credit ratings

Anthillmob

cant find anywhere to put this so i'll ask here and maybe it will get moved...

credit ratings.

mine is the pits. im not too sure why although i did have a bad debt (of £1k plus interest) go to a firm of solicitors and the account with HSBC (bunch of wotsits IMO) FROZEN< BUT I Am paying them back each month with no complaints. have another loan which stands at just over £1k which i am also paying back and apart from them two and a £200 credit card with capital one i have no debts.

so why is my credit rating so shocking? i have a good job earning good money yet the only people to give me a bank account are abbey with whom i had a savings account. abbey would only give me a "basic" account and have been nothing more than a pain in the rear end ever since.

ive looked into getting an account elsewhere but my credit rating lets me down time and time again.

while im here also id like to ask advice on the following which is sort of linked. i want to open a savings account for Charlie. i asked at abbey and they said no problems provided i provide them with id for myself! they will only accept picture id of which i dont have as my passport is out of date and my driving licence is an old paper one with my mums old address on it (i will get round to changing this at some point as i know its not legal). ive pointed this out to abbey and the woman said they cant accept utility or credit card bills as id.

i have my own two accounts (basic and savings) with them!

Savvy_Sue

It may be worth asking someone else at Abbey about the ID you need, but it may in the long run be quicker just to get your driving licence updated, which as you say needs to be done to keep you legal.

I know that some banks will run checks on people who already have accounts to ensure they really are who they say they are, and others will accept several additional proofs of ID in the absence of photographic ID. But if they are adamant about seeing photographic ID there is not a lot else to be done. My parents have finally applied for passports to make money management easier! They don't drive and aren't likely to go abroad, but getting a passport was free.

I can't help with the other questions I'm afraid. Even if Abbey are being difficult, have you asked them if you could have a non-basic account with them, and if not why not? If you had a current account (and kept it in good order for a while!) then it might get easier to get another one somewhere else.

Debt_Free_Chick

Anthillmob wrote:

cant find anywhere to put this so i'll ask here and maybe it will get moved...

credit ratings.

mine is the pits. im not too sure why although i did have a bad debt (of £1k plus interest) go to a firm of solicitors and the account with HSBC (bunch of wotsits IMO) FROZEN< BUT I Am paying them back each month with no complaints. have another loan which stands at just over £1k which i am also paying back and apart from them two and a £200 credit card with capital one i have no debts.

so why is my credit rating so shocking?

Have you got a copy of your credit report and been through it?

This bad debt is probably registered as a default and is enough to give you a bad rating, I'm afraid. Most lenders interpret a default as "this person cannot be trusted to make the repayments, as agreed" - sorry

Anthillmob

i havent actually applied for a copy of my credit report. too tight! lol

i will get round to it though/

norfolklass_3

I recently got a copy of my credit report - thinking I'd finally got myself sorted following my divorce 4 years ago. However, no such luck....an old M&S card which I paid off 3 years ago (I did make reduced payments to it for a while but it was paid off in 2003) is still showing as a default and when I contacted them they said that it has to stay on for another 3 years (so that's 6 years in total) and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it! Does anyone know if this is strictly true? Can they do this? Just seems a terribly ironic kick in the teeth that now that I'm more financially solvent than I've been in ages, I'm still being held back by this...any information or help would be much appreciated. Thanks

innovate

Anthillmob wrote:

i havent actually applied for a copy of my credit report. too tight! lol

i will get round to it though/

Anthillmob, you can get paid to get your credit report! Hopefully this appeals to a self-declared tighty (did appeal to me, and I challenge you for the tightest person on the planet, lol!)

First, if you haven't yet done so anyway, read Martin's credit scoring article. But don't order yet!

Next, use a cashback site to order a trial of CreditExpert. Look at Quidco or TCB - they both credit you a fiver for applying for the trial via their website.

You must cancel the trial before the 30 day trial period is up, otherwise you pay (not an option for us tighties, is it). Cancelling should be easy, just call the 0800 customer service number they tell you about in your welcome letter. You don't have to give any reason for cancellation. They even have a special option (3) for cancellations (at least they did when I cancelled my trial).

You won't get the fiver from one of the cashback sites immediately (or ever, if you don't process more transaction through their site - read their T&Cs) - it takes usually 2-3 months for any cashback to materialise. However, at worst, you got your credit report snapshot for free! And at best, you can do more via the cashbask sites to help you with the odd expense!

When you are down, the only way is UP :T