Bad Credit Report

Hi,

I am a newly divorced woman trying to support myself but am being held back by a very bad credit report due to a number of joint loans/creditcards and mortgage. 6 months ago the joint mortgage was been paid off, the joint loans and credit cards cleared and joint bank account closed, however despite me repeatedly contacting the banks involved they have failed to inform/update Equifax. I have contacted Equifax advising them of this and sent them copies of letters from the banks stating they are cleared/closed and that I am divorced therefore no longer want to be linked with my ex but they just say until the banks update them direct nothing will change.
My question is is there anything I can do to sort this out, is there a time period where if the banks dont update Equifax they will adjust their records, or do I just have to wait and suffer quietly?
Thank you.

Your credit rating will be affected by these events for up to six years, after which they will clear from your record. I think this will continue even when the banks update your records to show that the outstanding accounts have been settled.

What you can do to help your credit rating recover is:

Get a high interest credit card like the Capital One card - they give them to anyone, even people like you and I who have terrible credit ratings. Use it (for example) for your weekly shopping and ALWAYS pay off the whole balance each month by direct debit. This will help to boost your credit rating, and also give you an emergency fall-back shuld you need it (I have one to cover any emergency vet bills; my cat is insured but I have to pay up front before claiming the money back from the insurance).

Write to each of the three main credit referencing agencies (Equifax, Experian and CallCredit) asking for them to send you a copy of your credit record. Enclose a cheque for £2 to each one. They have to give you this by law. Once you've received your credit records, write to each with a Notice of Correction. This is a short paragraph stating the reasons why the defaults happened and that the accounts have now been settled and closed. If you also still have a financial connection to the person you had the accounts with, you can send each of the referencing agencies a 'Notice of Dissociation' stating that you no longer have any linked accounts with the other person and you do not wish their credit record to be considered alongside your own.

Hope this helps. You can find more inf about Notices of Correction and Dissociation online, along with some examples. It might take a few attempts to get the information right, but it should help improve your credit rating.

Best of luck with it all

WCX