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

Tixy

daievz wrote: »

Hi, I have a few loans outstanding but now have money to pay them all off. I am under a debt management company at the moment but would be able to come off that and pay my debts in full.

What would happen with my credit file if i done that or is it better to keep on paying per month to the debt managememt company?

Any help will be appreciated?

Thanks

Depends on what shows on your credit file at the moment. Have you looked at that?
If your creditors have all defaulted you then the defaults will drop off 6years after the default date in each case.
If any haven't defaulted you then the sooner you settle the sooner it will eventually drop off your file (6ys after the settlement date).

franandez

Tixy wrote: »

Whether you are in or out of the edited register makes no difference at all to your credit file (and therefore to your ability to get credit).

Many thanks Tixy!

Hilser

Hi, I have 2 credit cards for poor credit, one with a limit of £250 which I pay in full each month and one for £100 which has a balance of £0 and has not been used for months. Should I cancel the unused one or keep it active to increase my amount of available credit which seems to be favourable in terms of credit scoring?

Thank you!

MrsMills1985

Hi I have one bank account and one credit card, I have a 5/5 credit rating with Nobble and have no negative history. I am currently looking for a new house to buy and so depending on finding the right house a mortgage application will be needed. my question is I wish to open a new current account with first direct and close my existing account with natwest, will this effect my chances of getting a mortgage in the next few months and should I hold on? Thanks K

DouglasB01

Donvito wrote: »

If I have credit cards or store cards which I don't use, can future lenders find out about them if I don't declare them?

nice post. very informative.

DouglasB01

very nice blog post indeed. thanks for sharing this one.

DouglasB01

very nice blog post indeed. thanks for sharing this one. GOOdday

vqmismatch

How much does a number of relatively recent addresses tend to alter ones creditworthiness? I don't plan to borrow any money anytime soon but it seems prudent to have some inkling for how ones file might look...

At a quick count I can think of ten addresses I have been at over the last six years and two more I could come up as related to, a quick attempt to use nobble fails to find anything that looks like me (though my name does come up at one address I've not lived at but have a joint account with a resident there). I ensure I am always on the electoral register every time I move.

Beyond that I have had a mobile phone contract for the last four years paid in full every month by direct debit, credit card used for a couple of tins of beans every month and paid off in full by direct debit, rarely in overdraft by more than 20% of its capacity. There was however an issue with british gas 3 years ago where a bill went unpaid for a few months as they had sent bills through with completely the wrong name, so I kept returning to sender and waiting for a bill to me.



EDIT

After some playing around I have found myself on noodle, oddly enough they only connect me with one other address (the one for the joint account), have no record of the british gas affair, and give me a 4/5. There is apparently a line of credit with nationwide I was unaware of, I have an unused current account with them but so far as I am aware it has no overdraft facility or the like that could explain its presence.

ktjdavies

Hello

I returned back to the UK in Feb 2011 after living away for 10 yrs. I have had no credit facilities in any form since I returned so have no debt or missed payments etc. I now need a car loan and was refused even though a comparison website told me there was a 90% chance of acceptance.

After some unemployment, I am now employed with a good salary for the last 5 months paid into my bank acct.
I'd like to know how I start to be able to prove I can re-pay credit? I am reluctant to try other loans firms before I know what the reasons could be.
My bank have said they will apply for a loan and the advisor said 'I would accept it but it's not up to me'. Would it be better to apply for a credit card with them instead of an 11K car loan?

'Excellent' score on experian, if that means anything which it seems not to.
All assistance gratefully accepted!

Tixy

ktjdavies wrote: »

Hello

I returned back to the UK in Feb 2011 after living away for 10 yrs. I have had no credit facilities in any form since I returned so have no debt or missed payments etc. I now need a car loan and was refused even though a comparison website told me there was a 90% chance of acceptance.

After some unemployment, I am now employed with a good salary for the last 5 months paid into my bank acct.
I'd like to know how I start to be able to prove I can re-pay credit? I am reluctant to try other loans firms before I know what the reasons could be.
My bank have said they will apply for a loan and the advisor said 'I would accept it but it's not up to me'. Would it be better to apply for a credit card with them instead of an 11K car loan?

'Excellent' score on experian, if that means anything which it seems not to.
All assistance gratefully accepted!

Does your credit file show any credit accounts at all? Is your bank account just a basic account with no overdraft facility?

A lot of lenders have a requirement for you to be able to provide 3 years of UK address history. Have you been on the electoral roll since you came back to the UK in Feb11?

If your own bank are unwilling to lend to you then you will likely need to build up a credit profile slowly using subprime lenders. Have a read of this - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/bad-credit-credit-cards
Those cards have low limits and very high APRs so should only be used for credit building purposes.

But if you can obtain one of those and use it for 6 months then you should increase your chances of being accepted for mainstream credit.