"Fair" credit rating loan advice

gregatron

Hey All

ok brief bit of info, i need a loan of between 2500-3000. I know the ideal solution is to crack on and save it for a few month but unfortunatly that isnt an option. I bring home a little over £1300 a month from my job.

A little on my credit history. I had a default on a store card in feb 2005 and other than that i have a clear history (apart from a missed credit card payment a few months ago as i was on vacation and had problems with fraud alerts at my bank, but thats settled now). According to my recent credit check i have a "Fair" credit rating. The only recent thing on it was a credit card application that was successful about a month ago (it was for a card with a lower interest than my existing card, so swapped the small outstanding balance and closed old card)

Im not too worried if the APR is a bit higher on any loan i get as im not really interested in seeing out the full term of the loan. The idea is do what i need to do and then crack on, save, and pay it off around the summer time.

There seem to be so many cowboys, dodgy companies and comapnies with unreliable methods around that i'm just lost where to turn and i feel like that default is holding me back (if only it had happend like 6 months earlier)

Has anyone had any success or a good story about any company that can help me out?

Tixy

Have you tried your own bank first?
Is the default from Feb 05 settled? and showing as settled?
As its an old default and your bank will know best how you manage your money you may find they would accept you.
Have you tried anywhere else and been turned down?

gregatron

Nah not yet. The thing i worry about is that i don't want to get loads of checks done because that obviously does damage.

I suspect my bank won't be able to help me. When i set up with them in feb 09 i had to get a cash minder account, presumably due to that default showing. It's with the co-op bank.

The default is showing as satisfied, though strangely the credit card missed payment is not showing as such. Even though it is

Whats weird is that i just did a credit score update and i have dropped from fair to poor, :S does checking my credit score myself affect the score?

gregatron

dropped from 721 6 days ago to 707 today...... that's weird, i havnt done anything in the last few days, except pay a credit card bill which should help surely?

CHR15

What you have done in the last few days is to waste money on a meaningless Credit Score.

The people giving you this score are not lenders, it means nothing to them, nor does it mean anything to a lender.

Each lender has it's own acceptance criteria based on many factors. They couldn't care less what your credit score is. They wouldn't even look at it.

All lenders will form an opinion based on your history, salary, home stability, risk, level of debt etc etc. From this they will decide if you are a suitable risk.

Your level of risk will determine if you get any acceptance and what interest rate you will be offered if you are accepted.

Stop spending money on scores from non lenders.

No lender will disclose their scoring method so you just have to take the plunge.
As Tixy said, your own bank know you better than anyone so they (in theory) should be able to make a more informed decision and hence, have a better chance of being accepted.

One search won't make a difference but if the first one rejects your application, you would be best advised to wait until any blemishes from your credit history disappear.

gregatron

Thanks for the advice chris. Ill prob call some of the reputable banks this evening, start with my own and just see what they say before making an application. If they dont consider it highly likely i will be accepted then i wont bother.

I feel like i will go with co-op bank (my bank) then barclay (previous, now cleared, pretty good history with them credit card company) and then capital one (new credit card comapny). Just get some opinions i guess.

I hope they can help me out, this is a point of depseration.. annoyingly

gregatron

Hey Guys

So i just got off the phone with my bank and they advised me that, until that default drops off in feb, it is unlikely i would be successful in applying for credit with them, which i half expected.

Like i say unfortunatly im in a need. Its not a need like a "i need a £5k new car" its a need like "A family member is gunna pass away so i need to move some plans forward so they can enjoy them before the case".

Can anyone recommend a reputable comapny who can help with this? YES loans and all that lot just terrify me.