Credit: How to find out and improve on my rating

pazza2000

Hello all....

This may not be the correct place to post this -my apologies if it isnt. I am hoping to get a Mortage at somepoint in the next year or two. However i suspect my credit is not good. I dont really know a thing about credit ratings, how to go about improvong it etc. -im only 24 but now is the time to get all that in order i feel. I have had a credit cards and mobile phone contacts and in the past i have not always been on time in paying them. I also had an account recently with a maxed out overdraft and i received letters saying that they would take this away as payments had not been made into the account for a while -im not sure how bad any of this will effect my credit ratings. What i really want to know is

1) Is there away of finding out my credit rating for free?

2) What steps big or large can i take to improving my credit rating in the pursuit of being given a mortgage when the time is right



I really do appreciate any help.

Thanks kindly.

Joe_Bloggs

MSE Martin has a web page with his research that relates to your issues here.
J_B.

Taylo_2

Pazza

There are a host of things that will affect your credit score with any given lender. The good thing is you are making a start on it early. The credit cards and phone bills if they were just late and not missed all together may not have as adverse an impact as you might imagine if a couple of years has passed. if you get your experian report then you should be able to see on there what they are marked as. I think you can still get it for free by signing up for their trial, but remember to cancel it before they start charging you. In terms of getting yourself in a postion from a mortgage sense, deposit is the first thing, right now you will need 10% deposit, ideally more to access decent deals. it is a good thing to use credit so long as you meet payments on time and in full, so a credit card that you clear in full each month is not a bad thing as it will help build up a positive credit history. As Joe_Bloggs points out there are boards aimed at this very subject but those would be the first two steps I would think about.