Credit history not the best .........

Luis

I am writing in the hope of some good advice - long story, brace yerselves!

Applied for credit last year - declined - got credit report: problem = having been quite well off for a few years (prior to divorce, career change and house move), had been:
a) buying things cash, hence no real credit history
b) recent house moves in getting back on housing ladder = electoral roll info out of date
c) married name still on old settled credit, now using maiden name again

SO!

sorted out the name thing so I had affiliated links on file, and updated the electoral roll too. NOW my credit file says FAIR which is huge improvement, but still not good or excellent. It is fair because the electoral roll thing is still less than 2 years, because I only have 2 credit accounts (catalogue and car maintenance credit card thing) and also because the declined credit has gone down as a search creating 'more than 2 searches in 6 months' apparently!

So I was thinking of applying for a credit card (I have never had one before on principal) in order to have another credit reference on file, as apparently 'lenders like you to have 3 or more active accounts'.

But, which credit card should I apply for (if at all?) If my score is only fair, I do not want to knock it down with further declined applications, so I need to know which card is likely to accept me - or do you think I should wait until a few months have gone by to get away from the too many searches in 6 months thing?

Please help, I am tying myself in knots.

Thanks,

Luis

Cardinal-Red

Capital One are currently operating with the tagline

"We promise to say yes if you do..."

Depending on your rating you may end up with a tiny credit limit and massive APR but just pay off in full every month.

Good luck!

Reaper

The card you are most likely to be accepted for is one issued by your bank (assuming you manage your bank account responsibly).

As you only have 2 credit accounts I don't suppose you have many more than 2 searches in the last 6 months, so I wouldn't have thought that will be a significant negative. I think you should be able to another without affecting your score too badly.