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

geordie_ben

Jetfire wrote: »

Hullo, I wonder if anyone can answer a quick question...

I was looking at moving a credit card balance on to a card with 0%, however unsurprisingly (to me!) I've been rejected... I got my credit report from Experian, and it lists some late payments to both credit cards and a store account (mainly due to the payment date changing month to month, so sometimes it fell before pay day).

I realise that this obviously has an effect on my score, but then i've got years and years of perfect payments on loans and other accounts, and previously settled accounts, do these positive aspects really have no effect on your score, only the few late payments??

I'm also financially linked to my girlfriend for some reason, even though we've never had any sort of joint account or mortgage! It was linked back in 2005 by Santander, and she has previous bad credit history... if i get the link removed, is it likely to improve my score sufficiently that i'll be accepted, or am I doomed by those few late payments anyway?
Thanks!

Get unlinked
Keep making payments for a few months
Try again

geordie_ben

geordie_ben wrote: »

Get unlinked
Keep making payments for a few months
Try again

Negatives have a bigger impact than positives unfortunately. But you can get notes put on your file to explain why any negatives might be there, this sometimes helps, but not always

Lessbutbetter

but then i've got years and years of perfect payments on loans and other accounts, and previously settled accounts, do these positive aspects really have no effect on your score, only the few late payments??

they do have a positive effect, and that would have been reflected in your credit report before you missed payments. Unfortunately you have requested your report only now after you have missed payments, and if you think about it from a lenders point of view, it shows that you were unable to manage your credit sensibly and so therefore are highly likely to miss payments again. Missed payments on store cards/CC's are needless to say very bad for potential lenders to see.
Being linked to your girlfriend will have a negative effect on your credit rating/report but again you are under the understanding that if you have a high credit "score" then your chances of acceptance are higher. This is wrong. Banks/CC companies etc do not see a credit "score" when they request your information to assess you for credit.

I wouldn't pay any attention to the credit "score" as it doesn't mean anything at all. The banks/lenders do not see this score, only the information on your report. You should research into this a little bit either on this site or via google, and you will see that this is the truth. Please don't subscribe to exp/equi to watch your credit file update every month and wind yourself up over credit "scores". Total waste of money.

I hope this helps.

Jetfire

Lessbutbetter wrote: »

they do have a positive effect, and that would have been reflected in your credit report before you missed payments. Unfortunately you have requested your report only now after you have missed payments, and if you think about it from a lenders point of view, it shows that you were unable to manage your credit sensibly and so therefore are highly likely to miss payments again. Missed payments on store cards/CC's are needless to say very bad for potential lenders to see.
Being linked to your girlfriend will have a negative effect on your credit rating/report but again you are under the understanding that if you have a high credit "score" then your chances of acceptance are higher. This is wrong. Banks/CC companies etc do not see a credit "score" when they request your information to assess you for credit.

I wouldn't pay any attention to the credit "score" as it doesn't mean anything at all. The banks/lenders do not see this score, only the information on your report. You should research into this a little bit either on this site or via google, and you will see that this is the truth. Please don't subscribe to exp/equi to watch your credit file update every month and wind yourself up over credit "scores". Total waste of money.

I hope this helps.

Cheers all for the replies. To be honest its not a big deal if i get new credit or not, as i'll have loans paid off at the end of next year that will free up a lot of money anyway, it just would have been nice to avoid some interest for a year or so!

Thanks again!

geordie_ben

Jetfire wrote: »

Cheers all for the replies. To be honest its not a big deal if i get new credit or not, as i'll have loans paid off at the end of next year that will free up a lot of money anyway, it just would have been nice to avoid some interest for a year or so!

Thanks again!

Ring your current CCs and see if they can offer you any low BTs

Halifax did about 5.9% for me, which at the time was the best I could get, and was better than the 30ish% I was paying

HistoryGirl_3

I applied for a new phone contract at beginning of August told it seemed ok didn't hear anything for a month so emailed and then replied saying your order has not been successful.

After reading about checking your report I went for Experian and discovered some missed (3) payments on my British Gas from my previous property. I have contacted them and tell them I have moved and everything seems ok (just waiting for final bill to pay remaining balance I've paid £100). However I have checked my report again and it now says that I have 5 missed payments as of 29/9/11 of over £300!? even tho paid nearly all debt off I owe about £10 according to email they sent me.

I also signed up via checkmyfile and have discovered financial associations with previous housemates, which I am in process of sorting out and a defaulted account from VM. Not realising the account was still active I received about this and have since paid and will be phoning to confirm closure of my account.

My other accounts bank and mobile phones are clean. I've recently switched to internet banking (to monitor spending bit more accurately) and be advised to get a credit card as I've never had one so need to build/improve credit history. I've paid off nearly all debts I owe just need to confirm a few things.

My question is bearing this in mind would I be able to apply and successfully get a credit card? And would one from bank be the best option? As I am not in overdraft haven't been near since 1st year of uni in 05/06 and have a reasonably healthy amount in my current account.

Sorry for bit of a long post just thought might make more sense if I explained from the beginning.

Tixy

Historygirl

How recent is the default on the 'vm' account? How recently did you pay it? I certainly wouldn't apply for a credit card until its been marked as settled on your file. And until your credit file shows your gas account is paid off (credit reports usually lag a month or so behind reality).

Have you filed notices of disassociation with all 3 credit reference agencies (not checkmyfile, but with experian, equifax and callcredit)?

Once all those items are done and reflected on your credit file you might be able to get a subprime card such as vanquis. You won't get any mainstream card whilst you have the default on file (and the default stays on for 6years from the date of default).

HistoryGirl_3

Hi Tixy thanks for the reply. The financial associations came up via callcredit (not Experian) they have sent me a form to complete and sent off. The default on virgin media account is from June according to the file and paid as soon as I received the letter which was beginning of month I think. I appreciate fact the default will remain on the file for a while, just wanted to know my options so thanks for the info much appreciated.

And just to clarify when you say subprime card do you mean so-called 'bad credit' card?

GSXRCarlos

Has anyone else had problems signing up for experian or credit expert due to previously having a report?

I can't remember any of my details and it won't let me set up a new one. i just keep getting bounced to their "you're an existing user, please log in" pages???

Dcwright

i've just tried to get my statutory credit reports online, couldnt get them online as the £2 fee wouldnt go through which seemed odd; so phoned he number provided. when i phoned the first thing i was asked after personal details was do i have credit, if so where and what is my bank balance. im furious. what has this to do with them, i want my statutory file, something im entitled to, and had applied for and filled out online. with someone asking me my current bank balance (in a poor accent) am i supposed to trust them when i send them my passport etc copies? has anyone else had such problems? how else can i sort this out as i know my credit isnt great but there are things that i need to remove from my file and it seems i cant access my own report. i cant believe such a personal, and irrelevant question can, or was asked- it neither proved or disproved my identity as they dont have that information, and when i asked for a supervisor i was told it would be at least half an hour. equifax are appalling. :mad: