What are your thoughts please?

Saints2011

Good evening, looks like found somewhere interesting to spent some time on :j! Am young at the moment (20) trying to build up a credit history with time, last year was pre approved for Mortgage with Barclays but in the end fell through with seller so am still living with parents in same property for eight years registered on Electoral Roll since 2008, and in full time employment with 'a bank' since October 2010. Do have a membership with Experian, and have recently viewed Equifax & Call Credit reports. Stupidly I have made a lot of credit searches in the past, but am certainly not making anymore until the following are cleared and tidy:

March
Experian – Generic Search

April

May
Sainsbury’s – Credit Card
June
Capital One – Credit Card
July
Barclays – First Mortgage
August

September
Lloyds TSB – Generic Search
Lloyds TSB – Credit Card
Nationwide – Current Account
Nationwide – Credit Card
Lloyds TSB – Current Account
Santander – Current Account

October
Societe – Money Laundering Protection
Santander – Credit Card
Vanquis – Credit Card
Argos – Store Card
Nat West - Enquiry
November
RBS – Insurance Quotation
Tesco – Credit Card
December
Camelot – Unrecorded Entry
January - 2011
Egg – Credit Card
Halifax – Current Account
Experian Search List with Score at 615

April
Barclaycard – Credit Card
May

June
Capital One – Credit Card
July

August

September
Santander – Identification Check
Lloyds TSB – Recruitment Check
October
Nat West – Identification Check
Nat West – Identification Check (duplicate)


November

December
Shop Direct Finance
January - 2011
Shop Direct Finance
Shop Direct Finance
Thomas Cook – Credit Card
Egg – Credit Card
Nat West – Loan
Nat West - Loan (duplicate)
Littlewoods – Unclassified
Equifax Search List

September
Aviva – General Insurance
October - 2010
MBNA – Credit Card
Call Credit Search List

How do you view my circumstances, where am I heading if I dont make anymore searches as I appreciate this is more than likely pulling my score down with Experian at 615 although do appreciate each lender uses own scoring methods.

Below are my current and settled accounts shown on Experian report.
Would really appreciate your advice, look forward to speaking with you all.
Thank you
Kirby

Lloyds TSB C/Account (Opened Sep 2010)
O/Draft Limit: £1200
Used: £0

Lloyds TSB C/Card (Opened March 2011)
Limit: £500
Used: £346.98
0% for 6months, will be paid of before!

Barclays C/Account (Opened Jul 2007)
O/Draft Limit: £1000
Used: £0

Barclaycard C/Card (Opened Apr 2010)
Limit: £400
Used: £0

Capital One C/Card (Opened Jun 2010)
Limit: £500 end of March increase to £1100
Used: £0

Halifax C/Account (Opened Jan 2011)
O/Draft Limit: £100
Used: £0
(only reason why opened Halifax is for the £5.00 bonus pay £1000 in by faster payment and then straight out)

02 Communications (Opened May 2010)
24 months
No late or missed payments to date

Settled accounts:

Santander Current Account: 3months opened for, no credit on account.
Nationwide Current Account (1): 5months opened for no credit on account.
Nationwide Current Account (2): 23months opened for no credit on account.
Vanquis Bank Credit Card: 4months opened for £250 credit limit on account.
Shop Direct Finance (1): 2months opened for £300 credit limit on account.
Shop Direct Finance (2): 2months opened for £500 credit limit on account.
Shop Direct Finance (3): 3months opened for £750 credit limit on account.
All accounts settled, had no negative markers what so ever for late payments etc..

izools

You should wait 6+ months before applying anywhere else, not least because of the abundance of recent searches, but also the abundance of new accounts, which will also pull your score down

You also need to leave your accounts open for longer as lot of accounts not open very long does not paint a stable picture.

Saints2011

izools wrote: »

You should wait 6+ months before applying anywhere else, not least because of the abundance of recent searches, but also the abundance of new accounts, which will also pull your score down

You also need to leave your accounts open for longer as lot of accounts not open very long does not paint a stable picture.

Thank you for your reply, not looking to apply for any more Credit until all of the searches are wiped got into a bit of a phase of applying everywhere just to see what limit I could get, not to spend but just to see, crazy I know, live & learn :rotfl:

Would you suggest with the accounts I have got open will see me in good stead as mainly prime in terms of credit, and will my settled accounts have any affect on report as for example three Shop Direct Accounts which were never used but will they have a impact going forward?

Thank you again
Kirby

chexum

Kirby, you have 6 credit accounts - even if you don't get new ones for 10 years, you can still have a perfect credit file (And in a way, that would be a really perfect credit file)

Seriously, as only one of them is older than 18 months (but the rest is less than a year), all you need to do is let them age. In about 1-2 years, you can get to the point where you can switch (and close) any of the older ones every 6 months or so, if you fancy a 0% purchase offer for a year and things like that. Only those not having accounts everywhere can enjoy those offers

Don't feel forced to use any of that credit (especially the overdraft), only spend what you can repay without stuffing their pockets. Banks will make money on your purchases anyway, no need to give them interests before it's absolutely necessary. Never miss a minimum payment.

Every once in a while, at least for Barclaycard and Lloyds, you can ask them for an increase. For Barclaycard, it's every 6 months - if the limit is less than your monthly salary, doubling the old limit is reasonable. C1 on the other hand will only offer an increase if they feel like it.

Settled accounts have a positive, but not overly significant effect, especially if they were short-lived. That is, if their history is perfect. If you ever make any mistake, don't close too soon, keep it open so that the late payment marker can scroll off.

If you have a salary going into Barclays, keep them, you can check the pre-approved offers, it's changing every month - the amount of the guaranteed the loan and the overdraft, and how they are changing will give you an idea how you are doing.

Saints2011

chexum wrote: »

Kirby, you have 6 credit accounts - even if you don't get new ones for 10 years, you can still have a perfect credit file (And in a way, that would be a really perfect credit file)

Seriously, as only one of them is older than 18 months (but the rest is less than a year), all you need to do is let them age. In about 1-2 years, you can get to the point where you can switch (and close) any of the older ones every 6 months or so, if you fancy a 0% purchase offer for a year and things like that. Only those not having accounts everywhere can enjoy those offers

Don't feel forced to use any of that credit (especially the overdraft), only spend what you can repay without stuffing their pockets. Banks will make money on your purchases anyway, no need to give them interests before it's absolutely necessary. Never miss a minimum payment.

Every once in a while, at least for Barclaycard and Lloyds, you can ask them for an increase. For Barclaycard, it's every 6 months - if the limit is less than your monthly salary, doubling the old limit is reasonable. C1 on the other hand will only offer an increase if they feel like it.

Settled accounts have a positive, but not overly significant effect, especially if they were short-lived. That is, if their history is perfect. If you ever make any mistake, don't close too soon, keep it open so that the late payment marker can scroll off.

If you have a salary going into Barclays, keep them, you can check the pre-approved offers, it's changing every month - the amount of the guaranteed the loan and the overdraft, and how they are changing will give you an idea how you are doing.

Another brilliant and helpful reply, thank you. :beer:
Definantly not looking to open up anymore credit paths, only thing possible in a couple of years would be car finance but this wouldnt be for a couple of years.

Never go into overdraft just not something I intend to do! Have got 0% deal with Lloyds at the moment as thought made more sense for purchases rather than taking from Savings paying 5% gross.

Have tried to increase Barclaycard, they dont want to know, used to have everything running through Barclays but poor customer service made me switch across to Lloyds who I am happy with and working with so can see all pre approved offers.

Thank you for your help ! :T

Experian_company_representative

Also bear in mind that not all searches affect credit scoring. It's only the ones created by you applying for credit. As a result, you can ignore searches created by your checking your own report, by insurance companies checking your ID and any unrecorded enquiries.

James Jones

Saints2011

Experian_company_representative wrote: »

Also bear in mind that not all searches affect credit scoring. It's only the ones created by you applying for credit. As a result, you can ignore searches created by your checking your own report, by insurance companies checking your ID and any unrecorded enquiries.

James Jones

Thank you for your knowledge, will rember that.

Can Experian put me back down to £7.99, £14.99 is extreme otherwise may leave membership again.. Slightly of topic I know

Locana

I wish I had your financial awareness at 20.. Good luck!

Saints2011

Locana wrote: »

I wish I had your financial awareness at 20.. Good luck!

Thank you :beer: