Credit Check

Catty212

Just a quick question, as I'm really quite clueless.

I did a credit check last year in September and it was showing as the high end of fair. I had nothing major but there was a few late payments (a couple from when my bank decided to cancel all my DD's and try and put them on someone elses account) and a couple where there were sent by post and missed the dates. There are only yellow and I had nothing red.

I have since paid off all my debt (bar my monthly car payment) and have closed most of the empty accounts that I don't use. Is there any way that I can ask for the late payments to be removed from the account or will they just stay there. They were from store cards (and have now been closed anyway).

I presume that my credit rating will have have gone up quite a bit due to the blalances all being paid off? Is that right?

Tixy

You won't be able to get them removed (you might have been able to negotiate the bank error ones at the time, but not the postal ones that were late). If they were in the last 3years before you settled the account then they will stay visible for 6years from when the account was settled. But they will have less of an impact the older they are, especially if everything recently has always been on time.

Probably worth checking your credit file again if you haven't already - don't worry about the score or rating the give you, they are pretty pointless - you just need the statutory £2 report which shows your actual report.

Paying off debt and closing unused accounts will increase your chances of being accepted for credit, but its worth keeping open one credit card or similar and using it now and then and paying off in full - it helps to maintain an active credit history.

Catty212

Thanks for that.

They are from well over a year ago - the late payments. Everything recently has been fine and up to date. I have kept one current account, one credit card and two store cards, but dramatically reduced the credit amount. I am pleased that everything is paid off. It's taken a loooooooooooooooooooong time