Credit Rating: How it works and How to improve it discussion area

antrobus

adindas wrote: »

No it is not. ISAs open to any persons who are UK resident for tax purposes.

ADINDAS

Actually you have to be 'resident' AND 'ordinarily resident' in the UK for tax purposes. Ordinary residence can be a tricky concept to apply in practice, and in the circumstances banks may well have decided to keep things simple and refuse to open ISAs for Australian citizens.

Sydney001

Thanks antrobus, Maybe the circumstances have changed but I have had an ISA before now.

adindas

Dear pollyzanna

you are not alone, a lot of people in this forum have been rejected due to inccurate records from CRA.

It is possible to sue this coimpanies or report it to Financial Ombudsman ??

ADINDAS

pollyzanna wrote: »

basically, we tried to apply for a mortgage and were rejected due to "bad credit rating". We have never been in debt, never defaulted etc etc. Never had problems applying for credit cards, mortgages in the past etc.

Looking up Equifax (the company which flagged up the "issue" we discovered that we were marked red for a £20 fee due on a Lloyds account - even though it was marked "settled"....

A few years ago we took up an offer from Lloyds for a high interest savings account - the catch being it had to have regular income from a lloyds current account. Fine, so we set up a current account too and paid £25 per month into the current account which then went straight into the savings account.
Basically, we wrote and withdrew the full amount and requested that the accounts be closed.

They only closed the savings account. They tried to take £25 from the current account but we had stopped paying money into that account (why would we continue paying into a closed account?!!!)
This basically went on for SEVEN MONTHS!! Each month we would get a statement showing that "insufficient funds" and being charged. Each month, OH would go in person to the bank and they would say "oh sorry, yes the account is closed, yes we'll sort it out, don't worry about the fee" They waived the fee - on numerous occasions (again, why would they waive the fee if we hadn't requested the account be closed?)

They now deny that we ever tried to close the account and that it was all our fault. We threw the paperwork away - because it was several years ago and we thought it had all been sorted out. Until our mortgage application was rejected.

Any advise on what we should do now?

darthmorph

I'm 30, I have no debt, except a student loan, and I always pay off my credit card in full every month.
Yet I was recently turned down for a mobile contract by Orange. I applied for my credit report which shows nothing except my address and electoral role. It doesn't list my credit card. Could this be the reason I was turned down?
If so how do I get Experian to add it on?
Anyone else had this problem?

ChowFan

I've had vodafone reject my application recently. After some digging around, it turns out they use Equifax rather than Experian. No biggie, right? They should both be the same. Well, the report from both are the same, and look pretty good in my eyes, so I decided to pay for the score (I know, I know) Here's the kicker. My score on Experian is 997 while my score on Equifax is 287!!! No wonder I got declined! Turns out that the score with Equifax is rubbish because I don't have a credit account registered to my home address. I only have 1 credit card and that's registered to my office address (so I can get stuff sent to the office instead) Anyone have any ideas out to go about sorting this out? Help!

(Experian have this 'linked address' thing which includes my office address, so that's probably what's keeping it up)

geordie_ben

darthmorph wrote: »

I'm 30, I have no debt, except a student loan, and I always pay off my credit card in full every month.
Yet I was recently turned down for a mobile contract by Orange. I applied for my credit report which shows nothing except my address and electoral role. It doesn't list my credit card. Could this be the reason I was turned down?
If so how do I get Experian to add it on?
Anyone else had this problem?

Possibly, get your credit card added ASAP

adindas

Dear geordie_ben

Will adding Credit Card in your CRA record improve your score ?

Thank you
ADINDAS

geordie_ben wrote: »

Possibly, get your credit card added ASAP

geordie_ben

adindas wrote: »

Dear geordie_ben

Will adding Credit Card in your CRA record improve your score ?

Thank you
ADINDAS

If you have a credit card and its not on your file then it definitely needs to be added.

Lenders like to see credit being used (hence credit report). As long as you can use the credit correctly then it's a safe thing to have, and according to many posts on here does help your credit score.

As long as you pay the balance in full each month then it will go towards helping your credit score.

Nice and simple hypothetic example. I spend £100 a month on petrol. I used to pay in cash for it. I now pay using my credit card, leave the £100 sat in my bank, and pay the CC bill in full every month through direct debit. While the money is sat in my account it is earning interest, and while I'm paying on my CC and paying it off in FULL every month it builds my credit score back up.

I would only advise using this method of building your score back up as long as YOU CAN PAY THE BALANCE IN FULL EVERY MONTH. If you have any doubts if you can do this, then steer clear. Get a prepaid card instead. You pre load the card and use it like a cash card, but some how it rebuilds your credit rating

Q. What's the best card to rebuild my score?

If you can't get a card with decent rates or special deals, it's time to look at rebuilding your credit rating. One of the best ways to do this is by getting the right sort of credit card.
By getting any kind of credit, and operating it perfectly (i.e never missing payments, always staying within limit), you can either build up a credit history from scratch, or remedy a tarnished one.
There are two main paths, depending on how bad your rating is in the first place. Before going any further though, there is a vital golden rule...

Strictly repay EVERY month, in FULL, so there's no interest cost.

Borrowing new debt on any of these cards will be hideously expensive and should be avoided at all costs. However, cleverly using one (or even two) of these cards for six to twelve months, spending a little every month and paying it off, can help clean up a muddied credit history, or build one from scratch.

If you want to read further then check out this link - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/bad-credit-credit-cards

adindas

Dear geordie_ben

Thank you for your explanation and time reply to my message. I could see the point now.

ADINDAS

geordie_ben wrote: »

If you have a credit card and its not on your file then it definitely needs to be added.

Lenders like to see credit being used (hence credit report). As long as you can use the credit correctly then it's a safe thing to have, and according to many posts on here does help your credit score.

As long as you pay the balance in full each month then it will go towards helping your credit score.

Nice and simple hypothetic example. I spend £100 a month on petrol. I used to pay in cash for it. I now pay using my credit card, leave the £100 sat in my bank, and pay the CC bill in full every month through direct debit. While the money is sat in my account it is earning interest, and while I'm paying on my CC and paying it off in FULL every month it builds my credit score back up.

I would only advise using this method of building your score back up as long as YOU CAN PAY THE BALANCE IN FULL EVERY MONTH. If you have any doubts if you can do this, then steer clear. Get a prepaid card instead. You pre load the card and use it like a cash card, but some how it rebuilds your credit rating

Q. What's the best card to rebuild my score?

If you can't get a card with decent rates or special deals, it's time to look at rebuilding your credit rating. One of the best ways to do this is by getting the right sort of credit card.
By getting any kind of credit, and operating it perfectly (i.e never missing payments, always staying within limit), you can either build up a credit history from scratch, or remedy a tarnished one.
There are two main paths, depending on how bad your rating is in the first place. Before going any further though, there is a vital golden rule...

Strictly repay EVERY month, in FULL, so there's no interest cost.

Borrowing new debt on any of these cards will be hideously expensive and should be avoided at all costs. However, cleverly using one (or even two) of these cards for six to twelve months, spending a little every month and paying it off, can help clean up a muddied credit history, or build one from scratch.

If you want to read further then check out this link - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/bad-credit-credit-cards

Hoochus

Please i need help i am getting no where fast,

I applied to rent a property and was rejected they said i have ccj's on my credit file but didnt declare it? not that i didnt want people to know just simply because i dont have them! i checked my Experian report, nothing on it in fact i have a good credit score despite a past run of bad luck. i called the rental place to protest so they gave me a number for Call Credit who they use. i was simply told to check my credit report on line and E-Mail them if anything was wrong. I checked it found my details and parents all on the same report, all mixed, my dad and my self have the same name, although it is clear there are 2 people with 2 dates of birth we share the same report as does my mother! i have emailed them several times to sort it out and have heard nothing, not even an acknowledgment! what do i do now i need to sort this as i am being judged on my parents credit and them on mine? according to them i have 30 credit accounts open! cant be right and i think is really unfair any help would be appreciated guys!!!!!!!