Credit check advice

RetroBob

I am a first time buyer, looking to buy soonish (3-4 months), have a decent deposit (20), so I thought I'd get cracking with credit checks in case I need to sort something out; I sent the letters provided on this site and got my first reply from Eperian today...

To summarise...

• On electoral register, lived in 3 places in last 6 years
• Credit card - 13 months activity to current time, no missed payments
• Mobile phone - 2 years, no missed payments, settled.
• Car loan - 2 years, no missed payments, settled
• Another phone - 3 years, no missed payments, settled
• Interestingly (or perhaps not) they are missing all bank info including a second credit card which is also clear and no issues with the account to my knowledge.

My concern is with previous searches, I have 3 for car insurance quotes - is this going to be an issue? I'm also going to get another two shortly as my house contents insurance is due this month. Is there a way around this in future?

cooltt

Hey Retro
You should ask for your credit score at the same time this gives you a good idea of what your risk to a lender is BUT all lenders also have their own lending rules so if your score is good / excellent don't assume you will sail through a morgage application.

Main things are your on the electrol roll at current address for 2 years or more (some lenders like 4 years) this shows that your homelife is stable. Current active, up to date credit accounts (cards, overdrafts, credit agreements etc) settled accounts are not as important unless they contain late / missing payments, CCJ's etc. Amount of available credit i.e. a card that your not using but is still available to use.This contributes to the amount they will agree to lend you so you don't overstreatch yourself.

They take into account other stuff on your report but those are the main things.

Ok the missing bank info can be that your bank doesn't use Experian only Equifax it's not unusual for banks to do this. Credit card and loan companies tend to supply both (or more) agencies with your info.

Insurance quote searches are usualy identidy checks and not applications for credit. This is normal, you just need to look on the searches part of the report at what it says next to "reason for check / enquiry" or it sometimes says "type of application". As long as it doesn't say "credit", "Loan", "morgage" or "HP agreement" etc then the search is not seen by other lenders. It usualy says something like "identity enquiry" or "unrecorded search". There is a help section on their website about different parts of the explaining what the terms mean.

Regards

huntersc

RetroBob wrote: »

I am a first time buyer, looking to buy soonish (3-4 months), have a decent deposit (20), so I thought I'd get cracking with credit checks in case I need to sort something out; I sent the letters provided on this site and got my first reply from Eperian today...

To summarise...

• On electoral register, lived in 3 places in last 6 years
• Credit card - 13 months activity to current time, no missed payments
• Mobile phone - 2 years, no missed payments, settled.
• Car loan - 2 years, no missed payments, settled
• Another phone - 3 years, no missed payments, settled
• Interestingly (or perhaps not) they are missing all bank info including a second credit card which is also clear and no issues with the account to my knowledge.

My concern is with previous searches, I have 3 for car insurance quotes - is this going to be an issue? I'm also going to get another two shortly as my house contents insurance is due this month. Is there a way around this in future?

LOL you're on the ball aren't you? I've never heard of someone checking their credit score before buying a house!!

None of that sounds bad, you'll be fine.

IWantToBeFree_2

cooltt wrote: »

Hey Retro
You should ask for your credit score at the same time this gives you a good idea of what your risk to a lender is BUT all lenders also have their own lending rules so if your score is good / excellent don't assume you will sail through a morgage application.

Main things are your on the electrol roll at current address for 2 years or more (some lenders like 4 years) this shows that your homelife is stable. Current active, up to date credit accounts (cards, overdrafts, credit agreements etc) settled accounts are not as important unless they contain late / missing payments, CCJ's etc. Amount of available credit i.e. a card that your not using but is still available to use.This contributes to the amount they will agree to lend you so you don't overstreatch yourself.

They take into account other stuff on your report but those are the main things.

Ok the missing bank info can be that your bank doesn't use Experian only Equifax it's not unusual for banks to do this. Credit card and loan companies tend to supply both (or more) agencies with your info.

Insurance quote searches are usualy identidy checks and not applications for credit. This is normal, you just need to look on the searches part of the report at what it says next to "reason for check / enquiry" or it sometimes says "type of application". As long as it doesn't say "credit", "Loan", "morgage" or "HP agreement" etc then the search is not seen by other lenders. It usualy says something like "identity enquiry" or "unrecorded search". There is a help section on their website about different parts of the explaining what the terms mean.

Regards

Credit scores aren't worth the paper they are written on, and they certainly aren't worth the money that you pay for them. Totally meaningless and a marketing tool only. Wouldn't recommend anyone getting their score.