what else can affect your credit rating ?

R0xie

what else can affect your credit rating ?

i have never borrowed anything nor am i in debt yet i still have a bad credit rating

YorkshireBoy

Have you viewed your Experian and/or Equifax credit reports? They will show you what lenders see when they search your file.

MichaelCR

- Credit Applications (When you apply for lets say a credit card or some credit based product then the lender will search your credit records and leave a footprint, To many credit applications in a short amount of time will show a potential lender that you are desperate for credit, And this severely reduces your chance of being accepted)

- High Credit Card Balances (Having high credit card balances increase your credit utilization and decreases your credit score)
- Maxed out Credit Cards
- Paying late
- Not Paying at all
- Having an account sent to collection agency
- Defaulting on a credit agreement
- Filing bankruptcy
- County Court Judgements
- Declaring false information on applications

izools

Although lack of history can be the biggest problem of all. If you've never been in debt, there's a good chance you have nothing on your credit file - so you are an absolute unknown to any prospective creditor. They have no way to judge your competence with meeting repayments and can't verify your identity and address fully.

Mainstream lenders will expect applicants to have a proven history of having managed similar accounts in the past.

People in your position, with limited / no credit history would typically need to begin with a sub-prime credit card. The cards designed for those new to credit are:

Barclaycard Initial
Aquacard
Capital One Classic
Vanquis

I've listed them in ascending order of pass mark - the Barclaycard Initial is the hardest to get and the Vanquis is the easiest to get.

If you open one or two of these sub-prime cards, keep the balance low, and pay in full each month (to avoid their extortionate interest rates) for a year or so you'll have built sufficient repayment history for prime lenders to take your applications more seriously.

Before applying for anything always ensure you're registered to vote and the electoral role registration appears on your credit file correctly - if the creditor can't see you being registered to vote your score with them will reduce, they might not be able to verify your identity, and stand greater chance of refusal.