Welcome to the forum LouiseD.

There's two separate issues here really:

1 - Your creditors might not have received a dividend from your trust deed yet. This may result from the delay while PPI work continues. They might be inclined not to update your credit file until that happens.

2 - You have been discharged. You're entitled to your credit file being updated once you have been discharged (something that we've confirmed with the Information Commissioner).

Where does that leave you? You'll need to start contacting these ex-creditors individually and require them to update your credit file. This could be done by letter or telephone. You could choose to make polite requests, or you could choose to make formal complaints.

Thanks for getting back to me!

Should I be concerned that the dividends have not been paid a year later?

Do you have a template anywhere that I can use to send letters?

Sorry to ask something else, but when I signed my Trust I got talked into taking out life insurance which I was told I had to do in order for my trust to go through and for the payments to remain low (they were £204 so not low to me) I eventually cancelled it a year later but I was warned several times that payments would now increase, they didnt. Should that have happened to me?

I have also looked into being Mis Sold my TD as I was never fully explained the charges behind it that the company would take and I was never given any other options like a DMP.

The whole thing felt really sales pushed when I look back on it now that I am in a better frame of mind and payments have been met... do you have any advice?

Thanks again

No need for concern LouiseD. Firstly, PPI investigations can run on for quite a long time depending upon how fast/slow your creditors and/or the Financial Ombudsman Service are working. Secondly, it's not your problem! You've completed your obligations and have been discharged accordingly. The rest of the process is now between your ex-trustee and your ex-creditors.

We choose not to provide template letters on this site, but some other members that have dealt with this themselves (lots have) may well be able to point you in the right direction. The following article might help to provide you with some ammunition:

https://www.trust-deed.co.uk/repair-your-credit-rating.html

Personally, I'd be tempted to deal with this by telephone. It can be quicker and possibly even cheaper to handle things this way.

In terms of being sold life insurance, we're aware that a couple of firms encourage customers in this direction when taking out trust deeds. Done well, it can provide the families of people in trust deeds with a lot of extra protection that they might not have had otherwise. Done badly, it sometimes seems a little bit "iffy" not least when it's done on the basis of keeping your trust deed payment down (though that's irrelevant I suppose if you/your family have a genuine need for the cover). Should it have happened at all? Only you can decide what your view on that is. Should your trust deed payment have increased if an item of expenditure was removed? Quite possibly, though that would also depend upon other factors.

Were you mis-sold your trust deed? Advisers should certainly inform people about charges and alternatives. I'd imagine that the proposed charges probably were listed on documents that you signed at the start of your trust deed though so you might find that a difficult point to argue. Do you think you'd have been in a better financial position now if you'd entered a debt management plan rather than a trust deed?

Thank you, I will take this all on board. You have calmed my worries, I have alist of all the creditors so I will get cracking with phonecalls.

Thanks again

Hi LouiseD

I read your initial post so this is a comment about 'having your defaults removed ...'.

Are you aware that the defaults will remain on your credit reference file for six years from the month you signed your Trust Deed? So whether you are discharged after 3 years or 4 years or 5 years, it remains for 6 years.

Some of the creditors may argue that the date is the date they noted it was defaulted. They need to be 'guided' that it is the date you signed the Trust Deed.

You are likely to be required to send them a copy of the Form 5. At which point I would recommend you highlight the date of signing on the form very clearly, otherwise they may use the date of discharge (happened to me). I sent both the initial Trust Deed and the Form 5 with Signing dates highlighted on both.

The Defaults will then automatically drop off six years after the default date recorded.

I would also recommend that you keep a note of day, date time and the number you called and the person you spoke to and briefly what was said. Do that with each company. You may need to rely on that later.

Some Forum members have had their records corrected easily. Others (including myself) had more difficulty. I think it depends on the company you are dealing with and sometimes the person and their motivation to get your record corrected! I have received compensation for the hassle I had to get it corrected with one company. I know CIF has had similar problems with one company.

Congratulations on completing the Trust Deed! I hope the everything goes smoothly for you now.

Thanks for getting back to me Firewalker.

I'm getting myself confused with my defaults. If I log onto my credit file it has the current defauly date at October 2015, is this correct?

I was under the impression that the defaults should have "stopped" around the time my TD was signed but are still visible on my account for six years. Is this correct or should they appear every month on my account for 6 years?

Sorry if im being ditzy!

Hi LouiseD

Your credit reference file will show both the Default Date as a date. It may also show in the payment record a D in a circle and prior to that maybe some irregular payments in coloured circles.

The date you need to focus on most importantly is the typed date for each account.

If you go to the Public Record / Insolvency part of the report it will show your Trust Deed details with the dates there.

Each individual creditor file should have the Trust Deed Date to match. If you signed on 5 September 2014 as an example, that is the date that should be shown. Sometimes it is just a few weeks after and it may not be worth your while arguing about it.

I don't know where the Default date of October 2015 you mention is showing? Where is this date showing? Against which Accounts?
Is it against the general company credit information or in the Payment Record circles? Each credit reference company layout may be slightly different.

So, the default date and the D in the circles should show in the month/year you signed the Trust Deed. (The circles are less important). The account should be updated to show S (Satisfied) or PS (Partially Satisfied). I was not discharged until one year after I had made my final payment. I still had 2 years to go before the Trust Deed was due to drop off so it gave me time to work on getting the records corrected.

So your main focus is to get the Default DATE changed and request S or PS marked against the account. The circles sort themselves out since the whole record drops off.

I hope that makes sense. It does to me since I went through the process.

You may find that it is an English based firm and staff who may not fully understand (or want to) the Trust Deed and so you have to 'guide them' that the Trust Deed Signing Date is the correct date - even if that means escalating it to a Manager. Some companies are better than others.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on.