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

Eyesparky

ElkyElky wrote: »

Think about it, MBNA has 0% deals on every card, usually between 9-16 months. Imagine how much money they are loosing from thousands of customers taking up these deals? In my opinion, APR hikes are to be expected once the deal comes to an end, at least to try and recoup some of the money lost during the deals. Plus with the recession, they are even more desperate for profit.

I guess they are just doing what any other business would do... stopping themselves from going under.

Only a small percentage of the customers they bring in on 0% balances are MSE thinking and many will fall into the trap of spending on their balance transfer cards. They also make transaction fees on any purchases that are made. However, there is a beneficial profit opportunity for the likes of MBNA in the credit crunch as more people will be trapped at the end of the 0% period due to reduced availability of alternative credit sources and hence they can really hike the rates with a like it or lump it approach. Many will have little alternative to pay (many consumers have very little understanding of their rights to close their accounts and pay at the existing rate until the debt is settled). The only thing that will drive rates back down will be increased competition in the future as money restrictions ease over time. I don't think Bank of America are on the verge of going down so MBNA are pretty safe from going under .

Jamie1978

May be a daft question, but does anyone know which 'lenders' are really lending at the minute? Preferably ones that use Experian for credit checks.

nm123_2

Hi all,

OH applied for a credit card from his current bank (Nationwide) and was rejected and I'm not too sure why really. We've just logged on to Equifax to get his credit report and nothing looks untoward on there... But I can't see his score on there and it looks like I'd need to pay £15 to see it... Is the score not part of the 30 day free trial?

Thanks

nm123_2

nm123 wrote: »

Hi all,

OH applied for a credit card from his current bank (Nationwide) and was rejected and I'm not too sure why really. We've just logged on to Equifax to get his credit report and nothing looks untoward on there... But I can't see his score on there and it looks like I'd need to pay £15 to see it... Is the score not part of the 30 day free trial?

Thanks

Ok, so I've just got the Experian report and paid the extra for his score too and its 827, which I imagine is pretty high... Why would he be turned down? Still don't want to pay for the Equifax one, but will if I have to :rolleyes:

no_cally_doe

nm123 wrote: »

Ok, so I've just got the Experian report and paid the extra for his score too and its 827, which I imagine is pretty high... Why would he be turned down? Still don't want to pay for the Equifax one, but will if I have to :rolleyes:

I think the consensus around the forum is that credit scores are pretty useless as all lenders have their own way of working it out so getting it from a company that isn't the one lending you the money is kind of useless.

Its really whats in the credit report thats more beneficial, how much money you have available, have you missed any payments recently, how many applications have you made etc is far more valuable.

Even if your report is totally fine, it doesn't mean you'll automatically get credit or any kind. It might be that your OH has been deemed as an unprofitable candidate so they have declined. It could be one of 100 reasons that they won't tell you about.

biffyg

Ok so the story is.............

I moved out of my property a year ago to live with my girlfriend in a rented property. I didnt want to change all my addresses to the rented property as I knew it would be short term, so I changed them to my Mums address. A few months later my Mum moved so I changed all my addresses to my granddads address. Now on my credit history I have three addresses, my original one, my mums and my granddads. All but the rented property.

Without thinking a couple of months ago, I put myself and my girlfriend on the electoral register at the rented property I am now living at. This hasn't shown up on my credit report yet but I am curious how this will affect things when I come to apply for another mortgage next year?

Any help would be appreciated as my credit file looks like a bit of a mess with all these addresses already!!

p.s my repayment history etc is very good and i've never had any problem getting any credit, although recently when i applied for a joint bank account at the rented property address we were refused credit. Probably because there was no record of this address on my credit file.

All a bit confusing really!!

Moggles_2

biffyg wrote: »

I moved out of my property a year ago to live with my girlfriend in a rented property. I didnt want to change all my addresses to the rented property as I knew it would be short term, so I changed them to my Mums address. A few months later my Mum moved so I changed all my addresses to my granddads address. Now on my credit history I have three addresses, my original one, my mums and my granddads. All but the rented property. Without thinking a couple of months ago, I put myself and my girlfriend on the electoral register at the rented property I am now living at. This hasn't shown up on my credit report yet but I am curious how this will affect things when I come to apply for another mortgage next year? My repayment history etc is very good and i've never had any problem getting any credit, although recently when i applied for a joint bank account at the rented property address we were refused credit. Probably because there was no record of this address on my credit file.

Normally, it's where your credit history 'lives' that counts, where finance is concerned. Unfortunately, you are not on the electoral roll there.

Btw, here's nothing to stop you from enrolling at your grandparents' home as well if this is in a different borough, though you cannot vote in both places, obviously.

Caution: if granddad is the sole occupant and claims a discount on his council tax, this would not be a good move.

biffyg

well i've already had the council tax people snooping around there because he does claim the discount but i provided enough proof to say this was just a mailing address.

Going to check my credit expert account to see if they have any other info, only just checked my experian one and it looked up to date. Guess things are just a mess really!!!

sofasoph

hi all,

have just got my experian credit report back, which i applied for because i was concerned as to the number of addresses i have lived at recently but no necessarily changed addresses with lenders as they were only temporary addresses (as i was at uni). fortunately, all addresses and dates are correct. however, i have decided that i will cancel a lot of cards - store cards which i got because of a promotional discount, paid off in full, and have never used again, but obviously i'm now thinking that access to all this credit may harm my credit rating. it should be good as i always pay any debt off in full and on time.

anyway, my concern/query is that on the credit report, most of the cards/accounts appear twice under the 'credit account information' section as though they are 2 separate things but they have exactly the same info on, i.e. creation financial services (brantano footwear) appears twice but has the same dates, status history, address, date of birth, etc on. this is the same for pretty much every card - does anyone know why this is?

i would really appreciate any advice.
thanks, soph

Moggles_2

sofasoph wrote: »

Most of the cards/accounts appear twice under the 'credit account information' section as though they are 2 separate things but they have exactly the same info on, i.e. creation financial services (brantano footwear) appears twice but has the same dates, status history, address, date of birth, etc on. this is the same for pretty much every card - does anyone know why this is?

Sounds as though your records have been duplicated in error.

Normally, a credit card account appears twice if you've been issued a replacement card with a new account number (because the original one was reported lost/stolen, for instance), but if that were the case, the start dates would be different.

I'd give Experian a call quoting your reference number and the date of your report.