Hi Gillian,

Thanks for that.I seem to be more worried nearer we get to the end. When I know it should be the opposite, but getting officially realised is bothering me, why does it take so long. They are hassling us a bit just now about ppi, how did you manage that part of things sorted, any advise will be good and any other pointers would help,

Oops, didnt log into this for a while and seem to have missed the more recent posts!

Thanks for replying everyone and its good to know that its a standard letter being sent out (and yes, i cannot remember the amount of changes to trustees etc there have been since i started either)!

Random question perhaps but what actually happens when you finish a trust deed? I was so concerned about getting into it in the first place that i forgot to even check about this. I mean, after i make the first payment is that it? What does receiving the discharge actually mean? And does the discharge letter affect your credit rating at all? I have read elsewhere that you need to start building up your credit rating again after completing this which is fine, but im confused how you do any of that with an atrocious credit rating in the first place. And do you have to wait until your discharge to do any of that?

Sorry for all of the questions!

Hi starrysky.

You'll receive a Form 5 which is your confirmation that you have been discharged from the trust deed.

Some people send that to the credit reference agencies so that their status might be updated sooner.

Depending upon the situation with PPI investigations your trustee may remain "in office" to deal with that after you have been discharged yourself. This might delay payments to creditors, which might then delay some creditors updating your credit record with the fact that the debts are no longer due (because they no longer exist).

Building up your credit rating involves getting a copy of your credit report, confirming the accuracy of all entries, and requiring that creditors update any incorrect entries.

That deals with the "bad stuff" as best as you can, but you then may wish to layer on some "good stuff".

Many lenders are most interested in your recent credit history. Some people choose to get a high interest credit card (Vanquis is often mentioned here) and use it for a small purchase once a month. By repaying that in full no interest will be charged, and some positive recent credit history will start to build on your file. Mobile phone contracts might have a similar effect.

By the way, there will be an article added to the site (hopefully this evening) about an additional danger of payday loans. Please don't make the mistake of thinking that using payday loans will help your credit record (even if you pay it on time). It turns out that at least one mortgage lender (we think a lot more) now rejects mortgage applications for anyone that has recently used a payday loan as they perceive it to potentially be a sign of financial distress or mismanagement.

Thanks for replying with all of that information. That is really good to know. I don't have a mortgage but would possibly want to get one in the future. I know this may take a few years to build up a decent credit rating so I would like to start getting there sooner rather than later!