Credit Score/Electoral Roll

cleaning_up

Hi

I am new to this site and have only recently started to clean up my finances.

I have registered with experian and found out my credit score is only 628 :eek:
I am now taking steps to improve this, including; registering on the electoral roll and have applied for a high-interest credit card in order to pay it off each month and build my credit rating.

Can anyone give me any further advice?
I'm due to be added to the electoral role next month, how much should my score increase by?

Any help appreciated!

Tixy

Hi Cleaning Up and welcome to DFW

A very good idea to be on the electoral roll. It is very difficult to get credit without this.

Did you get your full credit report as well from Experian? Generally on here we recommend people not to worry too much about the experian credit score. Every individual bank or financial institution does their own internal credit scoring so this number doesn't mean a great deal - its not usually worth paying the extra to find out the score.

That said being on the electorol will definately help. On Applications the banks look at whether you have any CCJs, Defaults, Arrangements to Pay, late payments etc.
They also look at the total amount of credit you have and the percentage of your total credit you are currently using.

Have you applied for mainstream credit and been refused recently?

gargrave50

Hi, welcome to the boards. Hopefully someone better qualified than I will be along shortly to advise! I'm not good on credit scoring unfortunately and can't answer your question.

Good luck in your quest!

cleaning_up

Hi and thank you for your quick reply :T

Yes, I have previously applied for credit and been refused.

Unfortunately, I was very naive and silly when it came to finances a few years ago which has left me with 1 ccj and a number of defaults.
These were all 4/5 year ago - am I right in thinking that they will be removed from my credit report 6 yrs from the original default date?

I'm not in any great need for credit just now as I live comfortably on what I earn, however, I would like to sort my credit out now so that I can get a decent mortgage in the foreseeable future.

Tixy

Thats correct the defaults will disappear 6years from the default date. Have you paid off the defaults and the CCJ yet? Does the CCJ show as settled? If it doesn't but it has been settled you can apply to the court for proof and send it to the 3 agencies who will then change their records. (not sure what the form name is hopefully someone else will know & post)

The high interest card should help to show you are responsible with credit (once the other items have dropped off) but do make sure you pay it in full every month and on time.

If you have any accounts with nil balances that still show as live then write to the creditors to close the accounts (and ask them to update the credit agenices)so it doesn't look like you have that credit available.

cleaning_up

Thank you Tixy!

None of the defaulted accounts or CCJ have been paid off.

Would you advise me to pay the CCJ then?
Tbh, I couldn't afford to pay off all the defaulted accounts as they total around £8k :eek:
Will they still drop from my file after 6 yrs even if they are unpaid?

I will def pay off the balance of the credit card each month (if I am approved) - I am much more sensible these days!!!

Tixy

The defaults still drop off even if not paid (providing no CCJ is obtained in the meantime).

I am not totally sure about the CCJ and don't want to give you the wrong advice (either whether it drops off or whether you should pay - or if that may alert all your creditors to where you are). I know it is possible for them to chase for a CCJ after 6years but they have to obtain permission from court to do this - and to give a reason why they haven't chased you already (e.g. if you had moved house or changed your name to delibrately hide they may be given permission by the court to still chase).

Aside from the CCJ -are you being chased by creditors of debt collection agencies currently in relation to any of these old debts? If not and if you go 6years (5 in Scotland) without acknowleding a debt in writing or paying anything towards a debt it becomes statute barred and you do not need to pay.

Therefore if anyone comes chasing after that 6yrs is up then don't pay and don't admit you owe it -come on here for a template letter to send to inform them it is statute barred.

You may find that around 5.5years on (i.e just before it becomes statute barred) you could start getting chased, again should this happen come here for advice.

(again rules are different for the CCJ debt, hopefully someone with more knowledge will post an answer for you soon).

cleaning_up

Thank you, your information has been very helpful.

I wasn't aware it was 5 years in Scotland (which is where I live)!!!

Anyone else's advice would be appreciated too, especially regarding the CCJ???

Where do I find the templates?

Oh and I do get the odd letter from a debt collector but that's all??