Help rebuilding credit

Serendipity_phoenix

What is the best way to re build your credit rating?:undecided

I cannot even get a current account at the mo:(

HSBC have put a default on my credit for an overdraft and a flexi loan (long story) but that will not be dealt with until the bank charges are sorted:rolleyes: or the ombudsman talks some sence into them:laugh:, or 6yrs after it is sorted? if you cant remove it???not sure on that one

I had a overdraft from A&L that i paid off after they revoked it, and i need to check that they have listed it as paid on my credit score, as last time I checked they had me as not paying, when I paid regulary never missing or being late on a payment.:mad:

And that is it, but I cant even get a mobile phone contract (had been with O2 for years, until we moved house and cant get O2 signel here) applied for another network and was refused:o

Until I had a problem with housing benefit, leaving me to pay a £650 monthly rent for six months on a total income of £600:huh: (hense the HSBC problem) I had fantatic credit rating, in fact when i first went to HSBC about my situation they would not help as my credit score was to good!!!:wall:

I am slowly but surely sorting out my prob's and I'm nearly there,:T but I so want to get my credit rating good again...........how

AMBERSHADOW

Nat west do a step account with a debit card

Sharon87

Get a basic account and use that, then pay regularly into that account. You're credit rating for that bank will become good, then you can apply for a current account 6-12 months later if you like.

sarahs999

It will take a bit of time. But as long as you pay anything you owe promptly and more than the minimum, if you can, you will be improving your credit score.

Make sure you're on the electoral roll too. And check your free credit report at experian to see if you have anything on there that shouldn't be and to see what's happening with the overdraft you paid off.

looktothefuture

Here is a link to an article on this site on how your credit rating works and how you can work to improve your credit rating:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score

Within this link above there is another link to the Cash Plus Credit Builder: http://www.mycashplus.co.uk/default.aspx which I have recently "ordered". It is a prepaid credit card which effectively "loans" you £59.00 (which is a monthly fee taken from your prepaid credit on the card, so as long as you have the £4.95 on your and pay the fee every month for a year, this info will be passed on to credit reference agency Experian. Once you've made 12 payments, it should show on your credit history as a fully repaid loan. And more importantly, there is no credit checks for this account. There is an initial fee of £9.95 tho. When you receive your card, it will be an ordinary Cash Plus card, if you go online, you can change it to a Credit Builder for no extra charge.

There are of course pro's and con's to having this type of card but the pro's far out weigh the cons - for me anyway! I also cannot get a normal current account with any bank and only have a very basic cash card (so I'm always drawing from an ATM in cash and can never track my spending on my statement) so this was an option for me to have a "debit" facility! I am trying to improve my credit score and this is just one way of proving that I'm committed to doing it!

Have a good read of the article and let us know what you thought about it!

edinburgher

Sharon87 wrote: »

Get a basic account and use that, then pay regularly into that account. You're credit rating for that bank will become good, then you can apply for a current account 6-12 months later if you like.

While this may seem to be good advice in principle, I've tried the same myself and found it doesn't always work. I've held a basic bank account with the same bank for 3 years now and despite earning a wage every month and going from £15-£23k+, they're still not interested in giving me any better. I have one default on file, so may actually be a better proposition (debt wise) than the OP. It's a good idea, but OP should be aware that getting an upgrade is far from a foregone conclusion

@looktothefuture - I've also applied for the Credit Builder facility on this card and it went through fine. Although there are some charges associated with the account, they're not *awful* and I like the feeling of being able to pay with a card from time to time (paying for large purchases with cash isn't so much fun at times!) I should add that they start reporting your successful payments towards the debts after three months. I believe that this information can be found in their T&Cs, but I'll provide a quote when I find it :beer:

RAS

There are a number of basic bank accounts with cards. The best one will depend on where else you have debt and given your area, which cards are accepted in local ATMs.

Read up on unlocking your phone on the Utilties and phones board and go PAYG.

Alos conside joining your local credit union. Once you have saved with them, they will let you borrow small amounts ar good rates.

Serendipity_phoenix

edinburgher wrote: »

While this may seem to be good advice in principle, I've tried the same myself and found it doesn't always work. I've held a basic bank account with the same bank for 3 years now and despite earning a wage every month and going from £15-£23k+, they're still not interested in giving me any better. I have one default on file, so may actually be a better proposition (debt wise) than the OP. It's a good idea, but OP should be aware that getting an upgrade is far from a foregone conclusion

@looktothefuture - I've also applied for the Credit Builder facility on this card and it went through fine. Although there are some charges associated with the account, they're not *awful* and I like the feeling of being able to pay with a card from time to time (paying for large purchases with cash isn't so much fun at times!) I should add that they start reporting your successful payments towards the debts after three months. I believe that this information can be found in their T&Cs, but I'll provide a quote when I find it :beer:

Thanks, I've found the same, been with Halifax 2 near 3 years with easy cash accounts and they still will not give us a current account! I think this is because these days all applications get credit scored by the likes of experiene, they show all history, where as when I used to deal with bank and current account, the bank would look at your "behavior" with them.

I have the card you are on about, just not done the credit builder yet, I want to make sure the money is already sat in the card account, plus i think it is a £5 a month fee? on top as you cant just have the basic account.

edinburgher

Hey digitalsgirl.

Actually, the money doesn't appear to sit in the account ghost money! I moved house between applying for the Credit Builder facility and getting the acceptance letter and called them up to make sure it had been applied/request a new copy of the agreement. They confirmed that it definitely had been added, but it's definitely not showing as a positive balance.

Yes, the fees are £4.95/mth, which is less than a cinema ticket in my neck of the woods. I don't really mind paying this as my previous card (Splashplastic) charged ~3% for transactions, while this card only charges for cash advances. Also, a credit card (even prepaid) can be used globally and makes me feel like less of a money pariah

One further useful point to add is that although this isn't a credit card proper, mobile phone providers etc. count it as one when applying for contracts (which may be useful to someone out there?)