Any ideas why I have bad credit rating?

Eliza252

Hi, I have applied to about five credit card companies for a credit card and they have all turned me down - I know it is a bad idea to keep applying if you have been rejected as it makes credit rating worse but its really annoying that cant get one!
You probably wont think I'm in much debt compared to some of the other people on the board but just want to get out of the debt I have quickly so I can start saving for post graduate study.
I have one Egg Credit Card which I have had for about two months - it has about £500 on it - I was forced to take cash out (for a rent payment) and so have now lost the 0% interest free thing.
I also have an overdraft which I have managed through some severe budget restrictions to whittle down from £3000 to £1500 - (because its a graduate account I am not paying interest up to £1500).
I wanted to do a balance transfer (hence I'm looking for a 0% balance transfer card) to my account so I could keep the overdraft interest free until I can afford to pay it off a bit more and so I can get my credit card debt back to 0% interest while I pay it off.
I have only ever had one other credit card - £300 on a Barclaycard which I payed off in full last month.
Someone has suggested that I am refused because I have changed my registered address at least once every year for the past five years
Can anyone suggest anything that would improve my credit rating?
I have two regular incomes which probably amount to about £20,000 a year..

deemy2004

Credit card companies look for people who are able to manage their debt over a long period of time.

Hence you have a credit card for 2 months and an overdraft for £3000 ?

Now what you need to do is give it time and build up a credit history, by NEVER missing a due payment.

Obviously the credit card companies at this point in time see you as a bad credit risk, thus you should not contemplate applying for any further cards for at least 6 months. In the meantime try to increase your egg credit limit online.

empfun

Hi Eliza252, the best thing to do now is to ensure you keep making timely payments on your credit cards and over time your credit limits will be raised. And if you keep on making regular payments after that, you'll be in a much better position to apply for newer and better card deals. All the best!

Reaper

If you have changed your address more than once a year I suspect you are not on the electoral roll at your current address. If not that counts heavily against you.

louise1234_2

As others said, check if you are on electoral role. What has your payment history been like? have you missed any pymts on credit card or gone over o/d limit?

You can also get copies of your credit file from experian & equifax to see what infomration they hold. These cost £2 each for paper copy.

Eliza252

Hi thanks for all your advise! Its been very useful. I am getting myself registered on the electoral role and will dedicate myself to some regular payments!

In reply to the last thread, I accidently went over my limit on my barclaycard by approx £10, about a year ago. But I resolved the problem immediately. Recently there was an issue with my egg card payment, where I cancelled and re-ordered my egg card just as my direct debit payment was going out so it didnt go through - I also resolved that immediately. Hopefully that hasnt effected anything too badly....