There have been many adverts on the television in recent years, of companies offering to 'repair your credit history' and naturally, many people are being taken in by them. While some of these companies are legitimate and can guide you through the process of clearing your debts, there are some who will claim to be able to remove debts from your file within 12 months.

This is misleading. The only way a debt can be cleared from your file is if it's proved to be inaccurate, or in the case of a CCJ, if it's paid off within a month of filing. If you never received the summons for a CCJ and can prove it, this may also be grounds for removal. But there is no magical formula for removing genuine bad credit records. An accurate, valid debt will stay on your file for 7 years from the date of last activity.

Some credit repair companies claim to have special 'deals' with the credit file agencies, and can negotiate with them on your behalf to remove the bad records. This is simply not true. If a record is on your credit file for a genuine reason, there it will stay. It may disappear briefly while a case is being investigated, but will re-appear if it's shown to be valid. The bogus repair company may show you the temporarily clear report to get payment from you.

Speaking of payment, avoid any company that asks for money up-front. In fact, avoid credit repair companies altogether. There is nothing they can do that you can't. Indeed, due to the Data Protection Act, you could probably do it faster than they could. The legitimate ones can only tell you what to do to clear your file, which can be costly advice. It's better to sort as much out as you can yourself, and use the spare money to pay off some of your debts.

Before doing anything, get a copy of your credit file and go through it with a fine-toothed comb. Believe it or not, it is possible there could be errors on there; perhaps a debt you paid off hasn't been registered as satisfied, or multiple searches from the same company have been listed. Credit card companies are notorious for the latter; some will check your credit file on a regular basis when deciding to increase your limit. You can request for these multiple entries to be removed. Remember, the more searches appear on your file, the more they go against you. Also, you can request for additional information to be added to your file, explaining periods of insolvency; perhaps you had a long-term illness and were unable to earn money, and couldn't claim on PPI. Potential creditors don't have to take this information into account, but most will. If you have had joint debts with an ex-partner, and their details are still affecting your credit file, you can also add a Notice of Disassociation, informing your creditors that you are no longer financially linked to that person.

One more thing to bear in mind; if a company says that a refusal will not affect your file, don't believe them. While it may not actually say on your file that Company X has refused you credit, the search will still appear there. When another creditor comes to search, they will see the search by a company but no account with them, and conclude you were refused. This is also the case if you apply with a company, have a search done and then change your mind before approval, so only apply for credit if you intend to follow it through.

Debt management doesn't have to be difficult. Look up debt management techniques on the internet, and perhaps a debt consolidation loan may help you.