Well I thought it was about time I updated my blog, although to be honest not a lot has been happening! I still haven’t finished sorting out my credit files, but I will write to the rest of them soon and let you all know how I get on.I have now been discharged from bankruptcy for nearly 5 months. I have made 14 payments into my IPA, so I’ve only got 22 more payments there. To be honest, time is flying past, although I will be pleased when I’ve made the last payment!Like everyone else we are finding it tight with the ‘credit crunch’, but at the moment we are managing. I know that if things get too tight I can contact the Official Receiver and have my IPA reassessed. I’m hoping not to have to do that though – I want the satisfaction of knowing that I did the full 36 months.Yesterday when we went shopping I bought a lot own brand things instead of my normal brands. I only saved about £3 yesterday, but I worked out that if I bought the same quantities of each product (i.e. 18 Andrex toilet rolls instead of 18 Sainsburys toilet rolls) I have saved over £30! To be honest it gave me a buzz knowing how much I’ve saved. I will always buy my usual brands of some things, but I’ll give most other things a go!

Although I don’t want credit cards or loans in the future, I’m realistic enough to realise that my car isn’t going to last forever and I may need finance, or that we might want to get a joint mortgage.  With this in mind I’ve started sorting out my credit files – Experian, Equifax and Callcredit.

Once you have been made bankrupt creditors are no longer allowed to default you, meaning that after 6 years are up your credit file should be ‘clean’.  However, this doesn’t stop some of them!  I have sent the data controller for each creditor a letter requesting that the default date on my file is no later than 29th March 2007 (the date of my BR), and that they mark my file either ‘satisfied’ or ‘partially satisfied’.

The results are as follows:

Barclaycard – will amend the default date and mark the account as satisfied
Egg loan – no reply
Egg card – no reply
Littlewoods – will amend the default date and mark the account as partially satisfied
Natwest – will amend the default date and mark the account as partially satisfied
Next – letter to be sent this week
Virgin (MBNA) – letter to be sent this week
Tesco – no reply

If I don’t receive a reply within 28 days of their receipt of the letter I will then refer the companies to the Information Commissioner who can (eventually!) force them to comply.

I have also got to write to Callcredit and ask them to amend their information – apparently I was made BR in Kingston and Warwick on the same day with the same reference number!