Will this hurt my Credit Rating ?

Atom

Hi guys

I have been rebuilding my credit profile for the last 2 years after some problems when i was younger, i have one default for £4500 which is now partially satisfied and drops of this September, i have 2 mobile phone contracts a couple of catalogues a current account and 2 credit cards ( Aqua and Vanquis ) all accounts paid on time and all accounts have 0 balances as i cleared all them last month.

The Vanquis card has a horrendous APR at 47% although its never been a problem as i have always paid my balances off in full each month but i got accepted for the capital one progress after being rejected for the flybe card ( maybe because of the default ? ) and was wondering if it would hurt my credit rating if i canceled the vanquis card after only 6 months of using it ?

Thanks

K

izools

I think it would benefit your credit rating in fact.

But don't apply for anything else whatsoever before september when the default drops off - your capital one progress account will still then only be six months old which is still "new" in the eyes of a lot of prime lenders.

When applying for prime credit, amongst all the usual stuff, they like to see your youngest account being at least 6~12 months old with some open much longer than that. Lots of new accounts will hurt your score.

You will improve your chances of getting prime credit by having fewer obligations - there's no need to have so many accounts open.

Just one credit card, one mobile phone contract, and one current account would be ideal as the only active accounts on your credit file. Any more suggests you're indulging yourself a little. One of each - you're seen as sensible and no where near over-committed

Atom

Yeah im thinking of closing the catalogues as i don't really need them, i usually save for anything i need - a prime credit card is my goal to get on the lower end of the APR so i won't be applying for anything until the default drops off in september - then i would have had the aqua card for a year my bank and phone accounts would have a 2 and a half year history, i hope when this default drops off it has a decent impact on my credit score as its never been past 668, currently 600 but probably due to the searches and the new accounts.

Thanks for your info.

izools

Your "score" can be 900 with Experian even if you have an oustanding default.

I feel the reason for your "score" being so low is because you have a large number of accounts a lot of which haven't been open very long. Creditors want to see stability, an ability to maintain the status quo, and evidence that you make shrude financial decisions, not willy-nilly ones.

If I were in your position, I'd close all of my accounts bar the mobile that's been open the longest, the bank account that's been open the longest, and the credit card that's been open the longest. Then wait six months. Then any prime creditor / lender would see exactly the evidence they're looking for and be happier to lend

Or at least close any accounts that you don't need and simply wait for at least six months.

That's what I'm doing now and hopefully at the start of May I can get my hands on a First Direct account

BugsyBrowne

izools wrote: »

Your "score" can be 900 with Experian even if you have an oustanding default.

I feel the reason for your "score" being so low is because you have a large number of accounts a lot of which haven't been open very long. Creditors want to see stability, an ability to maintain the status quo, and evidence that you make shrude financial decisions, not willy-nilly ones.

If I were in your position, I'd close all of my accounts bar the mobile that's been open the longest, the bank account that's been open the longest, and the credit card that's been open the longest. Then wait six months. Then any prime creditor / lender would see exactly the evidence they're looking for and be happier to lend

Or at least close any accounts that you don't need and simply wait for at least six months.

That's what I'm doing now and hopefully at the start of May I can get my hands on a First Direct account

I don't want a first direct account but bet if I apply there would be no reason whatsoever why they wouldn't give me an account.

I am quite happy with my barclays which I have had 10 years,which includes travel insurance,breakdown,mobile insurance and couple of others but the breakdown is the one I wanted.

izools

star-fire wrote: »

I don't want a first direct account but bet if I apply there would be no reason whatsoever why they wouldn't give me an account.

I am quite happy with my barclays which I have had 10 years,which includes travel insurance,breakdown,mobile insurance and couple of others but the breakdown is the one I wanted.

I'm sure you are happy. I, however loathe Barclays Bank like a sceptic crotch. Did you read the posts I've made once or twice about them arbitrarily closing my account because of - what I've concluded - was either the Personal Banker lying on my application or not taking sufficient ID? Blocking access to my money without warning?

HSBC however are great, no problems, quite happy to stay where I am, but if I have the opportunity to earn 8% AER on my savings without having to pay an account fee, I'll lap it up

That and I do speak to my bank on a regular basis just to keep things in check. It would be so nice to have no IVR or call queues

Atom

izools wrote: »

Your "score" can be 900 with Experian even if you have an oustanding default.

I feel the reason for your "score" being so low is because you have a large number of accounts a lot of which haven't been open very long. Creditors want to see stability, an ability to maintain the status quo, and evidence that you make shrude financial decisions, not willy-nilly ones.

If I were in your position, I'd close all of my accounts bar the mobile that's been open the longest, the bank account that's been open the longest, and the credit card that's been open the longest. Then wait six months. Then any prime creditor / lender would see exactly the evidence they're looking for and be happier to lend

Or at least close any accounts that you don't need and simply wait for at least six months.

That's what I'm doing now and hopefully at the start of May I can get my hands on a First Direct account

I heard good things about first direct and its what i plan on doing too - i won't be doing anything until after september though, and as you said all the accounts i have that i don't need will be closed, hopefully October i will have a good chance.

izools

Well, I wish you luck with your application this Autumn!

Lord knows I'll need luck on my side in May

BugsyBrowne

izools wrote: »

I'm sure you are happy. I, however loathe Barclays Bank like a sceptic crotch. Did you read the posts I've made once or twice about them arbitrarily closing my account because of - what I've concluded - was either the Personal Banker lying on my application or not taking sufficient ID? Blocking access to my money without warning?

HSBC however are great, no problems, quite happy to stay where I am, but if I have the opportunity to earn 8% AER on my savings without having to pay an account fee, I'll lap it up

That and I do speak to my bank on a regular basis just to keep things in check. It would be so nice to have no IVR or call queues

Yeah think I did with your barclays TBH,a couple of times they have pis*ed me off,if I had any savings or was planning to save I won't hesitate in leaving barclays.

birkee

I'm glad the OP is getting to grips with his problems, but ....

There is one thing that comes across very clearly with all these questions about credit worthiness and debt problems, and nearly ALL of them seem to have the same theme.
The quantity of the people they owe money to! It isn't the money owed that's giving them all the grief though, it's dealing with all the creditors.
Which is best .... £10k owed to one creditor? Or, £10k owed to twenty creditors?

It seems the clear lesson is, don't have too many creditors. Keep them to a minimum, and deal with one problem, not twenty.
The other lesson I've learned, is that it is better to lash out occasionally, rather than commit to weekly / monthly charges for things. Or, in the old fashioned language ...save up for what you want, because weekly / monthly payments on catalogues, phones, etc, will ALWAYS cause you problems when you can least afford it. It is missed payments that rain misery on your life.
Just think .....for example, you pay £60 off your credit card, and £30 of that is for interest. You could halve(?) your living costs without having that credit card debt.
(No, I've no outstanding debts myself ..... and have never had problems with repaying debts. car loans, mortgages etc.)

Atom

birkee wrote: »

I'm glad the OP is getting to grips with his problems, but ....

There is one thing that comes across very clearly with all these questions about credit worthiness and debt problems, and nearly ALL of them seem to have the same theme.
The quantity of the people they owe money to! It isn't the money owed that's giving them all the grief though, it's dealing with all the creditors.
Which is best .... £10k owed to one creditor? Or, £10k owed to twenty creditors?

It seems the clear lesson is, don't have too many creditors. Keep them to a minimum, and deal with one problem, not twenty.
The other lesson I've learned, is that it is better to lash out occasionally, rather than commit to weekly / monthly charges for things. Or, in the old fashioned language ...save up for what you want, because weekly / monthly payments on catalogues, phones, etc, will ALWAYS cause you problems when you can least afford it. It is missed payments that rain misery on your life.
Just think .....for example, you pay £60 off your credit card, and £30 of that is for interest. You could halve(?) your living costs without having that credit card debt.
(No, I've no outstanding debts myself ..... and have never had problems with repaying debts. car loans, mortgages etc.)

Hi Birkee

I understand - i only ever had one default which was the one mentioned above, actually the loan was for a friend for a car ( i know stupid thing to do ) but he made 4 payments and never paid anything else, i was young and never knew about credit files etc never needed them so i thought well if he aint paying it i sure as hell aint..

It wasn't until i applied for a mortgage i realised how this default affected me, i couldn't get any credit whatsoever until just over 2 years ago i went in a flurry and got a few accounts, thought if i kept them good it would look good for me later down the line, which has.

All these extra accounts i have have 0 balances - there all being closed