Wednesday 9 November 2011

Could the Debt Management Plan Ruin My Credit Report?


Many people receive help with unmanageable debt payments via the debt management plan. A debt management plan can bridge the link between debt payments and what you can afford. Numerous creditors will be left short of the entire sum they are promised by debt management plan users who opt to take on the debt management plan. This will inevitably have a poor effect on your credit report. We consider the links between a debt management plan and your credit report.

Credit reports will not show whether you have enrolled on a debt management plan. Different debt management solutions such as IVAs will not afford you this bonus.

You could recognise that you have become involved with a single debt management plan; however it's in reality simply a collection of unconnected negotiations between you and your creditors to repay your debts at an achievable rate.

Despite the fact that a DMP on its own doesn't show up, your individual creditors will probably report you to the credit reference companies as you are not likely to fully pay off the total amount you have outstanding.

A start-up fee could be removed from the primary couple of payments you make in a debt management plan. This is fairly usual and might mean that your credit file will display un-met payments.

Occasionally your DMP group may not be able to put through your payments to the necessary lenders in due time. This may result in your credit report appear with late repayments on them. This is unfortunate but often unavoidable.

More rigorously, smaller or missing repayments could result in default messages getting sent out on a few or all of your debts in the duration of a debt management plan. This is quite likely to happen. Default notices will change your credit file in a bad way, yet in more positive light they will only be visible for 6 years and will be registered as being "satisfied" should you pay back the debt in full prior to the end of that six year period. A County Court Judgment (CCJ) is another plausible danger should one of your creditors decides not to accept the DMP and to go through legal debt recovery measures. A CCJ will also stay on your credit rating for 6 years.

What length of time will your DMP be live for?
It's necessary to have a handle on this, and your DMP group must give you an estimate before you go with them. Depending on the length of time you ought to think about considerations like getting access to transportation. Make sure you have a plan ready (and prepare if necessary) to replace your motor if you need it and it's unlikely to survive to the termination of your DMP.

When will your credit report begin to experience a return to normal?
This could normally depend on how quickly you're able to repay your debts and if you then take plans to rehabilitate your credit report. Older 'negatives' will not be visible on your credit report 6 years after they happened, and you may be able to make some positive use of credit later (even during your debt management plan) which serves as a good sign to future creditors.

A long-term DMP might not have the initial serious impact of a personal insolvency, but the flow of smaller negative credit blotches to your credit rating may take place across a prolonged time. Each individual will need to make their own choice regarding this based on their individual views and the debt management plan information that they receive.