The credit file impact
When you start a DMP, each creditor whose payment reduces below the minimum contractual amount will start to record partial or missed payment markers on your credit file. Depending on the terms and length of arrears, they will eventually default the account.
Once defaulted, the account appears on your credit file for six years from the date of default. During that time, mainstream credit is very difficult to obtain.
Because different creditors default at different times, DMP holders often have a rolling six-year window — the last debt to default is the one that determines when your credit file is fully clean.
No public register
Unlike an IVA or bankruptcy, a DMP does not appear on the Individual Insolvency Register. Employers, landlords and members of the public cannot look you up as being in a DMP.
This can be a meaningful advantage where you are worried about the public visibility of formal insolvency.
Rebuilding after the DMP
Once the DMP completes and all defaults have dropped off (six years from the last default date), you are treated by credit reference agencies as if the DMP never happened.
The rebuild pattern is similar to any recovery from significant defaults: credit-builder cards, consistent on-time payments, avoiding new defaults, and letting time pass.