Experian Credit Score - 984 out of 1000. Loads of debt but still so high?

AFCChris

Hi

I just signed up with Experian's Credit Expert site and asked for one of their National Credit scores. It came out at 984 out of 1000! I am very pleased with this, but not getting carried away as I know it doesn't mean I will always have applications accepted.

I suppose I want to ask on here if the score reflects just the conduct on paying creditors/lenders off regularly, keeping monthly payments up to date and not applying for credit too much or does it look at how much debt you actually have??

Apart from my mortgage (around £190000) I have about £25000 worth of debt on credit cards and a £25000 loan which I took out last year so I have plenty to pay off and I'm just deciding what to do about it all, but I assume from my score that all this isn't affecting my credit rating??

Appreciate people's views on this. I couldn't think which part of the forum to put it on so excuse me if it's on the wrong one.

Regards

Chris

JGWT8M

I'm probably very wrong, but I thought it was the other way around, the lower the number the better the credit rating?

If that theory is right then I must be 100000000 out of 1000.

nic_santorini

don't know too much about the scoring but this is what I do know - please feel free to correct my understanding anyone. It is not necessarily how much you owe but how you manage it and pay it off. Do you pay all your debts off on time, are they one month, two, three or more months late etc and this can go back years. It also considers how many credit cards you have and how often you change them. It just means that quite scarily a loan company would probably be happy about lending you even more money based on this - whether or not you actually had the income to pay it off - they don't care - they earn the interest and if you don't pay will often take a house or two in the process if they can.

CLAPTON

each creditor use their own system and criteria to credit score you; experian's and similar are merely money making activities.

in real life creditors are also interested in your income and its relation to your debts which isn't on your credit report.

what is your concern here?

cos_2

The credit reference agencies don't reflect your credit worthiness to a company from whom you want to borrow. They simply show what you've done in the past, and may link that to people you've borrowed with.
However, lending companies are very happy to use CRA reports to make decisions about lending to you.
As said, it's not so much about being accepted, it's about being able to afford the repayments. That's the key.

AFCChris

Thanks for all the replies. I realise that the Experian credit score isn't the be all and end all when it comes to lenders assessing my credit worthiness but as Experian say themselves "Your National Credit Score is based upon your Experian credit history".

The way I look at it is that if 0 is very poor (on Experian's system anyway) and 1000 is excellent then I'd rather be at 984 that be at 84. This gives me confidence that in Experian's view I am a low risk borrower. With my score they said the following: "This score suggests you are a very low risk borrower - very few applicants with this score will have repayment difficulties if they take out any more credit"

I suppose my concern is that they might see me as someone who is credit worthy but there doesn't seem to be a system in place which stops me from getting more and more credit. I realise if I do loads of applications in a short time then this will affect it, but for the once a year big application I should be OK.

gettingthereslowly!_2

I agree with CLAPTON, the companies offering credit will also look at your current commitments and salary and use that to make a decision.

I was paying everything on time and had a really good credit rating a few years back, but as I was heavily committed(in comparison to my income) no one would touch me with a barge pole!

I was annoyed at the time (pre LBM) but am so glad about that now, as I would have gotten into more of a mess!

CLAPTON

anyway irrespective of your experian credit score, all things being equal if you have debts of 50k you should be seriously considering how to reduce these.
why not post a SOA here and see if people here can be of help.