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

BugsyBrowne

Remember we as borrowers will never be able to access our true credit scores as these are strictly private to LENDERS ONLY.

So please take no notice of what credit scores CRA's give you as these are not a true reflection on your actual score!!

BugsyBrowne

Sammie2012 wrote: »

I have had a incorrectly applied default removed from my credit file. My credit score has jumped from 257 to 467. My partner has one of 999, I have never had any issues apart from this incorrect default, over time will this score increase is it the defaults fault that it remains so low??

Thanks :-)

How many times it's not your credit score you are paying for its a score From a company that doesn't LEND money, so take NO NOTICE of these scores.

eddie864

My (simple) understanding of this is... Credit reference agencies need a system to advise lenders. At the point a credit check is made by a lender the credit reference agency will do a variety of checks on our stability, identity and financial history and I assume some score is generated that lenders can use to decide the level of risk and whether we are likely to make them a profit. Equifax use a traffic light system on their basic report for each section to draw attention to potential shortfalls and perhaps that is enough for the majority of small loan enquiries. I can't imagine a lender goes through each report in detail for every potential customer and just requires a simple yes, no or maybe based on some general figure (especially at point of sale).

So it makes sense that checking our credit rating should give us some idea of whether to apply for credit given that credit applications themselves can damage our "creditworthiness". When I checked mine through a £2 report it didn't give me any number but highlighted where my problems seemed to be. Each relevant area to be checked (Identity, legal judgements, stability, finance and more) was given a red, amber or green light. So it's possible to look into that area of your "life" to see what might cause a credit request to be refused.

I should be an ideal customer! I miss the odd payment and end up paying late fees and higher interest while still settling my debts in the end. They must make more money from me than from Mr. Well Organised who always pays on time!

BugsyBrowne

No Eddie you would be far from an ideal customer, you miss payments which means your a high risk customer, you will have a poor credit rating due to occasionally missed payments, so if your happy with this then fill your boots.

It's easy to just check your credit report to see what you think a lender would score you, paying for a credit rating won't really do you any favours.

firsttimebaby

I've sent next a goodwill letter to ask them to remove 2 late payments. Has anyone else had success with next?

TK100

Barclays bank told my partner that he had £90 left on his credit rating, and that even though he has a fair credit rating he won't be offered credit by anyone as he has no monetary credit left. this sounded to me completely false, could someone advise me?
many thanks

camuk81

Are they using the internal system TK100. Barclays have an internal system to vet customer.

You would also need to take into ratio his salary vs debts. I believe your debts should be no more then 2/3 of your salary hence why they will want them taking down.

TK100

They said to him that it was universal and no lender would give him credit, it wasnt just internal. I have the feeling the woman wasnt 100% sure what she was talking about which is not unlikely!

camuk81

Check the salary calculations, I've had the wrong thing said by Barclaycard and then had someone have to backtrack later.

Do you know the total he earns vs the debt level might be worth checking his file to see if there any agreements he has forgotten about. i.e. if he left two cards open at 4k and has another at 6k, he can borrow £14k worth of credit. He may only be using the £6k one but the 2 x £4k still count against him.

Always close old credit lines down check all the info is accurate

Karen40_2

Hi guys
Having just checked my credit report I have a couple of defaults from 2007 but they still have balances outstanding. Being very new to looking at that report do these defaults stay on my file until they are settled? So default 2007 but not paid? So if I then settled in next year say would this then stay on 6yrs after settled? Or is it 6 yrs from default date?
Thank you