Hello all

I've had bad credit rating for the past 2 years since I was unemployed 2 years ago for 4 months. I had 4 credit cards, 1 of which was with capital One, and i had arranged a repayment plan with them to clear of the debt. I had found out a few weeks ago that this repayment plan had been marked on my credit rating, which was the cause of most of my refusals. I have today managed to clear the card completely, and the account will be completely closed in 21 days.

The position i am in now is: I am still £5500 in debt on credit cards and my overdraft, and am also looking to buy a new car soon as the one i currently own has nearly come to the end of its life. Ideally i'd like to get a loan to consolidate my existing debts, aswell as buy the new car with (the cars i've been looking at are around £5k), so ideally a £10k loan. My finance director at work thinks it'll be easier for me to get a finance deal seperately on a new car, as i'll have an asset tied into it if i dont make the payments (the car), and also given the current economy would also save me more money in the long run than getting 1 loan to cover it all, but this then still leaves me with the other 3 credit cards and my overdraft.

So my questions are:

1. How long should I leave it for the capital 1 repayment to be wiped of my credit rating before applying for loans etc elsewhere?

2. Should I look into 1 larger loan to cover everything, or get a new car on a seperate deal

3. Can anyone recommend any company's that would be willing to help me given my current situation?

If any more information is needed, please ask and I will give as much as i can.

thanks in advance