A reader asked:
My Credit Karma report shows some settled debts but one is shown as satisfied. I am sure I paid them all off in full. Does it make a difference and should I ask for this to be changed?
What is the difference between Satisfied and Settled?
On credit records, debts which have been repaid in full are:
- shown as Satisfied if a default has been added to the record;
- shown as Settled if there is no default on the record.
On the report above, this is confirmed by the names of the creditors. Motormile Finance is a debt collector – this debt would have defaulted at some stage and then been sold to the debt collector. Provident and Quickbridge are lenders – there may have been late or missed payments on these two debts but no default was added. You can see the full repayment history for each debt by clicking on the purple plus sign.
There are now a large number of ways to look at your credit records and score. Some are free, some paying a one-off charge, others a monthly fee. Which one you should use depends on what sort of detail you want, see What’s the best way to check your credit record for details.
The following CreditExpert report shows how this situation is reported by Experian. I’ve highlighted two loans, the defaulted one is marked Satisfied, the non defaulted one is marked as Settled:
A debt which has been closed with an agreed full and final settlement will be marked as Partially Settled or Partially Satisfied.
Is Settled better than Satisfied?
There is a big difference for your credit score in future, but it’s not always easy to tell which is best:
- a settled debt will disappear from your credit record six years after the settlement date.
- a satisfied debt will disappear more quickly, as it drops off six years after the default debt.
If all payments were made on time, then a settled debt is great for your credit score. It shows you borrowed money and repaid it on time – just what future lenders like to see.
But if the settled debt has late payments or arrangement to pay markers, these are going to be showing on your credit record for a long while. If there are a lot of these and they started several years ago – perhaps you have been debt management? – then it may be better if you ask for a default to be added because it will go sooner! See What should the default date for a debt be? for more details.
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Nathan says
Hi Sara
No not all of the debtors in the DMP are defaulted and I have spoken with satsuma and they have confirmed my accounts are not defaulted. Have always paid satsuma the agreed amount and not missed any payments.
Dates for any defaults are beginning of 2018, currently paying 195.00 per month towards my DMP but a few of the accounts on the DMP have been settled in the last few weeks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you will be better off if you can get Satsuma to add a default date back in 2018. If you settle when there is no default date, the record will remain on your credit file for another 6 years, settling in full or partially makes no difference the problems will continue to show for 6 years. but add a default in 2018 and in 20124 your credit record will be clean.
Nathan says
Hi Sara
But no default has been raised by satsuma, just that the account is open, so if I pay it will just be closed with a zero balance. I have asked them to remove the 6 month marker due to them in writing telling me that this wouldn’t be added in the 1st place, if I can get them to remove that marker would that be the best outcome.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
would it then say you were 5 months in arrears? If you can get them to change it so it shows you have not been in arrears at all, then that would be great for you but they probably won’t do it.
Nathanc@sky.com says
Thank you, I have emailed a complaint to them that they are looking at, too request that it’s removed as they stated in writing I wouldn’t have late payment markers added! Hopefully they will look into this.
I am going to clear the balance of today anyway and will then keep at them with the complaint.
I appreciate your help. 👍
Jade says
Hi Sara,
I’ve just checked my credit report and I can see a small debt with Barclays Bank for £169, it’s showing that the last missed payment for it was in September 2015. I’m looking to apply for a mortgage within the next 6 months with my partner, would I have a chance at doing so with this showing? Is it better now that I settle it or leave it? Would it drop off in September 2021 or the first missed payment date in December 2014, I think it must be from an old overdraft I had when working from them but I haven’t lived at the address they’ve sent letters to for years so have been unaware of it.
Any help would be appreciated,
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So after 2015 there are no missed payments on this debt? That’s odd. It makes it hard to know what to do when it lookalike the lender has made a mistake.
Jade says
Hi Sara,
I’ve just double checked this. It definitely shows the last date for a missed payment in September 2015 after that there is no data up until 18 months ago where I’ve paid all credit consecutively. The gap between then is completely blank?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well if there was one missed payment 5 years ago, a mortgage lender probably won’t see that as serious. But as it isn’t a default it won’t drop off in September 2021, it will stay for 6 years after you close the account.
Your options:
– ignore it and hope a mortgage lender doesn’t mind. if you want o do this then go through a mortgage broker not direct to a lender, but that is actually good advice for anyone getting a mortgage
– pay it now and close the account – and hope Barclays don’t look at it and decide you should have been defaulted years ago.
– contact Barclays and say you have just seen this on your credit record and is it some sort of error as you have never been contacted about it? (I am suggesting this as you don’t seem to know anything about whether you do owe the money or not….) say if it isn’t an error you are happy to pay it now but you would like your credit record corrected to show it was closed back in 2015.
It is hard to guess which is likely to work out for the best, sorry.
Adam says
Hi Sara, I’m a bit of a simpleton and I was hoping you could enlighten me! On 1 December 2015 I got a CCJ – I was unaware until 2018 when I checked my credit score (again, simpleton) and the debt was settled on 14 August 2018 / will this drop off my credit score 6 years from when it was issued or 6 years from when it was settled?
Hope you can help clear it up! :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
6 years from when it was issued.
Rachel says
Hi, I am new to trying to understand and improve my credit report. I viewed my report in december, when i discovered that I have a CCJ on my report which i was unaware of. I googled what to do and contact the business court for the details. Following that I contacted the solicitor and have paid off the CCJ debt in full. I have just received a letter from the solicitor formally confirming receipt of the payment and that they have sent a ‘settled action report’ to the court. They also say that this means I am now ‘at liberty to apply to the county court for a certificate of satisfaction’.
I am not sure what this means and whether or not I need it. Will the status of the CCJ be updated on my credit report automatically? or do i need to manually request this? if i need the certificate, will it cost me anything to request the certificate?
Thanks
Weatherman says
Hi Rachel
If the solicitor has told the court that you’ve paid it, you don’t need to do anything. If you did want a certificate, it would cost you £14 (you need to fill out a form called N443: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n443-application-for-a-certificate-of-satisfaction-or-cancellation). But you don’t need it.
If you paid it within a month, it should vanish from your credit report. If the CCJ was more than a month ago, unfortunately it will stay on your report for six years.
There’s more information about all of this here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/paid-ccj-satisfied/
A Bradley says
A debt I defaulted on in 2016 was a personal loan for a hire purchase car which I took out in 2014. I wanted to voluntarily surrender my car, the loan firm were really unfair to me & never contacted me again to pick the car up. In Feb 2020 I suddenly received a letter from the personal loan firms paralegal team demanding full payment within 14 days – I contacted them saying they hadn’t contacted me and they ignored me for 4 years & that I couldn’t repay the full amount in 14 days and what was my options. I decided to go to the financial ombudsman service & they took over my case for 10 months, they mitigated & agreed it was misconduct. However the final result had to be impartial & basically the loan firm admitted they had lost me on their system hence why they didn’t respond or contact me for 4 years but I still owed the remainder and they offered me £50 compensation for stress. I didn’t accept this offer as I felt it was unreasonable and the financial ombudsman closed my case. Moving on 2 months from this (this month) and the loan firm has closed my account on my credit file and on credit checkers it says it’s now £0 and is satisfied/partially satisfied. I’ve checked on checkmyfile & it doesn’t show up as a mark on my credit score anymore and also says £0 satisfied. On one of my credit reports it says on my next report this account update will give me a positive impact on my credit score. What could this mean?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you carried on driving the car after you asked for a VT then I am not that surprised at the FOS decision. You should have insisted they pick up the car and complained within months if they didnt.
What was the balance on this account? What is the default date on it?
I have given up trying to interpret the wide variety of things the more than a dozen credit reports say about the future… You need to wait and see.
A Bradley says
I didn’t drive the car for 2 years from when I kept requesting a VT. I sent them letters, emails and calls & heard nothing back or was told someone would contact me. The balance on the account was £11K and default date was April 2016 so 6 years would be 2022. I then started to drive the car again in 2018 until 2020 (MOT backs all of this). This was all taken into consideration & they admitted I was on wrong systems & that’s why VT never happened etc.
Just unsure why they would update my credit file to £0 & satisfied or part-satisfied? I am worried to just wait & see as I have worked really hard to clear my other smaller debts & this is the only one that is left to deal with. As the 6 years is up next year I am worried to leave it – I just don’t know what I can do.