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

exel1966

edindie wrote: »

Most data on your credit report is kept only for 2 years (CCJs etc stay on for 6)

No it's not, all data including settled/closed accounts are kept for file for 6 years. Thats regulatory, not a CRA imposed time scale.

exel1966

edindie wrote: »

One search won’t make much of a difference to your credit profile, if you have 3 or 4 searches in the last 6 months you’ll look a little credit hungry, but less than that won’t make much of a difference.

3 or 4 searches in 6 months will not have a huge impact. In fact you could have 3-4 in one month that won't have a major impact. It will all depend on what type of search it was. Not all searches are the same.

MissDee78

Hiya, I'm having major trouble with credit.

In September 2005 I had trouble with money and defaulted on a couple of things and although I went to speak to HSBC to explain my situation, they informed me that they had closed my bank account without letting me know first. I got back into work and paid off my defaults by the end of 2005, but I still can't get credit, not even for a mobile phone contract.

I have had a basic bank account with Barclays for about 2 and a half years and they have tried to upgrade it but my credit score won't let them. I have also had a vanquis card, which I use and pay off in full every month, for about the same length of time. Vanquis have raised my credit limit a few times from an initial £250 to £1500 now (I don't want it any higher).

I don't owe anybody anything, and have a record of paying everything off, so how can I have these defaults removed from my Experian report? All I want is a current account and a contract phone!!? (I want a mortgage too but just want to get past this first!)

Thanks.

Moggles_2

MissDee78 wrote: »

In September 2005 I had trouble with money and defaulted on a couple of things and although I went to speak to HSBC to explain my situation, they informed me that they had closed my bank account without letting me know first. I got back into work and paid off my defaults by the end of 2005, but I still can't get credit, not even for a mobile phone contract. I don't owe anybody anything and have a record of paying everything off, so how can I have these defaults removed from my Experian report?

Congratulations on turning things round.
:beer:

We do not have the right to have information removed if it is correct, but you can ask the credit reference agencies to put a notice of correction on file explaining why you think information is misleading. This notice will then be seen by banks, mobile phone companies etc, when you apply for credit.

Most credit decisions are made by automatic means (i.e. computer). If there is a notice of correction on your report, your application must be referred for a manual decision (i.e. a person will decide whether or not you can get credit)

Missed payments can trash your credit rating for years. Rebuilding a credit history takes time, but you've made a start. For tips to improve your chances, have a look at the *Credit Rating: how it works and how to improve it guide*, especially Martin's *Manage and Improve your credit score* article, which triggered this thread
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score#improve

KingPin_2

I have had 5 credit searches over the last two months is that too much they are all for current accounts

Also I have 5 Identification: Generic Check from the above searchs and one of these 5 has Unrecorded Enquiry

Has this all lowered my credit score as I am looking to apply for a contract phone soon.

what do you all think

hsann

I have a credit rating of 999 and my OH has about 745 and yet we are being refused credit. We were told this was because we had too many accounts although we were always up to date with our payments. (lots of the accounts were very small figures as we never understaood the principle of credit reporting and rating). We decided to rectify this problem so paid most off and and moved an expensive holiday ownership loan to Halifax. Halifax interest was high but as it was better than the rate of the original holiday loan, we went for it hoping to look for an even better rate in the near future.

I recently checked our credit report and found that Halifax had updated our credit report but rather than record the principle owned, Halifax recorded in both our reports ,the total of the principal and the interest so now it appears that we owe more than we actually owe. This method of reporting is very different from what I had experienced with other financial institutions before. They always report the principal only.

I called Halifax to query this but the staff insisted that is their practice. I think reporting this loan this way is deceptive as other lenders may assume that the 'P + I' recorded is the amount owed. Because of the high rate of interest we hope to try for better rates from other lenders in the near future and we are concerned that this may be difficult as it might be difficult to convince them that the amount stated in our credit report is more than what we actually owe. We feel like we are in a worst situation than when we started because of Halifax's policy.
I have contacted Halifax several times and the staff have not been helpful. what do I do now?

moneysavingplumber

Hi all (already posted this in Sub Prime Credit Card thread but thought you guys here might be able to help too). This is a bit weird, I finished an IVA last month so I still have defaults showing on my file, Max Recovery seem to have removed two even though they aren't due for removal until next year but the majority (in value) are still there (totalling about £13,000), dating 2003 default, and obviously the completed IVA is there too. Wescot and Max Recovery have yet to mark these accounts as 'Satisfied', although I received notice from Wescot this morning that they are going to.

Wanting to rebuild a credit history asap I decided to pay the £5.95 just to check my score and was astounded to find it was 816, regarded as 'fair'! The guide said my score was such because I had no CCJs or bankruptcy in the last six years and am on the electoral roll and I have alot of zeroes against my current account. I just thought the minor matter of my defaults and IVA would automatically flag a really bad score.

In peoples' experience are these an accurate reflection of your likelihood of successfully getting sub-prime credit? I've added a 'notice of correction' a while ago, in light of this score maybe I should remove it to make applications faster and less thorough?

Also, I've had a Vodafone pay monthly mobile phone since 2001, should that show up somewhere on my report?

Thanks.

KingPin_2

I have 5 Identification: Generic Check and one of these 5 has Unrecorded Enquiry

Has this all lowered my credit score as I am looking to apply for a contract phone soon.

what do you all think

MrsPitcher2b

Hello everyone

Just two quick(ish) questions.

Firstly, does checking your credit rating/obtaining a credit report affect your actual credit rating (as they do searches)

And Secondly, how quickly does clearing an account/paying off debts show and affect your rating?

Ok actually i think ive got a few mpore questions...

I seem to have a lot of credit accounts open if i do a credit search - like i have an additions account but i asked them to close it months ago. Instead they have just reduced the balance to 0 so the account still shows on the credit report. And i also have credit cards, but one got cloned so i cancelled it and was reissued another one, well the old card number has a seperate account on the credit list thing..

So does this affect my score? And if so how do i get them to remove it?

On my file i have like two accounts for my barclay cash card account, because i lost that card, there are two accoutns for my nationwide card as i lost that, and account with BCT which i had car finance on but i settled the account after two months - can i get this removed now? Also an additions account twice (As i had one with additions and one with another company and they combined into one - my report says that i have too many credit accounts but i only have my two credit cards and the bank account open - all the rest are settled and finished with.

udydudy

MrsPitcher2b wrote: »

Firstly, does checking your credit rating/obtaining a credit report affect your actual credit rating (as they do searches)...............

1) Checking your credit rating/obtaining report does not affect ur credit rating as these searches will be listed as "Unrecorded Enquiry" or "Generic Check" which do not show up whilst other lenders do a search. AFAIK, lenders,very few, I think in my case nationwide, did an enquiry search to check my rating when i applied for a loan and then offered a loan and when I took it up they actually did a normal search on the file.

I would normally ask lenders to do an enquiry search whilst applying for a loan or nortgage but the problem is most just feign ignorance of any such thing. I do not know why. maybe some other moneysaver with more experience can explain.


2) Most lenders/suppliers(mobile,etc) update the credit file on a monthly basis. so depending on when you clear an account and the date that specific lender updates your files every month ...could be anything up to one month.

3) The number of credit accounts shown on your file depends on how many account you opened and closed during the last 6 years. Once you have opened an account it will stay on your file for 6 years. The only difference will be once you pay off and close an account it shows the status as "Settled". What you should specifically look for is how many accounts are not "settled" these are active accounts and shows how much of credit you have available at your behest.

4) You cannot remove any account from your file they stay there for 6 years(unless a account was fraudulently opened by someone else). Where you lost a card and had a replacement card you will see 2 accounts but the first one should show settled and the second will show as active. The first one will automatically go off the credit file after 6 years.

5) Make sure all your initial accounts for which replacements were issued show as settled, sometime takes a month or two extra from the time the replacement cards were issued.