Repair credit within 12 months - Bank accounts?

askaway

I have committed the next 12 months to repairing my credit. I've joined the electoral roll, applied to see my credit report, opened the credit builder facilty with cashplus mastercard (pre-paid), and now looking at what to do about bank accounts.

I have a basic flex account with nationwide, but had some missed direct debit etc so my history with them is not brilliant. Here is my main question:

Will opening a completely fresh account with a new bank (blank slate) be more beneficial in terms of credit history, than staying with nationwide & managing my account responsibly for the next year?

To clarify, if I stay with nationwide, they will probably keep refusing me overdraft/ cheque book etc even when i apply 6/ 12 months later. Whereas (i assume?) that with a totally fresh bank and account, i can manage my incomings/ outgoings responsibly, then be able to apply for an overdraft/ credit with them in 12 months?

PS My bad credit comes from my college days and any debts i had are now statute barred. But I haven't done myself any favours because i wasn't on the electoral roll, missed a few DD's, applied for too much credit and been refused etc. Now trying to improve my record enough so that in 12 months i might have a chance of cheque book/ overdraft, basic credit card, and getting accepted when i want to rent a new house or buy a car on finance etc.

Hope someone understands my ramblings lol.

Thanks in advance :j

askaway

......Bump?

samtoby

Hi.

I just saw your post so thought I would give you my experience....

samtoby

I have terrible credit well I did..... after clearing the various defaults and a CCJ I now have the following and I applied in this order

2010 - November everything cleared...

December applied for a Co-Op cashminder account - no credit search and it reports on all credit files....

January applied for a Very Account - saw on some threads that it is pretty easy to get one....and I have been buying the odd cheaper items such as underwear and paying them off.....all green lights now just hit my 5th one....

Same month I applied for JD Williams....and I have done the same ....all green lights......

Always had a T Mobile account and paid on time and my old account with another highstreet bank which is reporting and my credit score has risen almost 200 since I last checked. I know they do not mean much but if its going up it must be right......

If your debts are statute barred get them off your credit record - if you can - as soon as I had cleared everything I started getting accepted. x

askaway

Thank you so much samtoby, it's great to hear from someone much further down the line than me and successfully clearing up their credit Did you already have a bank account before you opened your cashminder? My main query really is if I would be better off opening a fresh new bank account or sticking with nationwide who i don't have great history with, or will the end result be the same anyway? x

TeamNicholson

In my experience, just because you are being declined for o/d or cheque book now doesn't mean that will always be the case. A banks internal 'behaviour score' usually updates monthly/quarterly.
More importantly the length of time with your bank can have big impact on your ability to gain credit so I would say it is worth sticking with your bank.

askaway

Good point! Thanks for that. It might be worth sticking with them. However I've been with them 4 years and they've not let me upgrade my basic account, get an overdraft, or a cheque book so I'm concerned that even if I've done everything else to help my credit file, i still won't be able to have these options in 12 months time with my current bank. Am I just overthinking things?

samtoby

Although I agree with history with a bank for a long time I would open a co - op cash minder. I reckon that was the key to starting my credit off again. But everyone has their own opinions. x