Credit cards and credit history

Marabak

Hi guys. Sorry if this is in the wrong sub-forum but I can't find one solely for credit history.

I currently have around £1000 on a Lloyds credit card that I am looking at balance transferring to save on interest. I went on a few well known comparison sites and I was told my credit report wasn't good enough. So I signed up with Noddle for the free report, and it reckons I have a 1/5 rating.

I don't really understand this as:
I have 1 CC and 4 other accounts on the file. Of the 4 others, two are bank accounts (both in overdraft but haven't gone over), one is my phone contract and the other is one I don't really understand (I raised a dispute on Noddle earlier today, more is listed below at the bottom of this post). None of these 5 accounts show missed payments or anything other than OK.

All of my addresses are correct, though I have only been in this flat for 6 months. When I first moved in, I went into a Barclays branch to change my address, and at the same time I ended up converting my previous student account into a graduate account and buying home insurance. I applied for a credit card with them at the same time, but it was turned down (the woman thought it might be to do with the recent change of address and upgrade of the account).

There are only a handful of searches on my account, including Aviva (I assume this was to do with home insurance but I'm not entirely sure), my letting agent (from 6 months ago) and an anti-money laundering search from 2011 (No idea what this is??).

My question is...
I have been paying several other things that are technically credit or loans, which my bolster my "payment" history. These include £350 a month from a PCDL loan I took out to do a MSc course (last payment at the end of this month, woohoo!), credit on my sofa, home insurance monthly payments, obviously bills and stuff which have never been missed. Is it worth ringing up these companies to get them to show up on my credit report? Would they even do this (particularly the PCDL as it is almost paid)? Could this do more harm than good by showing up (would it look like I already have too much credit?)

Thank you for reading guys

jd87

Electoral roll?

CLAPTON

pay?
on the electoral roll on your credit reports?
living in two ODs (obviously not managing money well)
total debt outstanding?

Marabak

Oops, forgot to tag on the story about the erroneous account. When I applied for the PCDL around 3 years ago, it originally failed because Yorkshire Bank had around £400 or so on my account that I didn't know about. Turned out it was from an account I had when I was a child (started at school with 50p a week savings), which had gone overdrawn and costs spiralled etc. but I was never informed due to moving house etc. In the end, it was all sorted, debts were wiped, everyone was happy and I got my PCDL. And YB shows as a settled account on Noddle. But then there is a YB current account mortgages with a balance of 0 listed as an active account. It has has okay for every month, but I don't have a mortgage and I think it must be a mistake. I have raised this as a dispute.

Marabak

Cheers for the replies guys.

I am on the electroll register for my flat, and this shows in Noddle as well.

My pay is around £25,000 a year, so this shouldn't be a problem.

The reason for the two overdrafts is that one is a small overdraft (£200) that I haven't been able to clear due to prioritising large payments on my PCDL to clear it quicker. The other overdraft (~£2000) is residual from my student account.

The total debt might be a stumbling block for anyone offering me a credit card, but this isn't technically increasing my debt, but shifting a portion of it to somewhere else. I do appreciate the fact that as I am looking for a balance transfer for lower interest (ideally 0%), the company taking it on are thinking they won't make a profit on it.

CLAPTON

continually being in an OD looks bad

you may want to 'shift' debt but potential lenders don't know that and anyway you don't have too.

how much is your total debt?

what do your other credit files show?

Marabak

My current OD debt is around £2200, and a CC at ~£1000. This is all that shows on Noddle. Both of these are hang-overs from when I went back to uni in 09/10, before this I had neither (I was a matureish student at 26 when I went back).

Additionally, I have one last payment of £311 from my PCDL (was originally £7500), which I had prioritised paying over my other debts (hence still a CC and OD from uni). My sofa has around £1000 to pay over the next few years, and other than an ongoing phone contract and bills etc. that is it. None of these show on my report, so technically no company really knows about them.

I haven't tried other credit files yet, as Noddle was free. I used to have an Experian monthly payment a few years ago, but I wasn't using it enough to actually get anything from paying monthly, so I cancelled it.

jpb77

Whats your overall total credit limits you have? If you are maxed out on most of them, then your score will be low. This is your credit utilisation.

Marabak

CC is almost maxed out (it's at about £960 of a £1000 limit). Overdrafts limits are at £300 and £2700, so I suppose I'm not too far off.

Looks like I will just have to suck it up and pay more interest for the next few months It's not sounding good.

dresdendave

If you have only one more loan repayment (£311) to make, then from next month you should have an extra £300 per month to start reducing your debt. Work out which debt is costing you the most in fees or interest and attack that first.

To speed things up if you post an SOA on the DFW board you will get loads of advice on trimming your outgoings, freeing up even more money to use for debt repayment. With a bit of self discipline you should be debt free in less than a year.