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[Tryin2cope]

Hi guys,
its been a long time since i posted. In 2013, i had some wonderful conversations with James Falla to whom i owe a great debt (a long with many others. Shouldnt joke! Tough times.) Anyway, my husband and i went ahead with bankruptcy in late 2013 which was a few months after we got married (we have remained at the same address before marriage and since). I have been on to check our credit scores on experian today and my husbands is showing as poor with the debtors showing as defaulted accounts and no record of bankruptcy. We should contact all these and have this corrected? Does this mean his score will go down before it can improve?
Mine however is showing a score of 999 (excellent), no creditors (except my mobile phone) and no record of bankruptcy. Should i assume that this is because i married a few months prior to bankruptcy? So my debt is in my maiden name? My bankruptcy listed all my maiden name debts and was processed as my married name and we have remained at the same address throughout so this seems like quite a miss for the credit agency?
To test it i applied for a credit card on line and was accepted straight away with a £1000 credit limit (please know that i have no intention of using this card and will never be in debt again!). I am however i stay at home mum currently and do hope to start a business in the future when my babies are a bit older so a clean credit score would be nice for things like leasing a premises.

[Hayden]

Hi Tryin2cope

Great to hear from you and I am glad that you and your Husband both went through the Bankruptcy process OK

In terms of your Husband's credit rating he should take action to start cleaning up his credit file. I have to say I am not sure why the record of bankruptcy is not listed . This is very strange. However it is quite common for defaulted accounts to continue showing. Ultimately these accounts will normally remain on the file for 6 years from the date of the bankruptcy.

The issue is if the default was originally issued post the date of bankruptcy. This should not happen but it commonly does. If it happens the default will then remain on the file after the record of bankruptcy comes off (because the default lasts for 6 years). If it is a matter of weeks this is not an issue. But it can be a number of months which is a pain. You can resolve this by requesting the creditor to change the date of the default. You can find out how to do this here: Improving your credit rating after Bankruptcy

I think it is most unusual that your credit score is excellent. All I can think is that as you say the debt was in your maiden name and the credit reference agency has not linked the two. This is unusual but great news for you

In terms of you getting a credit card this might not be a bad thing. I know it sounds crazy but one of the ways that your husband can improve his credit score is by applying for a so called credit repair credit card. If he uses it sensibly (ie pays off the balance in full each month) this will begin to build up a history of responsible credit usage which will help him enormously. Again more detail in the link I posted above.

[Tryin2cope]

Hi Hayden, I'm wondering if now I've applied for a card will someone see the link between my maiden and surname and update my file?
Also, so should I then write to creditors with the bankruptcy info? Do I have to send a discharge letter? I don't have one of those.

[Tryin2cope]

I read link. Thanks, but should I have a discharge letter? I like that my credit file is clean but now I just worry that at some point it'll will all catch up with me and I'll actually be behind because I won't have done the work to improve my score? Does that make sense?

[Hayden]

Hi Tryin2cope

My advice would be to let sleeping dogs lie. If there are no records on your file at this stage given you went bankrupt over 2 years ago I do not think you have anything to worry about. At this stage I am pretty sure nothing is suddenly gping to change and as you say "catch up with you"

I really would not be contacting the credit reference agencies. They will simply say there is nothing they can do as they are only acting on the info they are given by the OR. If you want the record of your Bankruptcy put onto your file you will need to speak to the OR's office about it I guess...... However I would not be doing that personally.

In terms of a discharge letter these are not issued automomatically by the OR. If you went bankrupt in England I am aware that you can request one from the Insolvency Service. However I am not sure if it is the same in Northern Ireland. There is more information about that here: Confirm you are discharged from Bankruptcy.

If you are thinking about cleaning up any default dates on your husband's credit file you do not need a letter confirming his discharge to do this. Just confirmation of the date he went bankrupt which you should have originally received from the court (ie his Bankruptcy Order).