How many credit searches is to many...

Simon_Pugsley

Hi, me and my girlfriend are looking into getting several 0% credit cards, sticking all the balances into a high interest account via an egg money card.

I have read all the stoozing info, and believe it is something i would like to try, so, my question is this..

How many should i apply for, should we just apply for as many as possible in a 12 hour period, or is there a better method..

We already have a mortgage, and have no other outstanding debt, nor will we have any need to apply for any new credit in the next 9 to 16 months.

From what i have read, i should just apply for as many as poss, in a short space of time, it may damage my credit in the short term, but my understanding is that searches only last 6 months on your credit file..

Any words of wisdom...

Thanks

xgingerx

Hi more than 3 in a six month period start to seriously affect your rating, however 1 or 2 is ok, if you dont have any searches in a six month period u get the max score for this part of your report

edindie

I've been reliably informed that searches only stay on your file for 12 months; however your credit file will be updated every day (aside from weekends maybe) so you will have to be quick.

Simon_Pugsley

So, if i was to apply for lets say 8 credit cards in one day, and lets say i was accepted for maybe 5 of them, although it would affect my credit in the short term, in the long term there would not be too much damage.

How long do searches stay on your file for, is it 6 months

Thanks

Simon_Pugsley

edindie wrote: »

I've been reliably informed that searches only stay on your file for 12 months; however your credit file will be updated every day (aside from weekends maybe) so you will have to be quick.

Thats kinda what i figured to be honest, thanks for your comments

Simon

Moggles_2

Simon_Pugsley wrote: »

So, if i were to apply for let's say 8 credit cards in one day, and let's say i was accepted for maybe 5 of them, although it would affect my credit [rating] in the short term, in the long term there would not be too much damage.
How long do searches stay on your file for, is it 6 months?

Credit checks appear on your credit file more or less in realtime. Anyone who searches your file subsequently will see each check until it drops off your file 12 months later.

An increasing number of online and telephone credit card applications (those which give instant decisions and credit limits) are now real time applications too.

Simon_Pugsley

Thanks all, me and the wife are gonna give it a crack tonight, and see how much we can get on 0%, im paranoid about money and I am extra careful when it comes to paying things back, so i think we will be ok.

Any ideas with the best cards to apply for, i already have applied and got an egg money card, so i guess we will see what happens, would be nice if we could get £20000 and earn some nice interest on that lump sum.

I read that an a savings account with Birmingham Midshires (think thats right) pays 6.25% with instant access, is that correct

Does anyone know if Money 2005 has all credit card lenders available, or is it sadly outdated, would be a good tool to keep track of multiple cards and their balances.

Thanks

Moggles_2

While Martin recommends spacing out credit applications, there is an argument in favour of applying for several cards at once. If, for instance, you make 3 or 4 applications the same day, each lender sees only their competitor's credit checks. If you submit those same applications at intervals, providers not only see the credit checks, but also your available credit increasing with each successful application. So, your credit rating could look worse with each subsequent application, than if you had applied for the lot together.

The big drawback with this strategy, assuming you're successful, is that your 0% promotions are likely to expire together, so I would keep this in mind when making your selection, unless you're prepared for another blitz in X months time.

To maximise the 0% period on BTs, 15 months is currently available to new customers from Virgin. There's a 2.98% handling charge.

For a comprehensive list of 0% balance transfer cards, updated regularly and not influenced by advertising commissions, http://www.stoozing.com/0fees.htm (which is sponsored by Money Saving Expert), is hard to beat

£££saver

I know this is an old thread but I did a search and probably better than starting a new thread...

It seems everyone agrees that the searches are instant, however when I was previously subscribed to Experians Credit Expert (for about 3 months), I remember the reports were quite a bit behind, both for searches, and in particular for updating the 'current balance' for credit cards.

On a side note, is there another cheap way to very quickly check your report to see what searches are on there? I've already used the Experian and Equifax trials before.

MoneyWasting_Expert

There is a delay for all information. Credit file never report your current balance for credit cards, they report the last statement balance and can do this almost a month behind. I have some accounts that lag by 3 months. Searched are recorded instant, Experian and Equifax give you on snapshot each day. Experian you can get a snapshot anytime on one particular day upto 10 or 11pm, Equifax you order a snapshot once every 24 hours and can be done around the clock. So if you look at Experian, then apply for credit and look at Experian again you don't see a new snapshot until the next day.

Jammi

£££saver wrote: »

On a side note, is there another cheap way to very quickly check your report to see what searches are on there? I've already used the Experian and Equifax trials before.

Yes, you can view a statutory report on-line by paying £2. Equifax allows you to view it instantly. Experian sends you a PIN which takes a couple of days to arrive.