Credit: Whats my rating and how do i improve it

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.

CLAPTON

Credit rating don't mean much... they are merely a way of the credit agencies making money.

Do, however, get copies of your credit records from all three agencies... the statutory paper copy is £2. However, there are offers to get a free months of online access but do remember to cancel before the month end.

The most important three ways of improving your credit record are...1. pay on time, 2 pay on time, 3 pay on time.... everything else is secondary.
So set up DD so you never ever forget to pay in future.

Having a maxed out OD is often scene as showing you can't manage money properly, so clear it as soon as possible.


To get a mortgage, probably the most important thing you can do is save a substantial deposit.

book12

1. Sign up for a free trial at http://www.joincreditexpert.com/freecreditreport/?sc=410049&bcd=CrdScorexNewTempABBY

2. Pay things on time to improve your credit rating.

agsnu

Try searching the main MSE site?

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score

JohalaReewi

pazza2000 wrote: »

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

When you apply for credit, the lender will have their own rules for calculating a credit score. These rules are secret and you won't be told what the score is.
The credit scores offered by credit reference agencies have no value whatsoever (although they do raise a bit of revenue for the CRAs).

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

Make sure you are on the electoral register; have some credit history to show you know how to manage credit; don't get financially linked with people who have dodgy credit histories (like joint loans, joint accounts); don't default or pay late.

In connection with getting a mortgage, save as much as possible for the biggest deposit ever.

book12

They will concentrate more on their own scoring methods than the one offered by the CRA.

I believe that they will have an internal score for you already when you first have financial products with them.

System

CreditPeople wrote: »

My name is Heather Greene I work for The Credit People.

I am posting this in reply to all that have posted here.

Firstly may I apologise on behalf of the company to anyone that has a complaint. We have only been made aware very recently of this site/forum/situation and seek to redress this problem ASAP.

I would therefore request that anyone who has either a complaint or has been unsuccessful in obtaining their loan should write to myself and I will personally ensure your complaint / refund request is dealt with as a matter of urgency.

I would like to point out that over the past 6 years of trading that The Credit People has an extremely high success rate in placing loans successfully. However unless we are informed that someone has a problem – that person cannot expect us to know about it, can they?. We have been able to identify a couple of posts on this forum and know their complaint was sorted as soon as they contacted us directly. The company is not a mind reader, and cannot be expected to be can it?. So please write to me and let us sort this out.

Why on earth have you posted on this thread?

UNDERGROUND

Sportbilly_2

Guilty conscience?

JohalaReewi

CreditPeople wrote: »

The Credit People has an extremely high success rate in placing loans successfully.

Hopefully you are better at placing loans than placing forum replies

pazza2000

Thanks for all the advice. It seems that the only main thing it to pay on time, which i will ensure i start doing in the future, aswell as working on getting as big a deposit as possibile.

MABLE

CLAPTON wrote: »

Credit rating don't mean much... they are merely a way of the credit agencies making money.

RUBBISH!