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

MummyO_2

My husband and I are looking at ways to clear our debt. We have thought about loans to consolidate our debt, but for credit cards, I'm thinking a balance transfer card with a good rate/long period of 0% would be best.

However, as we are a military family, we move frequently and am I worried that this will affect our chances of getting the best deal.

We have lived in our current house since August 2012; before that we were at a different address for 2 years; before that we had a short time (9 months) in our own house (which we still own and rent out); before that we were at my mum's.

I applied for a credit card about a year - 18 months ago, but was rejected and haven't applied anywhere else as I was concerned about the myth of credit ratings being affected by rejections. From what I've skimread on the site so far, I think that doesn't matter too much, but I just want some advice on how to get the best deals despite our address history.

In terms of credit rating, I have just looked at my report which had no major issues, apart from going over my limit on my overdraft a couple of times, but I have never missed a payment.

Help??

black_taxi_2

I hav 3 things that are wrong in my equifax credit report

I'm amazed you have to go to a diff website to correct it.

It's a slow procedure and I can see why so many give up

black_taxi_2

my equifax credit report has about 5 errors--including not at present address since 2007

Just got my experian credit report--no errors--very good rating

It doesn't matter jack sh^t thou if equifax messed up

Barclays turned me down on equifax report

Something wrong in a system with two credit agencies means you need to check both to be certain of your status

sfax

Why not just contact Equifax to get your report corrected? I have corrected multiple errors on my Equifax credit report (although I have a discounted subscription with them).

I should warn you though that they are an incompetent bunch and continue to mess up my report with the same mistake over and over again.

I am fighting a constant battle to get the same credit agreement corrected (the lender has the correct address, Experian report the correct address, Equifax used to report the correct address, but every month they **** it up)

black_taxi_2

I've sent in 5 notices of correction

They said 7 days or more

black_taxi_2

Sfax it can't be right they fail to check corrections each month

Is there a higher authority u can go to?

sfax

black_taxi wrote: »

Sfax it can't be right they fail to check corrections each month

Is there a higher authority u can go to?

I've complained in multiple secure messages, spoken to various people and if they fail to stop it happening for a fifth time, I'll follow their complaints procedure and then escalate to FOS.

I'm intrigued as to what causes them to do it, acknowledge it's wrong, correct it and then do exactly the same thing again a month later. It would suggest Halifax send them the old address but send Experian the correct address, and have the correct address on file for me

HenryH

I currently have a student credit card from Bank of Scotland with a £100 limit on it. Now that I am finally graduated and working full time, I am keen to improve my credit rating (which is rather poor I suspect, although I am about to do a credit check with Experian or similar), and as I understand it, one of the best ways to do this is to use a credit card, but pay it off in full each month.

I was just wondering if the fact that this is a student card (0% interest and a small limit) would make any difference to my credit score?

Also, a a few months ago I applied online to have my credit limit increased on the card (there was a simple online form with a couple of boxes) and a pretty much got an instant rejection. Would this have negatively impacted my score?

And advice would be greatly appreciated!!

UsetheFORCE

If it is paid in line with the t&c 's then it will only have a positive effect.

Seems concerning that they won't increase your limit, do they know you are no longer a student???

What makes you say it is poor???

sfax

It took me about 2 years after graduating for Barclaycard to increase my student £500 limit and I was earning about national average salary at the time. It takes time to build your rating

Get your Experian and Equifax statutory reports for £2 each every 6 months or before a new application for credit. Also get Noddle (CallCredit) as it's free and completes the set

If I were you I would apply for a different credit card now - refer to links above and target a card that you don't need a good credit rating for.

Too many searches is seen as a negative so don't apply for more than 2 in any 6 month period, particularly if you get rejected twice. Other lenders can see the searches but not whether they were successful (although that could be inferred)