CASE STUDY

FOREWARNED should be forearmed now Carli Burke has started house-hunting after spending a decade in rented accommodation.

Like thousands of others, Carli’s credit record was badly hit when she got divorced and went bankrupt nearly a decade ago.

‘I knew it would take time to repair my finances so I did a lot of research to see how to improve my financial situation as quickly as possible,’ she says.

Carli, 41, who now runs The Pink Boot Company – a ‘girl Friday’ gardening business near Cheltenham – contacted credit reference agency Experian when she was struggling with her debts.

‘The credit reports I received were well designed and showed me exactly where I stood financially, why I was there and how I could improve my situation,’ she says.

By joining some of Experian’s forums, mother-of-two Carli was able to ask other people for debt advice and has since rebuilt her credit record.

‘I’m now in a financial position where mortgage firms should be happy to take me on, but I would not have got where I am without expert money help,’ she says.

‘Without the right advice and information it is easy to make things worse when you’re in debt – which is a disaster with hard-to-get mortgages.

‘I’ve worked hard to turn things around so I’m hoping my mortgage application will be stronger and I’ll have a better chance of getting it approved.’