credit restoration agencies

[becciwtp]

I have really bad credit and am thinking of going to a credit restoration company to aid me in this. Does anybody know of any good ones or have any advice?

 

[Oneeyedvic]

I work in the finance industry, and would strongly recommend not going to one of these companies. Depending on how severe your problems are, I would suggest going to somewhere like a Citizens advice bureau or local debt charity.

 

Firstly, get a copy of your credit reports from experian and equifax. Then go to a CAB or charity. They will help you but not charge you for it. The credit restoration companies are a rip off.

[Scarlett]

Also Capital One have a credit card especially for people who want to build up their credit, or have had problems in the past. If you got one of these and showed that you could borrow responsibly, that would surely help your credit rating. Don't forget that bad credit is "written off" every six years, so you may not always have bad credit.

[DustMonkey]

If you have bad credit, then there is no 'quick fix'. What I believe Oneeyedvic is referring to are Debt Management companies, and I would agree that these are a fast way to make a bad situation even worse. However, from your post it seems that your credit has already been defaulted, and you just want to repair what has happened in the past. The simple answer here is to start small and work your way up! Swallow your pride and take out a starter loan from a company such as Welcome finance, pay it back flawlessly and then move on to a slightly cheaper deal. This is a long process, but it has been tried and tested by many people over many years. Further to this Scarlett is right that derogatory information does indeed 'drop off' after 6 years (unless your property is inhibited or you are still repaying the old credit), but in the mean time you can lodge a Note of Correction with the credit bureau (Experian or Equifax) which will be appended to you file, and whenever a company credit scores you they will be forced to read the reasons from your point of view for the preceeding information. Both of the above companies will be able to help you with the wording of this notice.

[inicholson]

I agree with all of teh above - stay away from any 'credit restoration' companies. There is nothing they can do that you cannot do yourself - without charges!

The default will stay on your entries with Experian and Equifax for 6 years from default, and you cannot change that. A Note of Correction may explain any mitigating circumstances that you have but the best thing to do is simply make sure that any outstanding debt is settled at the earliest opportunity.

You can start to 'rebuild' you credit rating, as suggested, by taking small loans out and repaying them flawlessly but I'm afraid other than that it's a question of time

[Westminster]

Don't.