Clueless newbie- Poor credit ratings?

Nursery_Rhyme

Hi guys, Its my first post on here and i'm pretty much clueless when it comes to anything financial so please be nice to be

I took out a credit card last year with M&S on a 15 month 0% APR offer which has all been fine, then had a Tesco card with the same 0% a few months later. I had absolutley no problems with being accepted for these whatsoever, but i tried to apply for another recently as the 0% interest on these is due to end soon so i was going to cancel them and get another but have been rejected. I applied for several others not knowing at the time that applying for lots in a short period of time would bring my credit rating down and was rejected for all of them. I dont particularly need it for anything but i have 2 horses and like having one there just in case a particularly large vet bill or something comes my way.

Other than applying for a few (about 6 i think?) cards within weeks of each other i did think i've always been fairly good with credit (always paid cards off in time, several direct debits & finance on laptops etc... always paid off on time/early etc...) but i looked at my credit score through Experian today and noticed that i have 26(!) credit searches since November 2011. Lots of these are from insurance companies from when i was doing car renewal insurance quotes online a few months ago. I didnt even realise companies checked credit ratings when doing quotes, i thought that would be if you decided to accept them? How long will these take to clear? I'm really concerned as my credit rating is so low (according to Experian i would be considered by most companies to really struggle with keeping up with payments) but i've never missed a payment in my life! Or do i put on my cards more than i'm sure i can pay back.

Is there any way i can rectify this? Or do i just have to wait until they no longer count?

YorkshireBoy

Insurance quote searches simply verify your ID. They leave no trace visible to lenders searching you file for credit purposes because they're classed as an 'unrecorded enquiry'.

All searches stay on your credit file for 12 months.

How much debt is on the cards you already have? What's their credit limits? And what's your income?

Nursery_Rhyme

ahh, ok. I didnt realise that. I have some specifically saying they are unrecorded enquiries and others saying insurance quototion, are they the same thing then?

The M&S card has a £2000 limit and i've got £1020 outstanding on that but its only been that much for about 3 weeks, and i've paid over £300 off that in the last 3 weeks, the rest will be clear in 6 weeks or so.
The Tesco one has a £250 limit and has £120 on it from about a week ago but again, i'll pay that off quickly.
They have both been maxed at various times as i had a huuuuge vet bill but i've always paid more than the monthly minimum and paid off in full as soon as my insurance company paid me.

I work full time and pick up around £14000 after tax but still live at home so have very few outgoings other than phone bill and the horses so i can easily afford to pay the cards back.