Experian rated me 'Good'

karena

Just did a run through on Experian and cant understand why they initially confirmed I was on the electoral roll (which I am) then when I ran the Credit Score it came out as Good and stated that I was not on the electoral roll which had the only negative effect on my score. Who to try for a credit card? My bank declined twice, even though my account has never been in -. Only have a debit card. I presume that as I am the sole owner of a limited company this should not cause problems? Again a very healthy bank balance and the company has been trading for 4 years, and as a limited company since June. I am under 25.

izools

Ignore the score.

All creditors use their own rating systems, not Experian. They will refer to the data on your Experian credit file, but they will NOT use Experian's scoring system.

Have you ever held a credit card before? Have you had / do you have any other form of credit? I.e. mortgage, mobile phone contract, loan, etc?

karena

izools wrote: »

Ignore the score.

All creditors use their own rating systems, not Experian. They will refer to the data on your Experian credit file, but they will NOT use Experian's scoring system.

Have you ever held a credit card before? Have you had / do you have any other form of credit? I.e. mortgage, mobile phone contract, loan, etc?

Never had a credit card before. I have had several mobilephone contracts and never got in to arrears. Also have loans for machinery, again always pay on time, never been in arrears. Twice applied for a credit card from my bank, the last time was in May and both declined. Really would appreciate any help on this, dont really want to discuss with my accountant/book keeper!

izools

In this case, despite Experian suggesting you have a "Good" credit rating, you don't.

Considering you are yet to own an account regulated by the Consumer Credit Act (Loan / Credit Card), creditors have no way to judge how you will perform with such an account - you are an unknown. Being able to pay a phone bill on time all the time is very different from committing yourself to a line of credit and unfortunately without experience handling such a line of credit, you aren't going to get a high street credit card.

You need to start off with a Sub Prime / Starter credit card.

There are four available:

http://www.capitalone.co.uk/creditcards/progress-credit-card.jsf
http://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal-home/cards/initial/
http://www.aquacard.co.uk/
http://www.vanquis.co.uk/

These are easier to get than mainstream cards, but carry a lower limit and higher APR.

Don't apply elsewhere until you've sorted out the Electoral Role - make sure you're registered, and make sure that fact reflects on your credit file BEFORE applying elsewhere. This will cause applications to be declined with a lot of lenders, especially considering your credit history is thin on the ground.

You would be best advised to take out one or two of the above cards, spend a little on them each month (just use them in place of your debit card occasionally for things you would buy anyway), repay the bills in full each month to avoid paying their high interest rates.

After doing this for 12-18 months you will be in a much stronger position to be approved for a mainstream card, at which point you can close the sub prime card(s).

Good luck! :beer:

karena

izools wrote: »

In this case, despite Experian suggesting you have a "Good" credit rating, you don't.

Considering you are yet to own an account regulated by the Consumer Credit Act (Loan / Credit Card), creditors have no way to judge how you will perform with such an account - you are an unknown. Being able to pay a phone bill on time all the time is very different from committing yourself to a line of credit and unfortunately without experience handling such a line of credit, you aren't going to get a high street credit card.

You need to start off with a Sub Prime / Starter credit card.

There are four available:

Thank you so much for your valuable advice! Re the electoral roll, I have voted every year for the last 5 years and still receiving forms every year (just received one last month) to confirm that I have postal voting arrangements. How do I sort this out please?
http://www.capitalone.co.uk/creditcards/progress-credit-card.jsf
http://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal-home/cards/initial/
http://www.aquacard.co.uk/
http://www.vanquis.co.uk/

These are easier to get than mainstream cards, but carry a lower limit and higher APR.

Don't apply elsewhere until you've sorted out the Electoral Role - make sure you're registered, and make sure that fact reflects on your credit file BEFORE applying elsewhere. This will cause applications to be declined with a lot of lenders, especially considering your credit history is thin on the ground.

You would be best advised to take out one or two of the above cards, spend a little on them each month (just use them in place of your debit card occasionally for things you would buy anyway), repay the bills in full each month to avoid paying their high interest rates.

After doing this for 12-18 months you will be in a much stronger position to be approved for a mainstream card, at which point you can close the sub prime card(s).

Good luck! :beer:

Thank you so much for your valuable advice! Re the electoral roll, I have voted every year for the last 5 years and still receiving form every year (just received one last month) to confirm that I have postal voting arrangements. How do I sort this out please? Very much appreciate your help on this.

izools

Contact Experian - tell them you are raising a "Notice of Dispute" about the ER data and instruct them to contact your Local Authority to verify your presence on the register.

They will update you once they have amended your credit file in line with the Local Authority's response

BugsyBrowne

karena wrote: »

Thank you so much for your valuable advice! Re the electoral roll, I have voted every year for the last 5 years and still receiving form every year (just received one last month) to confirm that I have postal voting arrangements. How do I sort this out please? Very much appreciate your help on this.

Experian rating someone good with no credit history, is like chelsea signing a player who they haven't seen play football yet.
So basically from a lenders point of view they would defiantly rate you poor!

karena

izools wrote: »

Contact Experian - tell them you are raising a "Notice of Dispute" about the ER data and instruct them to contact your Local Authority to verify your presence on the register.

They will update you once they have amended your credit file in line with the Local Authority's response

I have emailed them twice and they have not responded but confirmed receipt. How long will they take to get back to me? My second email stated that I wish to raise a Notice of Dispute.Do they take forever to action?
Many thanks.

izools

karena wrote: »

I have emailed them twice and they have not responded but confirmed receipt. How long will they take to get back to me? My second email stated that I wish to raise a Notice of Dispute.Do they take forever to action?
Many thanks.

Can take a few weeks

chattychappy

My ex-gf rated me as "Great". Later my rating dropped. I got another gf and became "Great" again.

Degenerate

chattychappy wrote: »

My ex-gf rated me as "Great". Later my rating dropped. I got another gf and became "Great" again.

CCs are a lot like girlfriends in a way. If you have too many your rating may drop, but in the meantime you can have a lot of fun using them.