"SETTLED" ???? and other terminology!

A question about : "SETTLED" ???? and other terminology!

Hi there,

I had a lump sum of cash last year and paid off things like my M and S store card, Ikea homecard, very and littlewoods accounts, next accounts. I had confirmation from the lenders that the amounts had been paid and the accounts CLOSED. All of the accounts still appear on my Credit file as SETTLED....is this wrong? Should they paid in full or something similar. Someone told me when they write settled it tells lenders that you were a bad payer and then settled your debts. I paid all of them on time up until i cleared them.

My debt reduced by Ј9500 last May, and experian say that the amount of credit I have has not reduced significantly in the past 12 months!!!

DO credit searches automatically disappear after 12 months?

thank you

k

Best answers:

• Settled means you no longer owe anything.
• so the fact that experian credit report shows 30 credit accounts including those settled, is ok....17 of them are settled, and none were defaults or later payers. Do lenders see that or do they just see 30 credit accounts? ta
• thank you very much, just not really sure what to do to get my score better, I pay at least minimum cred card payment each month but usually Ј10 ish more, I pay Ј30 off my overdraft, and I have money saved and a current account where my wages go each month and never go overdrawn. I guess the savings dont really matter, as lenders cant see that!! neither can they see that I have paid Ј9k off my debts in last 12 months apparently!! not impressed with this, I am and have been working very hard! I had Ј26k of unsecured debts in 2008 I now have Ј9500....and I for one feel quite good about it! x
• I have a 'satisfied' on my file, but it was paid in full. I was told that an account with a default even if paid in full will say 'satisfied'.
  Settled is what is on all my closed account too where they were paid in full
• i'm glad you said that, I have Ј1k saved which is not much at all....but for me it's amazing! so I think I will keep it where it is, I have however paid an additional Ј100 off my credit card today, so that's a bonus, I will just keep on chipping away until they are all gone.
  Just a quick one....I have a defaulted black horse loan, it defaulted in August 2011, so will the default be gone off my credit file 6 years from the date of default regardless of whether it's paid or not?? I just keep paying it, but it doesnt show as a default?? Ta
• Settled and satisfied both mean closed, nothing outstanding. At Experian we use 'settled' for non-defaulted accounts and 'satisfied' for defaults and court judgments.
  James Jones