Credit says no :( What am I doing wrong?

rtho782

Hi all

I've had a couple of credit cards for a while (subprime) and had hoped to be able to at least get a sygma card by now....

If I post a general summary of my credit file, maybe someone can give me an idea what the biggest issues are...

Lived at current address since 12/2004, on electoral role since 02/2009

No Late payments in at least 3 years

Lots of accounts shown on file, have three current accounts (Barclays, NW, Halifax, Barclays is main account, none have overdrafts or will offer me an o/d)

Have a number of mobile contracts on there, mostly settled ones and two current ones (one is mobile BB, the other phone)

A closed HSBC bank account that shows as two months late before settling, this was in 2007 however.

A JD williams account with a £900 limit, £0 outstanding, since 06/2009. Increased a number of times since opening.

A Vanquis card with £1000 limit, £400 outstanding, since 12/2009, no late payments, limit increased twice from £250 starting, balance cleared most months.

A Capital One Progress card from 12/2010, £300 limit, no late payments, has sat at around £250 since opening.

A Settled loan from Black Horse Motorcycle finance, initially £2400, started in 12/2010, 0% APR, now cleared in full.

An outstanding loan from Black Horse Motorcycle finance, £6600, started in 03/2011, 0% APR.

A default (previously to Orange, now to a DCA) of £103, dated 05/2006.

A few other settled loans over the last couple of years from payday loans, never late/missed etc.

Around 20 Credit Searches in the last year, most recently 6-7 in Feb 2011, and 1 in March (for the black horse loan)

14 Linked Addresses, I was in the army and these are mostly permutations of the same barracks address. None of these addresses have any adverse info according to Experian.

I have held the same job for about 3.5 years, have an income of around £24k.

Please don't lecture me about paying payday loan intrest rates etc!

I would like mainstream credit to replace the Vanquis and possibly C1 cards with something of a reasonable APR. I'm not trying to get into a boatload of debt.

What are my biggest obstacles to decent credit?

I'm thinking the default is the big one, albeit over 5 years old now. I'm not sure if settling it would make a huge difference though? Or should I just wait for it to drop off next year?

Not long enough on the Electoral role? Not much I can do there except wait...

Too many linked addresses? Unfortunately there seems to be no way to delink them....

Too many searches? People say this has an adverse affect but I don't know how much of one?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!!

James129

You have way too many searches in very short span and it paints a picture that you are desperate for credit. Usually no more than 2-3 searches in last 6 months is considered apt before applying for credit.

[Deleted User]

You do have a lot of searches - that will be turning a lot of lenders off. Also, you have available limits of just under 8k, and balances of around 7k. So you look fairly stretched in terms of your usage.

Lastly, a £7k debt on a £24k income might be making some lenders reluctant to add to the pot. You may need to get the balances down before you apply again.

rtho782

Thanks

Getting the 2nd loan cleared the first (something I was keen to do as I thought a £2400 loan cleared 30 months early would look good).

It is also paid for and more by my recent promotion, so it doesn't negatively impact my monthly budget (indeed I am better off than I was with the old loan and no payrise).

I understand I may look stretched however.

So would it seem that the searches are more of an issue than the default? I could clear the default (in fact, I offered to if they agreed to remove it from my file, they turned my offer of repayment down) but this means £103 less that can go on debts I am paying interest on and won't dissapear in a year...

I'm not sure a settled default looks much more appealing to a lender than an outstanding one anyway!!!

KingElvis

Why so many searches?

They will be choking any chance you have of a decent deal.

kilasuit

the default if registered in 2006 will drop off next year.
concentrate on the rest of your borrowings and see how you go in 6 months time

CH27

You do look overstretched & so many searches ring alarm bells.

MichaelCR

rtho782 wrote: »

Hi all

I've had a couple of credit cards for a while (subprime) and had hoped to be able to at least get a sygma card by now....

If I post a general summary of my credit file, maybe someone can give me an idea what the biggest issues are...

Lived at current address since 12/2004, on electoral role since 02/2009

No Late payments in at least 3 years

Lots of accounts shown on file, have three current accounts (Barclays, NW, Halifax, Barclays is main account, none have overdrafts or will offer me an o/d)

Have a number of mobile contracts on there, mostly settled ones and two current ones (one is mobile BB, the other phone)

A closed HSBC bank account that shows as two months late before settling, this was in 2007 however.

A JD williams account with a £900 limit, £0 outstanding, since 06/2009. Increased a number of times since opening.

A Vanquis card with £1000 limit, £400 outstanding, since 12/2009, no late payments, limit increased twice from £250 starting, balance cleared most months.

A Capital One Progress card from 12/2010, £300 limit, no late payments, has sat at around £250 since opening.

A Settled loan from Black Horse Motorcycle finance, initially £2400, started in 12/2010, 0% APR, now cleared in full.

An outstanding loan from Black Horse Motorcycle finance, £6600, started in 03/2011, 0% APR.

A default (previously to Orange, now to a DCA) of £103, dated 05/2006.

A few other settled loans over the last couple of years from payday loans, never late/missed etc.

Around 20 Credit Searches in the last year, most recently 6-7 in Feb 2011, and 1 in March (for the black horse loan)

14 Linked Addresses, I was in the army and these are mostly permutations of the same barracks address. None of these addresses have any adverse info according to Experian.

I have held the same job for about 3.5 years, have an income of around £24k.

Please don't lecture me about paying payday loan intrest rates etc!

I would like mainstream credit to replace the Vanquis and possibly C1 cards with something of a reasonable APR. I'm not trying to get into a boatload of debt.

What are my biggest obstacles to decent credit?

I'm thinking the default is the big one, albeit over 5 years old now. I'm not sure if settling it would make a huge difference though? Or should I just wait for it to drop off next year?

Not long enough on the Electoral role? Not much I can do there except wait...

Too many linked addresses? Unfortunately there seems to be no way to delink them....

Too many searches? People say this has an adverse affect but I don't know how much of one?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!!

Keep paying what you owe,

Wait 6 months from now (Making no applications for any sort of credit) Then apply.

lisyloo

I agree with the consensus that the searches are probably the main problem.
Fortunately this can be solved by waiting a relatively short period of time.

Trajal

Agreed about the searches issue, but also the address is a problem.

When I was in RN i moved around a lot too and it caused me problems with mortgages etc.

paulmcerlean

Searches and default. When these drop off, based on the rest of your file, you should get a more mainstream card.