Debt, poor credit score.....mortgage?

[Lj8893]

Please no judging.

When I was single and young and stupid I racked up loads of debt. My credit score is very poor and I owe about £4000 to various debtors. Most of them are about 4 years old now.

I'm currently a student and not in a position to pay anything and am not really being contacted by anybody.

I also have a ccj from 2013 which has been paid.

When I qualify in 2.5 years I will be in a financial position to clear all my debts in about 1-2 years.

We plan to get a mortgage in about 10 years from now, so about 6 years from when I clear my debt. Is that going to be possible? Or am I destined to never have a good credit score?

My husbands credit score is average but should be easily improved.

The good news is that your credit history works on a rolling 6 year basis so anything older than this, missed payments, your CCJ etc. will drop off and be invisible to anyone looking at your report.

The CCJ is likely to be the most negative thing on your record and you are unlikely to secure any mainstream credit until this drops off but once it's gone, it's gone without trace.

It takes six years for any nasties to "drop off" your credit report, so yes a mortgage down the line would be possible.

Try not to focus on your "score", it doesn't actually exist. No one (including lenders) can see it, apart from you. It's just a sly marketing tool dreamt up by the credit referencing agencies to con you into signing up for monthly subscriptions.

Thankyou both. So in 6 years from now (or less than in some cases) my credit report will be clear from all defaults etc. so all that will show are my bank accounts?

I've heard things about having no credit at all will have an impact on my report too? So should I (sensibly!!) gain credit elsewhere to improve my report once I have cleared everything?

That's right; it will all be gone. However if you have any active credit accounts be sure to pay at least the minimum each month.

It would be sensible to build a history with poor credit credit card. The idea being that you put something small on it each month and then pay it off in full each month which will then not incur any interest.

Money saving expert I believe have some sort of 'checker' on their website which will do a soft search on your credit report and advise if you are likely to be accepted for any credit cards currently on the market.

Good luck OP, I've been where you are and it's a long road but all is not lost.

Best tips to improve your credit worthiness would be use a credit card and re pay it, get a phone contract (doesn't need to be an expensive one, a sim only deal will do), and make sure you're on the electoral register.