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

steffi1987

robertb17 wrote: »

i first tried littlewoods on line

they accepted me straight away and got limit of £750

like you i m studying for nursing in sept
would like card for emergencies and to build a good credit rating

as don t really need credit at mo but in couple years time will be looking at mortgages n stuff

so good luck with that - do make sure you re on electoral register as don t think they did credit check just checked my address details

good luck

o right ill try that then thanks for your help good look with the nursing i absoloutly love it im sure you will.

laur3n_2

i get really confused with money so i only have a graduate bank account which has an interest free overdraft and never had any need for a credit card. now ive got a job im moving towards getting on the property ladder but i have little or no credit rating. i get scared at the thought of credit cards as i think my spending might get out of control. is there another way of getting my credit rating up or do i have to face my fear and pick a credit card?

tonki_boat56

Ok I just did a EQUIFAX credit report rating and the result showed it was low everything was fine but accept the credit agreement section which was highlighted danger.

anyway i totally don't understand why I have a low score when i havent had any debts or credit cards

I have one littlewoods account and one mobile account and one currys store account whihc gets paid off automatically every month

but then i have past vodafone mobile account whihc was closed and was payed for in full every month and also another argos extra ccount which had a few times when i didnt pay but that was payed and completed

so what on earth could be the problem ?

that my credit score is so low ?
And i just got declined a credit card by natwest???

how can i get my credit up ? if they refuse to give me a credit card which i can pay off no problem...?

sammyjammy

laur3n wrote: »

i get really confused with money so i only have a graduate bank account which has an interest free overdraft and never had any need for a credit card. now ive got a job im moving towards getting on the property ladder but i have little or no credit rating. i get scared at the thought of credit cards as i think my spending might get out of control. is there another way of getting my credit rating up or do i have to face my fear and pick a credit card?

There are other ways but if you got a credit card and just used it for one every day purchase, say all your petrol or food shopping, something that you wouldn't be tempted to overspend on adn set up a Direct Debit with the company to ensure they take the full amount for payment each month would this be ok?

Other ways are contract with mobile phone company, you can some relatively cheap deals/cashback deals, catalagues such as Grattan an dLittlewoods would help as well.

If you go into getting a credit card with the right attitude and a certain amount of emergency savings so that you don't have the worry that you might use it in an emergency.

Sam

Richyp_3

Hi there, I am new to this forum, but I have heard nothing but excellent advice from this site so its worth a try!

I have just been turned down for a credit card application due to a poor credit history. This is no surprise as I defaulted on credit card bills during the breakup of my marriage and the subsequent fallout, which resulted in me being left with large debts and no job.

Fortunately I was able to clear all my debts 12 months ago. I have obtained my credit report which also shows no outstanding debt but does show a credit rating of 497/1000. In the not too distant future I want to be able to apply for a Mortgage with a decent interest rate, so in order to improve my credit score I applied for one of the high interest capital one cards that Martin Lewis recommends elsewhere in the site as a way to improve poor credit, with the aim to use it for a small spend each month and pay it off in full.

I am lucky to have no longer have any debt whatsoever, but is there a way that I can communicate this to people like Experian and Equifax? Obviously my past history is not that great, but I have worked hard to get out of a very dire financial situation and now only the credit history is a problem.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.:cool:

steffi1987

Richyp wrote: »

Hi there, I am new to this forum, but I have heard nothing but excellent advice from this site so its worth a try!

I have just been turned down for a credit card application due to a poor credit history. This is no surprise as I defaulted on credit card bills during the breakup of my marriage and the subsequent fallout, which resulted in me being left with large debts and no job.

Fortunately I was able to clear all my debts 12 months ago. I have obtained my credit report which also shows no outstanding debt but does show a credit rating of 497/1000. In the not too distant future I want to be able to apply for a Mortgage with a decent interest rate, so in order to improve my credit score I applied for one of the high interest capital one cards that Martin Lewis recommends elsewhere in the site as a way to improve poor credit, with the aim to use it for a small spend each month and pay it off in full.

I am lucky to have no longer have any debt whatsoever, but is there a way that I can communicate this to people like Experian and Equifax? Obviously my past history is not that great, but I have worked hard to get out of a very dire financial situation and now only the credit history is a problem.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.:cool:

Hi the only thing i can suggest is adding a notice of correction to your credit file this will then enable lenders to read a statement set by you to explain your cicumsatnces at this time. You could put something like at this time in my life i etc .......................... and end it with however this is now no true reflection of how i now handle my financies as a im now financialy secure and can manage my bills effectively. im sure you could think of something better but theres an idea anyway. just write it down and send it off then you should get a letter saying it has beeb added i think you have 200 words to explain in. hope it helps.

IAFK

Hoping someone can help me with this:-

Is there any way I can find out which companies have carried out credit checks in my name and the reasons for these credit checks?

robbiet27

Hope someone can answer my question/s?

I defaulted on a hire purchase agreement for my car on 20/04/01 and subsequently had a CCJ registered against me for this on 01/05/02. Having made arrangements I repaid the amount in instalments and had this marked "satisfied" on 01/04/04.

When will this be removed from my credit report? Is is 6 years from the original default, 6 years from the CCJ registered or 6 years since it was marked "satisfied"?

cosmicbaby10

Hello

I am really stuck, my boyfriend is looking to take out a loan for £14k to pay off both of our debts, we have done all the sums and it works out the most cost effective solution to our debts at the mo and we can easily afford to pay the monthly repayments as we are both on pretty good money. He is applying for the loan on his own as my credit history is terrible (the joys of paying for yourself to go to uni!)

He applied for a Northern Rock loan and got told that he got declined internally and that his credit history wasn't checked. So then we tried with Natwest as this is where he banks and they declined him on his credit score. But the problem is, his credit score is neither good or bad, they told him he doesn't have enough positive points and they can't help us.

So what do we do now??? I read somewhere that we could get a high rate loan and then after 3 months pay this off with a new low rate loan but this sounds like a right old mess. If it would definatly work then we will do it but i don't want to get stuck with a load of interest that we don't need.

Also, how do we go about finding someone that will let him take out a loan without having to keep applying which then negitivly affects his score... arrrrrgghhhh!!!

Please help!

muni50

Hi everyone,

I was going to send the template letters to the credit agencies as described in Martin's article. However, I don't really remember exactly the dates and the addresses of where I have lived, especially when I was a student (2 years ago). Why is it we need to tell them our addresses and dates? Wouldn't it be better to wait and receive their reports and then if there are any mistakes, let them know?

Also, since I am a foreign national working using a work permit, what should I send them as proof tat I cannot be registered in the electoral role? Photocopy of my passport?

Thanks.

PD: Out of general interest, how do these people know when we have moved houses?? Is it only if we tell the council/ police? From bank information? (i.e. change of billing addresses). What stops anyone from saying they have been living in their parents address all their lives- -how do they find out?