Thanks for your advice. Obviously, it is difficult to shop around for a loan, as to get a quote leaves a footprint on my report, lowering my chances of getting a loan. Is there any way to get quotes WITHOUT leaving the footprint? For example, I got Motorcycle insurance quotes from eight or nine companies before picking one to agree with, without any negative consequences (apart from a HUGE increase in spam in my email inbox!).

What do you reckon the chances of my bank giving me a loan are? I have just checked my credit report, and the default is now (since yesterday...) marked "satisfied". Will this help?