OMG just checked my credit report

teabag29

For the 1st time....my score is 391 in the very poor range!!!! I knew it was bad but I didnt know it was that bad. Ive applied for a vanquis card to help build my credit, any other tips?:(

f1re_cr4cker

do u have a phone line that helps apparently (as in landline)

teabag29

yes I have a landline but most of bills in husbands name

rb10

Spend a little on your credit card each month, and set up a direct debit to pay it off in full.

Manage your current account well - i.e. within overdraft limit, and not letting any payments bounce.

Ditto if you have a mobile phone contract - make sure it's paid in full each month.

Make sure you are on the electoral roll, and that this is showing up on your credit report.

Go through each account on your credit report, and make sure that the information given is accurate.

teabag29

Thanks. It shows my rbs account which I only set up to do shopping with once a month, other then I dont use it so balance is usually only a few quid. However it doesn't show my main halifax account which is in much better order and always has money in...why doesn't it show this and how do I get it on there?
I have 1 or 2 bills still in my maiden name so perhaps thats why they aren't on there as it says alias' nil (I had poor credit years ago due to an ex and abusive relationship and I guess thats in my maiden name).

I've been married now for 3 years and have only recently this year tried to build up some credit via catalogues, loan etc. All are paid regularly and I have no late payments but it says because i've applied for so much so soon it looks like i'm credit hungry so has a negative affect on my credit report.

There is no mention of my previous surname on the report so I assume they have o knowledge of this, if so should I inform them, although this is likely to bring my score down even further as I had terrible credit rating when I was with ex, largely due to him but some due to myself not paying overdraft in time.

I know I have atleast 1 ccj against me in my maiden name but there are none on the report so I assume this means i have started afresh once I got married or do I need to register my maiden name on there too? All very confusing

AFK_Matrix

First off I would go to each of the 3 agencies (Expeian, Equifax & CallCredit) and obtain your Statutory Credit Report for £2, so a total of £6. Then sit down and carefully examine the reports for any errors etc. You should see all of your accounts as I believe that certain banks only go with certain agencies hence you not seeing them on the report you have gotten from one of the agencies.

Then if there are errors you have to talk to the agencies to get them corrected. Also if you have applied for a lot of credit in a short amount of time then this will affect your ability to get more credit and you should wait around 6months before getting more credit.

I say this from experience as I got a mortgage last November and then tried to get a credit card in December and was turned down as I had quite a few credit searches to do with the mortgage. Just applied again in June and got the credit card with no problems.

teabag29

Thanks, the site I checked it with is credit expert (from experian). Looks like it's gonna take a long time to build my credit back up. My own silly fault!

samtoby

I am trying to build mine up and slowly it is getting better (see my footnote) prior to the first entry it had been in the two hundreds for months.

Its now 412 but only see the score as a pointer. Scores meaning nothing really; my ex has a score of 900 ish but he is on an IVA and someone Bankrupt could also show as a very high score.

Keep everything paid on time and no late payments is the good idea. Larger credit limits make you less higher risk (but not too much) therefore a higher score and never max everything out. x

SnowTiger

teabag29 wrote: »

For the 1st time....my score is 391 in the very poor range!!!! I knew it was bad but I didnt know it was that bad. Ive applied for a vanquis card to help build my credit, any other tips?:(

If you think that's bad you should see my Noddle credit rating - it's a single digit!!!

jd87

When will people stop wasting money on these stupid rip-off "credit scores". They are meaningless. Just a number plucked out of thin air. Experian aren't the people lending you money, banks are and they have their own credit scoring systems which take into account things like your income which Experian's system doesn't. Please, stop wasting your money.

teabag29

jd87 wrote: »

When will people stop wasting money on these stupid rip-off "credit scores". They are meaningless. Just a number plucked out of thin air. Experian aren't the people lending you money, banks are and they have their own credit scoring systems which take into account things like your income which Experian's system doesn't. Please, stop wasting your money.

I didnt spend anything it was a free trial offer