Your Credit Rating: How it works and How to improve it Discussion Area

danthemoneysavingman

guynextdoor82 wrote: »

hi i check my credit score its 740 out of 1000

can i apply for some decent credit cards like citibank, egg etc... ?

regards

Joshua

You can apply for whatever you like. You chances of getting a "decent" card will take into account a number of other elements though, which obv. vary from lender to lender. Being on the electoral roll where you live now is important usually. Any historical credit defaults are relevant too.
Good luck!

nikkinakkinoo

I have previously paid off credit card debt by balance transfers... this has resulted in me having about 5 credit cards which I don't use anymore and have a £0 balance.

Does anyone know whether having a number of unused credit cards affects your rating or should I cancel them?

Does cancelling them affect my rating?

Thanks

exel1966

YES ! The important factor you have to take into account is how much available credit you have immediate access to with these cards. Too much and it could mean a refusal or a low credit limit being obtained on any future cards.
You're also eliminated from the very best offers available by holding onto theses cards as 9/10 of the best offers are for new customers only. I'd think about cancelling at least 3 of them.

lisyloo

There is also the chance your cards could be sed fraudlently (even if they are just stashed in a draw - some of the fraud comes from inside jobs).
I would close down 3 and keep maybe one visa and one mastercard.

dec050284

Can anyone tell me by what amount my score will improve once i am reinstated on the electoral register, i have heard in the region of 100 to 120 any truth in this???

thanks

wendy_ann1983

I checked my credit score the other day and found that i owe £240 to a communications company and it says i defaulted 11/05/05, and that i had missed payments all the way back to mid 2004. Im sure i remember having an 02 account but cancelled it around that time and asked for a final bill, I then split with my ex in a messy way and moved away but i dont rememeber getting any bill

should i pay, should i ask for a reduction (or is that too cheeky), how long will it take to come off my credit report?

thanks in advance

lisyloo

Can anyone tell me by what amount my score will improve once i am reinstated on the electoral register

Which score?
Every lender has there own.
Ther eis no such thing as a "credit score".

i have heard in the region of 100 to 120 any truth in this???

Well it depends which score you are talking about.
It will certainly improve you chance of getting credit quite significantly, but there is no universal credit score, so there is no universal upgrade for doing this.
Each lenders makes their own decisions, but many won't touch you if you if you aren't on the register, so it's a big step forward.

lisyloo

Im sure i remember having an 02 account but cancelled it around that time and asked for a final bill, I then split with my ex in a messy way and moved away but i dont rememeber getting any bill

It sounds like you didn't make sure it as finalised and then didn't tell them your new address.
It sounds like it's going to be hard for you to prove you cancelled (for this kind of letter you need to pay 70p for recorded delivery then you know it's got to the sender and they can't fob you off).

Unfortunate a disproportionate number of cancellation letters go missing and I'm cynical about it.

If you are reasonably sure that this is your debt (albeit somewhat accidental) then you need to pay it off because it will stay on your report for 6 years AFTER you've settled it.

I have 2 reservations in asking for a reducation.
1) You need to be sure this isn't recorded against you as a IVA (individual voluntary arrangement). If so it will be recorded that you didn't pay the full debt and that will make lenders reluctant to lend.
I'm not totally sure of the details here but be cautious as having a record on your report that don't repay your debts in full will be bad for the next 6 years.

2) On a moral and legal basis you owe this money (albeit through lack of organsation rather than deliverately) so why shouldn't you pay it. The letter might have been genuinely lost in the post and you didn't follow it up.

For the future

a) write leeter on pc if possible (easier to reproduce if lost)
a) I would always send these letters recorded delivery (about 70p)
b) keep the receipt until no longer needed
c) make sure it's finalise e.g. have final bill showing it's closed
d) check credit report every now and again

how long will it take to come off my credit report?

6 years from settlement date unfortunately.
Lenders want to know your history with payments and whilst you didn't do this deliberately you clearly got a bit disorganised. I appreciate that it was a difficult time for you, but the are consequences that you should be awware of.
My personal approach is to be pro-active about making sure these things are sorted as its' easier and cheaper to take those actions than to sort out the mess afterwards.

Unfortunately companies do seem to take advantage of the "lost in the post" excuse asther are a extraordinary number of cancellation letters that get lost.
There are a number of ways round this e.g.
a) keeping copies
b) using recorded delivery
c) using email (with receipt options turned on for receipt and reading).
d) phoning up and checking it's been received
e) getting confirmation in writing of the cancellation.

Hope that doesn't sound too much like a lecture as I'm trying to provide some useful tips for people that might be reading.

wendy_ann1983

thanks lisyloo, guess i should pay it then. darn my disorganisation.

wendy_ann1983

yay, its not been passed on to a debt agency, now they just got to work out how to print out the bill.