Strengthing your credit rating

CIMA_LOVER

Hello all.

Currently I have the following on my credit report (Experian, Equifax, Callcredit)

(all have 00000000000000000 for the last 3 years, never missed a payment)

Credit card (Natwest) Limit = £1750
Cardit card (Egg) Limit = £800
Credit card (Barclaycard) = £2450

Halifax Current Account
HSBC Current Account


Could I strength my credit history more by getting a mobile line, and a small loan (£1000 x 60 payments)

Also how do Bank accounts effect your credit score?

I am planned to buy as house in 2/3 years, so this is a more long term plan.:D

The_Boss

The bank account wont show how much you have in it, but will show what you owe on an overdraft if applicable.

To be fair, having three accounts full of three years worth of 0s is about as perfect as you can get. Other issues to affect your rating will be salary, length of employment, residence and time at existing bank as well as how much you owe.

How much do you owe on each of your cards? Ideally, you should keep it to below 50% on each if possible rather than being almost at the limit on one and almost nothing on another. I wouldnt get a loan or another card just for the sake of having it on file. If you keep your finances as they are for 2/3 years you should have no problems getting a mortgage since that will be a hell of a lot of reliable history.

CIMA_LOVER

Hey boss

The_Boss wrote:

The bank account wont show how much you have in it, but will show what you owe on an overdraft if applicable.

No overdraft limits are shown (my main account is at Barclays, but they dont report to any CRA.)

The_Boss wrote:

To be fair, having three accounts full of three years worth of 0s is about as perfect as you can get. Other issues to affect your rating will be salary, length of employment, residence and time at existing bank as well as how much you owe.

Salary = £27K
Length on employment = 4 years
Residency = With parents (been there for the last 22 years and am on the Electrol roll since 2002)
Time at exisiting bank (6 years) (Also have £23K saving with them)

The_Boss wrote:

How much do you owe on each of your cards? Ideally, you should keep it to below 50% on each if possible rather than being almost at the limit on one and almost nothing on another. I wouldnt get a loan or another card just for the sake of having it on file. If you keep your finances as they are for 2/3 years you should have no problems getting a mortgage since that will be a hell of a lot of reliable history.

Only use 35% of credit on all cards and ALL paided off in full.:T :money:

nomoneytoday

If you have any direct debits, set them up the day after you get paid, rather than pay day.

That way your max balance will look better.

Say you put £1000 in on the 1st, and paid out £400 on the same day your bank's internal report would show max monthly balance as £600. If you [paid out the following day the max balance would show as £1000...

CIMA_LOVER

nomoneytoday wrote:

If you have any direct debits, set them up the day after you get paid, rather than pay day.

That way your max balance will look better.

Say you put £1000 in on the 1st, and paid out £400 on the same day your bank's internal report would show max monthly balance as £600. If you [paid out the following day the max balance would show as £1000...

Thanks for the info, but my average balance is normally £2000 every month, and i never let it drop that.

CLAPTON

if you're concerned about getting a mortgage your current rating is fine; they are mainly interested in your job (fulltime permanent employment is good), your salary and the amount of deposit (bigger the better) as their loans are secured on the property. Loans on your record are not helpful.

waddy80

Have you got your experian score? Although lenders won't look at it really it does give you an idea of how you measure up against the average credit report. Might put your mind at rest. Certianly suprised me when I got it three months ago!
Think it cost me £3 ish

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

I was surprised at my credit score too Waddy80. I always pay credit cards in full every month etc but was still only 450 or something.

There is a useful tool on https://www.checkmyfile.com which asks questions that lenders would assess you against to give you a guide as to what your credit rating will be. It leaves no search traces on your credit file and you can change your choices to see how much of an impact doing different things would have e.g. getting a landline, being married, having a cheque account etc. Here's the link to have a play around:

https://www.checkmyfile.com/score.asp?session=136102669

Experian_company_representative

Experian's National Credit Score costs £4.99 and is available to members of its CreditExpert service, but that includes free trialists.

James