the bankruptcy.
Why are these still listed as default balances, they should be 0 like the others, they were all included in my bankruptcy and will they all drop off this year. I rang Lloyds two years ago and they said the money was not owed but the default would remain on the credit file for the six years. Please explain why they are still listing the loan as defaulted.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Please explain why they are still listing the loan as defaulted.” Because they are being too lazy to look at what you are saying and correct the credit records. Send them the letter in the post above and take the complaint to the Ombudsman if they don’t sort it out.
But the debts will drop off your record in 6 August, 20 September, and 29 June this year, so you may decide you don’t care that much.
John R says
Does my bankruptcy come off my credit score 6 years after the court date, where I was declared bankrupt, or 6 years after the date satisfied, which is a year after the court date.
Many Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
After the court date.
Alice says
so not 6 years after discharge?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, 6 years after the start of your bankruptcy
Hayley says
I have virtually the same problem. I was declared bankrupt in 2015 and discharged a year later but my credit report still shows my debts as defaulted and the accounts still open. Do I contact the insolvency service, their appointed solicitors or the companies I have the debts with to address this? Can you also advise roughly what I need to tell them. Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your debts should have been marked as defaulted at the start of your bankruptcy and when you were discharged in 2016, they should have been marked as settled or partially settled, with zero owing. That was more than a year ago, plenty of time for them to have updated your credit record but they haven’t.
You should contact your creditors, using the template letter in the article above.
Hayley says
That’s really helpful, thank you for the quick response.
Nicola says
Hi Sara
With GDPR coming into action in May this year, do the templates above still apply as they reference the data protection act? I am having difficulty with woolwich (part of barclays) still showing I have a balance on a mortgage which was part of my bankruptcy in 2012. I challenged them 3 years ago on this, the receiver liaised with them on my behalf to reiterate it was part of my bankruptcy (it was the only reason for it, which is the most annoying part)yet they have still saying they have never received any correspondence from the receiver. It’s like the saddest part of my life that I can’t move on from :(
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes the templates are still fine. Complain again and take it to the Financial Ombudsman if they don’t resolve it.
Lynsey D says
Thank you so much for these templates. I’ve had a busy afternoon getting letters typed up and sent to six of the lenders that were all included in my Bankruptcy in 2013. My credit file was still showing I owe them money and the default dates were all dates after the bankruptcy date. Let’s hope they all take notice and get my credit file updated correctly, many thanks Lynsey.
Kerry says
Hi. I was declared bankcrupt in Sept 2013 and discharged in April 2014 as it was straight forward. I have been having a few missed calls from a collection company. I asumed that my discharged was the end of the matter?. I have noticed that on my credit file there are a few closed accounts with balances and some with not. Is this nothing or are they phishing? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The article above says what to do with the accounts where there is a balance still showing. Getting these set to zero won’t make a difference to your credit score but it will stop you being chased for the debt or the debt being sold on – even though you aren’t liable for any debts from before your bankruptcy I think this is worth doing to prevent any possible hassle.
If the collection company calling you is one of those showing with a balance, then return their call and tell them when you went bankrupt.
If there is no sign of the debt collector on any of your credit records (check with all three credit reference agencies, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/) then you could decide to ignore it until they write to you. Or you may prefer to phone up and get it resolved – it’s quite a personal decision.
Axel says
In my case, after sending the letters as per above, and hearing nothing back, I took the step to raise a complain with Resolver and email the complaints departments of the creditors. I have to say that in almost 80% of the cases (had a list of 18 creditors ) the address for the datacontroller from ICO was not correct or although recorded post reached (all address received the recorded post) them it was not until i raised the Resolver case or sent the email to the complaints departments that someone actually did something about it.
Finally, one thing that will help you with the “difficult” ones, is to ask from the Insolvency Discharge email, to send you a list of your creditors. You can tell them that correcting your credit files some creditors asked for it. They will send you a barcoded official file that you can include with your emails to creditors and they will promptly do the corrections.
One last thing, while the above works, that doesnt mean you should not send the recorded post and keep a copy of what you sent. When you complain, producing the receipts and proof of post to them demonstrates you have already applied an effort and your complain has a basis, even if nobody really got the damn letter. Of course, there may be some that will not care still, so then you will reach for ICO.
Hope that will help some.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Thanks for such detailed feedback. I will mention Resolver as a way of making these complaints.
Monique says
Hi Sara
Please could you help me. I was declared bankrupt on 03/05/2013 but the default date shows 03/05/2013 and the date satisfied is showing 03/05/2014. Do I need to contact this creditor to change the date satisfied to 03/05/2013?
Thanking you in advance as I am on a clean up mission as I only have 12 weeks to go before I am out of bankruptcy prison!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, it is right that the date satisfies is the date of your discharge. The debt will disappear on 3/5/19 along with the bankruptcy marker – countdown to a clean credit record!
Monique says
Thank you!!!!
Lisa Boggis says
Hi my hubby went bankrupt 4 years ago and herd no problems but today got an old debt out the blue what he went bankrupt for from intrum don’t no why
Sara (Debt Camel) says
he needs to tell them when he went bankrupt. Normally this clears things up very quickly.
simon h says
i had a ppi and that went in to my trust deed but after looking feather in to this i ask the Halifax and the bank agreed to pay me my money to me as the trust deed went bankrupt still fighting for the money i paid in
Alan McIntosh says
Hi Simon
There has been a landmark UK Supreme Court decision in relation to Protected Trust Deed and PPI.
What this essentially found was where your Trust Deed was properly worded, if the PPI claim came after your trustee was discharged it should return to you.
However, where a Trust Deed fails and becomes a bankruptcy (sequestration), this rule doesn’t apply as bankruptcies are different and the Trustee in a bankruptcy can re-opened a bankruptcy, even after they have had a discharge to take the money from the PPI claim.
Ultimately, it is not for the bank to decide who gets the money. If a Trustee in Bankrutpcy has been appointed, the money has to be paid to them and they decide. Normally they will keep it.
If they have already been discharged under the bankruptcy they will normally have to go back to Court, or in some cases they can ask the Accountant in Bankruptcy to reopen the case.
This, however, should not be a problem, provide they can show your creditors will receive some benefit from them reopening the case and the money won’t go just to pay their fees.
Patricia M says
Hi is says current balance satisfied but shows no settled date what does this mean? All off my balances are still appearing should they be at zero. Also I read that Experian keep the file on record for 7 years after bankruptcy is this correct?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the default date is before you went bankrupt, the debt will drop off after 6 years.
Bankruptcy drops off after 6 years too – I suspect you have read an article about Experian’s credit reporting in America which is totally different.
James says
Hi I had a utility debt at an old address start date 2008 I moved out of the property in 2009 and notified them. They continued to report 6 late payment maker on my credit file but no default. This happened every every month until I entered bankruptcy in 20017. I was discharged a year later in 2018. I notified and sent proofs to them of discharge etc. And in the end they removed it completly from my file. Now as of this month it has reappeared? Under linked addresses. It shows a settlement date of 02/2019? Surley this should read the date of bankruptcy?
Also do they have to enter a default or can they just carry on reporting 6 late payments as they did for a decade with out entering one? Because if they did it would of dropped off 5 years ago.
Many thanks for you assistance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There should be a default added of the date you went bankrupt and a settlement date a year later when you were discharged.
With bankruptcy on your credit record in 2017, there is no point in having an argument about getting a deafult added before then as it will make no difference to your credit score.
Nikki says
Hi Sara,
Can you please advise me on something I am struggling with an answer to?
I had 2 joint accounts with my ex husband before I went bankrupt. One was a bank account with an overdradt and a monthly fee which my ex husband didn’t pay. I fought with the bank to get this closed and eventually they did but only marked it settled in Feb 2018, even though my discharge date was nov 2016. Can I do anything about this since his name was on it too?
The other was a mortgage which he left the country and stopped paying. As my name was on the account, the bank still advise the credit agency every month that I have missed a payment. I have spoken with them several times and they refuse to amend it. Is there anything I can do?
I would very much appreciate your help as I am trying to clean up my credit file and get on the property ladder again.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If your discharge was Nov 16, you must have gone bankrupt in Nov 15. You have no chance of getting a mortgage at an OK rate while bankruptcy is still showing on your credit record until Nov 2021 but your aim at the moment is make sure all your problem debts have default dates on or before your bankruptcy date, so they will all disappear by the time the bankruptcy marker goes and your credit record is clean.
Your liability to pay the overdraft and the mortgage ended when you went bankrupt. Both debts should have a default date of the date of your bankruptcy. the fact these are joint debts doesn’t affect your credit record, you no longer owe these debts. Use the letter in the article above to put in a formal complaint to the lenders about this and take the complaint to the FCA if the lenders don’t sort it.
Nikki says
Thank you very much! This is the answer I’ve been searching for online for ages! I will do that straightaway!
Thanks again,
Nikki
Bobby says
Hi,
I am about to go bankrupt. I was just wonder after I’ve been discharge, I know I can start to rebuild my credit. However – I’m a little confused. After 6/7 years will still show that I declared bankruptcy or will that be removed also? In regards to my credit file that is.
Many thanks,
B
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The note of your bankruptcy will go from your record 6 years after it started.
Helen Bingham says
Hi
I will be discharged from bankruptcy on 21st August 2019, in just over 2 weeks ! Can I start to repair my credit straight away or will I have to wait ?
Also, I have checked my credit report and I have a Tenancy Vet on there in the name of my Ex Husband’s new partner ? and it looks like he has applied for credit with Hitachi UK and it has linked me to it – could this damage my credit further before I am discharged ?
Many thanks
Helen
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You should wait 3-6 months at least to give creditors the chance to mark your debt as settled or partial settled. Absolutely no hurry at this point, your credit is going to be dreadful for a long while.
Katie says
Hi Sara
My husband went into sequestration (we’re I Scotland) August 2013 and discharged 2014. We expected it to disappear off his credit file end of this month so started looking to buy a home (bankruptcy happened before we met and current home in my name) but my mortgage broker says it won’t come off for another year. Is this right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Katie, I will ask a Scottish expert to reply to you.
Alan says
Hi Katie it should come off 6 years after the sequestration was awarded, as that is when you effectively defaulted on the agreement.
It is the same as elsewhere in the UK regarding bankruptcy.
I would obtain a copy of your credit file and see when the account was noted to be in default.
Katie says
Thanks for replying. Unfortunately they are all over the place regarding default dates and different on each of the 3 reporters. We’re going to try and clear that up as sequestration was awarded August 2013 so I’m assuming default date should be no later than then? If so will everything with that date disappear this September? Thanks
Pat says
Hi. I went bankrupt in 2013 and discharged a year later. The bankruptcy has recently dropped off my credit file. I’ve beeen notified by the tax man re the loan charge and that I owe money. However this loan relates to 2006. Can I still use the fact I went bankrupt in 2013 to stop paying this? I don’t think it was added in the original BRO. They have been aware of my bankruptcy as you have to notify them, file a last tax return under the old UTR. Also spoke to them over the phone after receiving an APN post bankruptcy about 4 or 5 years ago.
If I can, what part if the bankruptcy act can I quote to them as they are chasing me.
Thanks,Pat
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know, I haven’t come across this situation.
I suggest the first thing you should do is ask your Official receiver’s office if this debt, relating to a time before your bankruptcy, was included in your bankruptcy even though you were unaware of it and did not list it on your bankruptcy application. If they say this is, then this will be simple.
Pat says
Ok thanks Sara. I’ll email them
Robert Michaels says
Hi
I am having an issue with a Halifax loan, it was included in my bankruptcy application (granted 5th April 2018). I was discharged this year, Halifax are stating that they have attempted to close the loan however due to a system problem, they have been unable to do this and are still reporting a balance owed to the CRA’s. After complaining I was told that when/if the problem gets rectified then they will backdate the default date on my reports. My only question is, surely under GDPR they should be reporting accurate information to the CRA’s? They just seemed to want to brush off the problem and throw some money at me to shut me up.
What would you suggest?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So they have offered you some compensation? How much?
Robert Michaels says
I think it was like £30
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the problem here is that although this is annoying, it is hard to argue that it is doing you any real harm at the moment. Your credit reating is going to be pants (technical debt advice term there!) for nearly 5 years. This error by the Halifax isn’t going to make much difference at all for quite a while.
You could just take the £30 and check your credit record again after 6 months. If it isn’t corrected then, put in a complaint and say they have had 6 months to correct their systems error and nothing has happened. Say you will be going to the Ombudsman unless they either correct your credit record or offer you additional compensation – say £200?
Gemma says
Hello, I wonder if you can help me with this, please.
I was made Bankrupt in 2014, the date of default is correct. 06/10/2014 however the account was not closed down until 19/10/2017 which means i have almost three years of defaults past of defaults date.
I was just about to write a letter to ask for this to be addressed, as per your info above however the default date is right.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So this debt will disappear in October next year. The debt should have shown as partially setisfid in 2015, not 2017. However getting this corrected is not likely to make any difference to your credit score or to the likelihood of anyone lending to you – the fussy lenders won’t lende anyway with bankruptcy still showing and the unfussy ones will lend anyway as the debt is currently showing as as satisfied. So you may decide there isn’t much to gain by bothering with this.
Gemma says
Thank you very much for the quick reply, Sara.
I was worried that my Status History would still show the defaults until the account end date of 2017 and in turn, would not drop off till 06/10/2023
If what your says is that all history of that account will drop six years after the date of default i.e. 06/10/2014 and will fully drop off 06/10/2020 or around about that time then am happy with that.
Not interested in new borrowing just wanted to get things in order. Thank You…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I couldn’t open the image file you attached. But if there is a default date of your bankruptcy date on the debt, then it goes 6 years after that date, not 6 years after the debt was seen as closed. Not long now!
Gemma says
I know, I am looking forward till it’s all behind me.
Thanks for the great resource you provided!
Dave says
Hi Sara I was made bankrupt on 25/5/2018 and I was discharged a year later. I’ve checked my credit reports via clearscore, moneysavingexpert and credit karma with reference to all the debts and they are all showing different things! Clearscore shows all the accounts closed and all bar one of them now has a 0 balance but all of them have marked as recent defaults (as recent as August 2019). Credit Karma on the other hand shows the account that doesn’t have a zero balance as open but the rest as closed and part satisfied (again though they all have recent defaults with ps showing as the last one) should the ps be on the date I was made bankrupt? Should I write to them all regarding the default dates as I think they all look wrong and with the one that still has an amount showing to zero the balance and show ps as the others are? As it’s slightly different on each report do I need to provide the examples for each report stating that I want them changed on each report?
Thank you for your help!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would get your statutory reports from each of the credit reference agencies, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/. Then you know you are seeing the real data, rather than the way some report describes it.
Then write to every creditor that has the wrong information, saying Experian shows this – it’s wrong , it should show that; Equifax shows this …. trsnaUninion shows this.
Jane says
Invalid on applying for credit card. I am 9months post discharge and balances are all zero but not accepted for credit. Equally Experian has a higher rating for me when bankrupt and now post discharge it’s lower and refuse to upgrade my rating g for another six months. That’s the reality after bankruptcy.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Experian recalculates your score everyday. But if you have made several applications for credit cards, that is too many and not making any more for at least 6 months is a good idea.
Look at LOQBOX. You won’t be turned down for that and it starts the slow process of repair. The aim is to get a great credit score after your bankruptcy goes, if never going to get good quickly.
Jane says
I haven’t applied for anything and actually they’ve stated they wont update my score now until next year.
I’ve had a soft search so there’s nothing in there other than zero balances I’m lost on how they state no update to score for another 5months
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“ they’ve stated they wont update my score now until next year.” who have stated this and where?
Jane says
Experian it’s in the forecasting they do I’m at 466 and I was at 510 when bankrupt
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok so it’s probably just say they can’t see that anything will change on your report for 6 months. There are no defaults due to drop off, loans to be repaid etc.
As I said, look at LOQBOX a for regular saving that helps your credit score.
Are you paying for this Experian report? If so stop that and save that amount up as well!
Mr Geoff says
Hi I went through bankruptcy june 2018 and discharged 2019, yet companies are not closing/satisfying/partially settling my accounts. So I still have 8.5k of debt sat on my file. How can i rectify this issue please, i have made an attempt to contact each of them, and they say it will be sorted, but it isn’t.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your credit score is not going to get to up to OK now for several years no matter what you do. Trying to get a credit record updated over the next few months is going to be prolonged and frustrating as the lenders and the Ombudsman will be giving it almost no attention. I suggest you come back in 6 months and then get going on full complaints as the article above says. 6 months is not going to make any practical difference to you.
Jane says
That’s not totally correct I’ve found be polite and they will change the credit file it’s a requirement post bankruptcy. I wouldn’t agree with go for complaints after six months.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh yes, it is normally pretty easy to get this sorted, just persevere.
But banks are going to be inundated with coronavirus hardship problems at the moment AND they themselves will have staff that cannot work. I am just saying this doesn’t seem to me to be a good time to be raising issues that are not immediately of importance.
Jane says
Companies are required to update the credit file, with either zero balances or partially settled. I did this by asking Experian to challenge the record made by each company. Equifax seems to be the main one that never updates, me personally been trying for two months and my record with them is way out of date.
Perseverance and be polite I’ve only just had one closed one year in from discharge the alternative is ask the credit file company to add your own notes.
Andy says
Hi
Fantastic informative site, Thanks!
Quick question please: I was declared bankrupt in November 2018 after I defaulted on a Government inspired Enterprise Finance Guarantee business loan and was discharged in November 2019. I’m now at the beginning of the long slog to repair my credit file and have already got myself a Vanquis credit card and use it every month but ensure the full balance is always cleared. If I was to also open a loqbox account would this help my credit file score or hinder the repair as showing me having too much credit too early?
Kind Regards
Andy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Opening new credit always harms your credit record for a few months, after that it starts to help.
There is no moral judgement going on that you shouldn’t have access to so much credit because of your bankruptcy, it’s just that the black marks on your record dominate the scoring and adding new good marks makes very little difference.
But if you can save the money with no hardship, why not? Just don’t stretch to do this.
Katie says
Hi
I have some queries I’m hoping you can help with. I was declared bankrupt in December 2016, discharged December 2017. My credit is getting worse and I don’t know how to stop it.
1) some debts included in the bankruptcy have been sold to debt collectors – when I rang them they just added themselves to my credit report with an amount outstanding!
2) one of the debts that was included is to a company that now doesn’t exist and so they are reporting an amount outstanding on my credit report and I can’t get it changed.
3) the insolvency office are telling me companies don’t have to mark the accounts differently or report I don’t owe them money even if they are included in the bankruptcy.
I’m nearly 4 years on and still can’t even get a current account or a credit score over 300!
What can I do?
Thank you in advance!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do all the debts have default dates on or before the date of your bankruptcy?
You should be able to get a basic bank account but will have difficulty getting a current account with an overdraft.
Also are you in a position to be able to save any money each month?
Kayie says
Hi Sara.
I do have a basic bank account, I think I just thought being nearly 4 years on I would at least be able to get a current account by now. I can’t get a mobile phone either.
I do have a Luma and capital one credit card with small limits which I keep under control.
I am unable to save any additional money as the reason I ended up bankrupt (financial abuse from my ex husband) hasn’t really changed – he owes me £5k in maintenance – if he regularly paid maintenance I would have a nice savings pot!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Luma and Cap One cards, are you running balances on these? the best thing for your credit record is to pay them off in full every month.
No you probably can’t get a normal current account with an overdraft until bankruptcy goes from your credit record. but ap[art from the overdraft, doesn’t your bank account do everything you want?
Do all the debts have default dates on or before the date of your bankruptcy?
Katie says
I can’t see the dates on clearscore I can only see the date the account was opened and then dots that indicate I have been missing payments since 2016.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In that case it sounds as though there is no default date on the debt. You need to ask the creditor who owned the debt at the point you want bankrupt to add a default date of your bankruptcy date – the article above explains how to do this.
This is important, much more important than whether there is a balance showing, as unless a deafult date is added they will be on there forever. When a default date is added, the debt will drop off in December 2022 when your bankruptcy goes.
Monique says
Hi Katie
Apparently I have heard that you should contact these companies and request a copy of the original credit agreement from them which they obviously would not have as you didn’t take out any credit with them due to the debt being sold/bought by them. If they can’t provide it I think you can complain to the ICO or FCA I’m not sure which one.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Monique, this won’t help Katie as a) the creditor has no obligation to produce the CCA report after bankruptcy and b) the CCA report is irrelevant to credit records anyway
Monique says
Ok thank you I just thought she could request the CCA report under a FOI request for GDPR.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It won’t help as CCA agreements have NOTHING to do with credit records. Asking for the CCA agreement can sometimes be very useful – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/ask-cca-agreement-for-debt/ – but this is not one of those situations.
(You have to ask for the credit agreement in a very specific way, see that link, not make a GDPR request.)
Katie says
The thing I can’t get my head around is that the debts included in the bankruptcy are reporting, as they have for nearly 4 years now, that I’ve missed every payment – is that right? It’s just making
My credit worse every month surely?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They should have been marked as satisfied or partially satisfied – see the article above which exoplains how to ask the current creditors – whether that this the original lender or a debt collector – to do this.
But this will not actually improve your credit score. Only the defaults dropping off will do that. That is why it is very important what the default dates are.
Katie says
ClearScore doesn’t show me the default date, only the date the accounts were open and when they were last updated. How do I find the date of default?
Kem says
I have been discharged from bankruptcy since the end of 2017.
I immediately set about trying to rebuild my credit rating again as I had previously had a good rating which obviously comes with benefits.
To date with both Equifax and Experian I have a ‘fair score’.
However, 2 debts that were included in my bankruptcy show as defaults in my report. They do have default dates that coincide with my bankruptcy (2016 – last updated 2017 discharge).
I understand they will fall off after 6 years. I just wonder why others don’t show at all while these 2 do.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you looked at your Transunion credit record?
Kem says
Yes, I have today set up an account with Transunion.
A great deal of the information on that report is incorrect.
It shows credit card limits that I had prior to bankruptcy as available balances etc. – ie those accounts are showing as open.
I will need to see what I can do about this tomorrow.
It’s weird because for the most part my Equifax and Experian files are up to date and correct.
Tracy says
Hello I would like to ask a quick question please. I was declared bankrupt on 23/06/2014 so i am almost at the end now. Will my credit reports reset to the day ie 23/06/2020? They seem to update once a week and I’ve heard a few people say it happened a few weeks earlier or even a little later. Obviously I’ve waited 6 years but just wondered. Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your credit file will update on the day. But many credit reports are not “real time” so you may see a report that looks unchanged.
Jules says
Hi there!
My husband went bankrupt in may 2018 and was discharged in may 2019. After a bad start up business.
We are hoping to buy our home jointly in a couple of years. I have a good credit score showing and have never missed a payment as shown on my file I have no loans or debts, my husband has a credit builder credit card that he pays off every month and a phone contract that he pays off every month as well,obviously he doesnt have a fantastic score at the moment but would we be able to get a joint mortgage?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You will only be able to get a joint mortgage at a very bad rate until the bankruptcy goes from his credit record, so 4 more years.
Jules says
Thank you for the info. We are looking at buying our home under the rtb scheme. We are 44 and 45 years old so time is not on our side! The discount is £80000 and the house is worth £240000. We earn £45000 between us per year. Do you know what kind of interest rate we would be looking at. I have searched the internet but cant really find an answer as we are trying to work out what would be best.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ah RTB is a specialist market,.
Are you joint tenants? Is he paying an IPA?
Jules says
Hi Sara,
Yes we are joint tenants and no he is not paying an ipa. We are literally debt free and live within our means and have some savings as well.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
On that income in a council house you must be accumulating savings fast? I suggest saving like mad so when you do go for a mortgage you have a lot of your own money to put in and will need a smaller mortgage which you can then repay more rapidly.
Farrokh says
Hi Sara,
I had a CCJ ruled against me in 2017, then was discharged from bankruptcy in 2019. The CCJ is still showing as ‘active’, is that correct? Shouldn’t it be ‘satisfied’? I know it won’t disappear entirely till my bankruptcy drops off, but I just wanted to check.
many thanks
Farrokh
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As the article above says, CCJs are an exception. It isn’t possible to mark a CCJ as ‘partially settled’ and the court will only mark a CCJ as satisfied if you have paid it in full, which you haven’t. So CCJs continue to show as unsatisfied.
Farrokh says
Ah… makes sense. Thank you Sara :)
Jul says
Hi, I’ve been made bankrupt last year. However I’ve noticed that my main bank account in which I also have a credit card with a balance that I included in my bankruptcy application remains open. Meaning they haven’t closed my accounts. I’ve asked the bank today to close them as I won’t be using this accounts anymore also I was worried that after my bankruptcy ends the banks start saying ‘youre no longer bankrupt and your bank accounts are still open so you need to repay your old debt now ‘ so that’s why I thought it was best to close all bank account which I included in my bankruptcy. I’m I doing the right thing? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think you could have been a chase for the card debt but if you are now using a different bank account, closing the old one makes sense just for simplicity!
Jul says
Thanks so after your bankruptcy ends can banks still ask you to repay your old debts if your accounts with them are still open? Such as credit cards and accounts where you had personal loans. I’ve heard something about your only free of debts whilst bankrupt. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No! At the end of your bankruptcy, when you are discharged, your debts are wiped out.
Stephen says
Hi,
Having gone bankrupt in 2016 (business failure despite being Ltd) in the UK, I was keen on this dropping from my credit file after 6 years from the day of the order. Having done research on line I’ve come across different kinds of bankruptcy which suggests certain rulings would effect your credit file for 10 years, and not the six I had planned for.
Are you able to clarify if this applies to the UK also, if so, how would I be able to identify which ruling was made against me.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you have been reading about anything in other countries it is completely irrelevant.
Do you have a Bankru[ptcy Restriction Order?
Stephen says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for your response, no there was no Restriction Order, it seems just a straight forward process and I had no valuables over the value of £500 to surrender and therefore nothing was taken from me. My Tax code was amended for 12 months to make a tax contribution to the order but that was all (this didn’t affect my take home salary.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
With no BRO The bankruptcy itself will go without trace after 6 years.
Have you checked the default dates on all your debts in the bankruptcy are in or before the date you went bankrupt?
Stephen says
Hi Sara,
It seems some of my creditors were still reporting default accounts some months after the ruling. I’ve raised disputes for these accounts to reflect the date I went insolvent.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the accounts would have still has defaults reported until you were discharged. The important thing is whether the first default date was before your bankruptcy date.
Tina Bates says
My partner was discharged from bankcrupcy 01.03.20 however a few ccj that was included in his bankcrupcy are still showing active . How does he get this changed . Will they drop off after 6 years of date of issue (2015) or after 6 years from bankcrupcy (2020) should they me marked as active still ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As the article above says, CCJs will not be changed after discharge. The CCJs will drop off 6 years after the date of the CCJ.
Kathryn says
Hello
In February 2021 it will be 6 years from the date I was declared bankrupt. I have been checking my file and 2 lenders haven’t got the correct end dates and are still showing as in default.
When I moved house I lost a box of paperwork that had my copy of the bankruptcy petition and all details of the account numbers in it. Can I apply to the court for a copy of the petition?
I have looked online but can only find how to apply for the letter of discharge, which I have.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do these debts have a default date that is on or before the date of your bankruptcy?
Naomi says
Hi!
My husband was declared bankrupt 27/10/18 and we are now trying to repair his score.
I know it won’t disappear from his file for 6 years – but is that 6 years from 2017 or from 2018 when he was discharged?
Also, he still has three creditors that continue to show monthly defaults on his credit file, I managed to get one off using your very helpful forms and we are in the process of trying to sort the rest but we are having trouble contacting one company (wonga) as they have closed down themselves. We cannot contact anyone from the company and the emails are not being responded to… Don’t know what to do??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it is six years from the date his bankruptcy stated, not the date he was discharged.
Wonga is in its death throes. I suggest you send in a complaint to the credit reference agency showing the debt as not being settled – Equifax, Experian or TransUnion. Say you have tried to get Wonga to correct it but they are not responding to you.
Sharon says
Hello, I went bankrupt on 24.6.19 and included a debt that was going through the CCJ route. The CCJ was filed on 1.7.19 and is on my reports. Is this right? My Official Receiver just said that I should email them a copy of my Bankruptcy confirmation, but nothing happened.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it’s not right, but it’s going to be complicated to sort out (you need to apply to the court to have the CCJ set aside), so does it actually matter? The CCJ will disappear from your credit record 1 week after your bankruptcy goes. With bankruptcy on your credit record, it is wrecked anyway, the CCJ isn’t likely to make it much worse.
Sharon says
Thank you for your quick response. That is very true. No point in making work for myself!
One other question – bit more complicated! I had 2 utility suppliers with debts that exceeded what was actually owed at the date of bankruptcy due to estimated reads. These were included in the bankruptcy. For example, the first debt was with Bulb and was addressed in the bankruptcy in the amount of £433.68 which is what I calculated was owed at the time. It was obviously less than this but the debt has still been included in the bankruptcy documents. They are still billing me to December 2019 for £521.24 although they haven’t reported anything at all to the 3 main credit ref agencies. The other one was Octopus Energy – the amount included in my bankruptcy was £462.97 based on estimated reads again. They reported to CreditKarma as paid & closed 31.12.19. They have since passed the debt to UKSearch Ltd who are chasing me for £243.70, they are not reporting.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
all debts at the point of bankruptcy are included in it, even if you missed them off your application form had the debt down as too low.
Sharon says
I’m sorry but I have another question now – I received this response when I emailed Lowell asking them to update the report to a closed account, as you mentioned in your article and what the SCOR/ICO guidelines state. This was their response –
“We are aware that you have a discharged bankruptcy.
The accounts do not close at this stage as they will remain with TDX Group, which Lowell have appointed to deal with our Insolvent accounts.
The accounts could stay open with TDX Group for a period up to 3 years. This is due to the fact that although you are discharged from your Bankruptcy after 12 months, a Trustee could still be appointed.
Under the terms of your Bankruptcy if there were any funds to be realised under your Bankruptcy, Lowell would still require dividends to be paid to reduce the amount of Lowell debt that is included in your Bankruptcy prior or after your Bankruptcy discharge date.
Please be aware that until your Bankruptcy has been successfully completed and we have received confirmation of this, the accounts will remain open and on your credit file showing as a default.
When confirmation has been received your credit file will show as partially satisfied and the accounts we hold will close.”
Is there any response I can give to this or are they within their rights?
Thank you for your time – it is much appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have a property? An IPA?
Sharon says
No mortgage, no assets etc – the only thing I did have was shares awarded from my place of work which vested this year. I gave that money to the OR which was about £151. I don’t know what an IPA is?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
An IPA is an Income Payments Agreement – for monthly payments, but one can’t be set up after you are discharged.
So technically I suppose a trustee could still be appointed, eg if some popped up and reported that you had a cottage in Wales or a flat in Marbella. But that isn’t going to happen…
And in any case, your credit record is supposed to reflect how much money you owe to debts. And your debt to Lowell was wiped out when you went bankrupt. Whether Lowell can eventually get any money back from the OR doesn’t change the fact that you no longer owe them money. So it is incorrect fro your credit record to show that you do.
Tell them to correct this or you will send a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.
David says
Good morning,
My other half declared herself bankrupt in August 2014, and this has now dropped off of her most recent credit report. There is one store card still showing as in default on her report, which if is still on her file in October, we will approach them to amend the credit report.
She has also got a 25 Year Secured Loan on her file from a loan which she took out with her ex husband 10+ years ago. The debt is secured against a house that she has no interest in, and never has had any interest in, she isnt named on the mortgage or deeds. Unfortunately her ex husband has defaulted on payments over the past few years, and this is reflected against her on the report. The lenders were made aware of the bankruptcy, but have never chased her for payments to bring the account up to date. Is there anything we can do to reflect this on her credit reports? At present she could be penalised for this for another 10 years!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The secured loan was included in her bankruptcy even if she did not list it on her bankruptcy application. She should ask the lender to add a default date of the date her bankruptcy started. And take a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman if the lender refuses.
Sharon says
Hello again – Nearly all of my debts after bankruptcy are showing as closed on CreditKarma and ClearScore but Experian are showing them as ‘Defaulted/Ended’ under the ‘Defaulted’ tab rather than ‘Closed’. Is this right as when I was reading the SCOR/ICO guidelines, it states that ‘Your record should be closed and marked as partially settled if you are bankrupt’. Does ‘ended’ mean ‘closed’ even though not listed under closed?
Thank you for your valued guidance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what report are you looking at?
Sharon says
Experian – this is the only one that has the headings Open / Closed / Defaulted Accounts
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes but exactly which report?
It is often easiest to see exactly what is happening by looking at the Statutory Credit report, http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/statutory-report.html#section-three-hp
Sharon says
I’m viewing it through the MSE Credit Club – it says it’s the full report – is it not the same as the statutory report?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is just often easier to read the statutory credit report. It’s not as pretty, but it’s simple. I suggest you get that.
Robert says
Hi,
I have a question regarding ccj (after being discharged from bankruptcy) on my credit report.
I understand ccj will stay on the credit report for 6 years but shouldn’t the balance of it be zero? (as the ccj was included in my bankruptcy and I don’t owe them anything anymore)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No. As the article above says, “There is one exception here. There is no ‘partially settled’ status for a CCJ and the court only has to mark a CCJ as satisfied if you have paid it in full, which you haven’t. So any CCJs will continue to show as unsatisfied.”
Danielle says
Hi,
After reading this i checked my credit file to check default dates, to see that 11 of my 18 debts included in my bankruptcy are still showing balances of almost £17,000
I was declared bankrupt in June 2019 and discharged in August 20 (delayed due to COVID). I have since began contacting my creditors who have advised that my Trustee has not made contact with them and any action they have taken, has been on information I provided in June 2019. So far there are 4 creditors confirming this with another 7 still to contact. I am planning on contacting my Trustee to discuss this however would be grateful for any advice regarding their role in communicating with my creditors. I am currently paying £154 per month (total of 48 payments) to my trustee and my house (negative equity) is also held by them which I need to pay approx £500 (I think) after the 4 years to be released back to me.
Thanks
Weatherman says
Hi Danielle
The Trustee should inform all the known creditors about your bankruptcy (as well as distributing the payments you’re making). You can also give the creditors the Trustee’s contact details, and tell them to contact him/her.
If you keep having problems like this, you can complain about the Trustee: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/make-a-complaint-to-the-insolvency-service It’s their job to deal with the creditors now, not yours!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My guess is the IS have told the creditors but they haven’t updated their records correctly.
It’s depressing but the IS fees are taken first and probably no creditors are getting anything from the IPA payments :(
But even they are getting some money, your credit record should still be changed to show that the debt is settled or partially settled with a zero balance as you no longer owe this money after your discharge. Follow the steps in the article above to get the creditors to change this.
John Smith says
Hi, I was declared bankrupt 10th January 2018, was discharged exactly 1 year later on 10th January 2019. When exactly will the bankruptcy fall off my credit file?
Weatherman says
Hi John
I can’t give you a precise date – but it will be around January 2024 (six years from the date of the declaration, not the date of the discharge). The exact date depends on when in the month the credit reference agency updates its records.
Dan says
Hi there and great post,
I was made bankrupt in 2017 and on my credit report an old mortgage and an unsecured loan still show current balances they say in default but with a balance still is this right?
Thank you in advance
Dan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it’s wrong. As you have been discharged from bankruptcy the debts should show as satisfied or partially satisfied with a zero balance. The art above says how to complain and get this corrected. Also make sure the default date is on or before the date your bankruptcy started.
Dan says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for the very speedy reply, I might be lucky or might not.
It says default
Since 3rd July 2015
Does this mean it will drop off this July anyway?
Thanks
Dan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not sure what you mean by “I may be lucky” the credit reporting rules are clear and not optional…
Yes it will drop off this July. You may decide you don’t care and will wait until then.
Jade says
Hi Sara,
I went bankrupt 6th March 2020 and have just been discharged and starting a clean-up of my credit file – great website, very thankful for it!
A few of the lenders have a correct default date but the settled date is showing after that. E.g. Default date of 6th March 2020 but account settled August 2020 with £0 balance. I have signed up to a free trial of checkmyfile just so I could check all of them at once and it says that the settled account will be reported until August 2026, however I thought they would drop off 6 years after the default date. Is this correct? Do the lenders have to put 6th March 2020 as the account settled date?
I don’t really want to have accounts still showing on my file a year later when they are settled/partially settled after discharge.
Thanks in advance for the help!
Jade says
Sorry just discovered half the answer to my own question – that particular lender hadn’t put a default on the account at all – just missed payments and then settled it in August 2020. So I guess I will need to contact them to add a default to line up with my bankruptcy date?
Weatherman says
Hi Jade
Yep, you should contact the lender and ask them to put a default date on. Really they should put it on for the point at which you’d missed or made reduced payments for 3-6 months – or the bankruptcy date if you went bankrupt before you’d reached that point.
Gary says
Really helpful page thanks 👍
Joseph says
Hi Sara,
I was discharged from bankruptcy in November 2019. Last month I checked my three statutory reports as suggested, and one lender is showing as default which is fine as the default date is correct, however the balance still remains? I contacted the lender with your email template and attached my discharge certificate and they responded with:
“As advised, the register does not support your claim that you have been discharged”. I was slightly confused as I have been discharged and even sent them my certificate.
I decided to forward this onto the insolvency service, however their response was:
“Regarding your query, the Official Receiver has no authority or control over what is displayed on your credit report and it is common for past debts to still show on your credit file for up to 6 years from the date of your Bankruptcy Order being made.”
One thing to note, is that I am still under a BRU until May 2022. I’m not entirely sure how to reply to the lender as I have been discharged but they don’t seem to be budging about updating the balance on my report?
Thanks for your time
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who is the lender?
Jo says
Hello,
A lender is refusing to update my credit report on a mortgage to reflect my bankruptcy. They said that until the property is sold (it has been repossessed) they will not mark the debt as satisfied or partly satisfied. Currently, it is showing in arrears. Is this correct? I thought regardless of whether the property is sold if it was included in the bankruptcy the credit report should not be showing the accounts in arrears and in default? Its now been nearly 6 years and they haven’t corrected it…
jo says
Sorry I should maybe clarify I understand it may still need to state defaulted, however the balance is still showing and its in arrears. It is actually in relation to two lenders Band of Ireland and Birmingham Midshire. I was fully discharged a year after my bankruptcy which was in 2015.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
were these two different properties?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what is the default date on it?
Jo says
Hi Sarah, yes two different properties and they don’t have a default date. Just showing the account in arrears and unpaid. I actually
Rang today and they said the default date would be set to the date the properties were repossessed and it wouldn’t be marked satisfied/partially satisfied until they are sold. Could that be right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When did you stop paying the mortgages? Were these buy to lets?
Jo says
Hi Sara yes they are buy to lets. Payments were actually maintained until 2017. To give more context, the properties were in 4 family members names and we all had to go bankrupt at different times until the last person in 2017 and subsequently the payments were stopped then. Sorry I know this maybe adds complexity to answering my question. Basically I’m trying to establish if the bank are right on their stance that they don’t have to mark defaulted until repossession date and partially settled when the asset is liquidated. This obviously goes against what you are saying should be the case in the blog
Post… thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes it is more complicated. I think article above is still correct, but in any event I cannot see there is any justification for a default date that is later than 2017.
Jo says
Ok. I’ll write to the bank using your templates and I would suspect because the stance they have been taking, I will likely need to take it to the ombudsman. Thanks again for your replies.
Jo says
Hi Sara, sorry one last question. So if the default will only be recorded in 2017 from when the payments were stopped, does that mean it will show defaulted on my records for 6 years from 2017? Or should this drop off my records in July this year when its 6 years from my original bankruptcy?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
a defaulted debt drops off 6 years from the date of default.
I am not saying that will be the decision. I am saying the lenders have no possible argument that it should be later than that
David John says
Hello,
I found your article very interesting and helpful – thank you
Was Bankrupt in 2008, 12 years ago. Mortgaged property at the time all up to date and was allowed to keep it. This was kept up to date all along.
As the proerties value never recovered after buying at the height in 2007, it sold in Jan this year and made a £45k LOSS. The mortgage company actually told me I wasn’t liable for the debt due buying it before the bankruptcy so this loss would be rolled into the bankruptcy. Great news hey. Thought id be paying that back for years.
My credit file now though shows the debt lower by exactly the sale price (give or take) but the shortfall is still showing as outstanding, and payments up to date, haha, which is odd because ive not made any payments. It was recenrly updated at the end of Apri. They’ve obviously updated it with the sale or the amount wouldn’t of reduced.
Following your article above I can write to them and ask them to show this balance as Satisfied/Partially settled but im wondering whether this will effect my excellent credit score now and whether theres a way to get it removed all together given it was techincally satisfied in 2008 and ive worked hard to keep it in good condition. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your options are either to ask them to add a default back when you went bankrupt or to ask them to mark the balance at zero and partially settled.
Normally a default should be added when you went bankrupt if you later stopped. The debt would then disappear from your credit record as that is over 6 years ago.
12 years is a very long time though and I don’t know if they will argue that it isn’t appropriate here… You could then fall back on asking the debt tio show as partially settled.
A partially settled marker does not actually affect your credit score. Other lenders can see it as a flag and it may sometimes make it harder to get credit, but then getting the huge balance of your credit record should help.
GB says
I was bankrupt May 2015 and discharged a year later. A BRU was agreed in Feb 2016 for 4 years. I’m trying to clean up my credit file. It’s taken a while but I’ve managed to get everything removed regrading defaults loans and cards etc and things are looking good. The bankruptcy has also been removed from the public info section. The BRU is still showing (only on my Experian credit report). I’ve spoken to nationaldebtline about BRU’s and they seem to think a BRU should be removed when it ended. In my case this was 14/02/2020. I’m pretty sure they are wrong and it will be removed 6 years after it started. Does anyone have any further info on this please? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
does it show on any Equifax or TransUnion reports?
Gb says
Hi Sara, no it doesn’t only Experian.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I will try to find an answer to this. Can you remind me if I haven’t replied in a week please.
GB says
Thanks very much. I’ve just downloaded the Experian credit report and there’s a section about public record information after the end of the credit file. It says “BRUs appear on your credit file for six years from the original date shown unless the end date is over six years, in which case the BRU will remain on your report until the end date shown”. I think I’ve read that correct and it’ll be removed 6 years from the original date. I think nationaldebtline have misread the information and just looked at the bit which says BRU will remain on your report until the end date shown. It looks like this only applies if the BRU end date is over 6 years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well that sentence doesn’t really make much sense.
Also why is it not being reported on the other CRAs?
Gb says
Hi Sara just wondering if you’ve heard back from Experian? I’ve emailed them with the query but heard nothing back yet. Thanks !
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it has been passed on to someone else…
Dan says
Hello, I had a loan for PCP with Alphera financial aka bmw I had returned the car which became an unsecure loan I had to go bankrupt sometime after this. I sent certificate of discharge to bmw gave them all the information but are refusing to update my credit file because they say it doesn’t show they were included and because they have had no contact from insolvency service. I have emailed insolvency service about this but is there anything else I can do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What does your credit record show at the moment? is this defaulted – what date? Balance showing? And when were you discharged?
And how long ago did you email the Insolvency Service?
Dan says
It shows a balance owing and doesn’t show a default either. Even though it hasn’t been paid for well over a year I was discharged just over a month ago. I emailed insolvency about 4 or 5 days ago now.
Alphera says it’s been on cease they haven’t once contacted me about the money owed so I presumed they knew about the bankruptcy. But they say they know nothing. It reports late payment every month
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you list the debt on your bankruptcy application?
It is still included in your bankruptcy even if you didn’t, but with creditors that are not familiar with bankruptcy it can be quicker to get resolved if you did list it.
Dan says
I did put it on the online application and put the contact details that I had for them from their website. But they are saying they haven’t heard anything it was the biggest part of my debt as well. They said the insolvency always contact them. I called insolvency service today and they said that they won’t contact them they have to contact them. I said that Alphera/bmw said that they won’t do anything until they are contacted. I have been given office receiver number to try next as step change said they couldn’t help either
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely phone the OR. The firm should have been notified as it was listed on your application. Say to the OR that you don’t know why but they are denying receiving the notification so could the OR write to them and confirm that the debt to them was included in your bankruptcy.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who is bank A?