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

suki1

We have been living in the UK for just over 3 years now. In order to build a credit record my husband applied for a credit card, one application was approved, however the interest is high and the credit limit is very low. I cant even get a credit card as I am not allowed to vote in the UK and am not listed on the voters roll. Last year my husband applied for another credit card which was rejected. At that time he got hold of his credit report and all was in order with a rating of "good" but we were hesitant to apply for another card as we assumed being UK residents for such a short while would probably cause more rejections and didn't want to mess with the credit rating. Now after being here 3 years my husband really would like to have another card on hand, just a better feeling to know that there is credit available should we need it for any emergency and possibly another card would do some good for building a good credit rating. My husband just checked his credit report again and all is in order and he his listed on the voters roll. Can anyone advise what would be a good card to try for? We don't want to get more rejections due to our residency status and have that affect the credit report. Many thanks in advance for any advice.

camuk81

Suki, ideally you will need to get on the electoral roll but your husband has made the right move start with small lines of credit spend a little and pay off every month. At the minute you don't exist in the UK credit score system hence you need to build up your score

suki1

camuk81 wrote: »

Suki, ideally you will need to get on the electoral roll but your husband has made the right move start with small lines of credit spend a little and pay off every month. At the minute you don't exist in the UK credit score system hence you need to build up your score

My husband is South African and allowed to vote in the UK, therefore he is on the electoral roll. However, I am American and not allowed to vote, so there is no chance that I will ever get onto the electoral roll. And to make matters worse, I am self employed and only a short time resident, so my credit rating is pretty much non existent. Don't really know what I can do to build it up. We had to fight with the banks just so I could get a DEBIT card! But I have come to terms with it. And yes my husband is doing the right thing and slowly building his credit rating with the one card and small credit line. He would like to get another card though, so that we have more credit available, should there ever be an emergency. However, we are too scared to apply for another card as my husband doesn't want to be rejected again. He would probably be able to get one of those cards with hideous interest rates for poor credit rating, however we ideally would like to know if there is a card out there that is suited for a less than perfect credit rating with interest rates that are not too outrageous, that he could risk applying for? Many thanks for any advice.

camuk81

jheadz wrote: »

credit card is a big help if you pay in right time.

Not sure how this helps Suki!

suki1 wrote: »

My husband is South African and allowed to vote in the UK, therefore he is on the electoral roll. However, I am American and not allowed to vote, so there is no chance that I will ever get onto the electoral roll. And to make matters worse, I am self employed and only a short time resident, so my credit rating is pretty much non existent. Don't really know what I can do to build it up. We had to fight with the banks just so I could get a DEBIT card! But I have come to terms with it. And yes my husband is doing the right thing and slowly building his credit rating with the one card and small credit line. He would like to get another card though, so that we have more credit available, should there ever be an emergency. However, we are too scared to apply for another card as my husband doesn't want to be rejected again. He would probably be able to get one of those cards with hideous interest rates for poor credit rating, however we ideally would like to know if there is a card out there that is suited for a less than perfect credit rating with interest rates that are not too outrageous, that he could risk applying for? Many thanks for any advice.

I think he is going to have to go with the higher apr cards and manage. You can try a soft search with many of the comparison websites they can offer advice. At the minute he may have to go with the higher apr cards till he gets a credit history also know as credit builders. Have you clicked on the martin lewis credit rating part

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score

Have a look time your applications and then slowly start apply for credit, using and paying off in full each month.

As an alternative does your bank in america offer UK services they may be able to look at your "value" as a customer and transfer this oversea's to the UK

euronorris

Does anyone know how I can get an accurate credit report?

When I was in the UK, I was registered with Experian, and would regularly check my status. But I moved to Holland in Jan 2009.

Now, all my creditors in the UK have my correct, current, Dutch address on their files. When I tried to access my Experian report today, just to see how it stands now, I was unable to enter my correct address. They only allow you to enter in a UK address (which I understand is because most people will be in the UK, but I am also sure there are others in my position). Because of this, I entered my parents address instead.

However, because my UK creditors have my correct, Dutch address, nothing is showing up in the report at all! Which, as you can see from the sig, is not correct!

I have contacted them directly, and asked them to assist me or refund my money. But I was wondering if any of you lovely peeps know of a solution? Has this cropped up before? If so, what was the solution?

kelzbelz_04

Hi All,

I am after some info...

I have recently signed up to Noddle to keep an eye on my credit report - I used to have Experian but just as a one off 30 day trial.

There is nothing outstanding on my credit report - I have no missed payments, no late payments, and everything looks dandy.

But Noddle have scored my credit rating as 1/5?! Im a bit confused as to why this would be and also a bit panicked - I have checked and double checked and definetely everything else on my credit report except for this rating, is fine.

When I hover over the 1/5 score, it says that people with this sort of score are unlikely to obtain credit?

Any advice or infomration would be amazing,

Thanks x

Hazzinho

Don't worry about the score, that is just for your reference, all that really matters is that the information is accurate. Are you maxed out on your cards? Are you on the electoral roll? One key factor for lenders is the amount of debt you have as a percentage of your annual wage, CRA's don't store this so that is a BIG flaw with their scores. £10k debt on £20k salary is a risk, £10k debt and £100k salary not so much, yet in theory you could have the exact same generated scores.

fathomer

I'm looking for a new credit card to use abroad, and trying to choose between my two favourites.
The thing is, if I get the representative apr, one is definitely better than the other. If I don't, the reverse applies.
I don't really want to have to 'turn down' one before applying for the other.
My credit rating is excellent, but I usually pay off everything.
What can anyone suggest I do?

bigboab5

Hi there,

I had started a Trust Deed in feb 2006, (Trust deed is what we call a IVA in Scotland), it was paid off 3 years ago. I know that these things fall off your credit report after 6 years> I have gotten a report from both Equifax and Experion that from what I can see, they do not mention them at all. Is this in fact accurate, Would anybody doing a search ie a financial organisation, see that I had a Trust Deed? My credit scores with both are Good, and the Equifax score is just below Excellent?

Bob

ElleWoods

I've just applied for my 30 day trials on Equifax and Experian.Thankfully they both match!

On both, I have 8 previous credit cards (from card tarting!), all stated as 'settled'. Does that mean I don't need to contact those providers and ask them to close the accounts, as they're already closed? I'm assuming this is the case as my 'available credit' isn't enough to take the previous credit from all these into account. Will these disappear off my credit rating six years from the date they were 'settled'? Finally, will they affect my credit rating in the meantime?

I'm not planning on applying for any credit at the moment - far from it - I just want to understand what this means.

Thanks.