The Sub Prime Credit Thread - Part VI

stephane_2

Might be best to put off any application for the next 6 months then try again, your default by then will be over 5 1/2 years old. Another option is to call Barclaycard and ask them if they would upgrade your credit card initial, it has been done in the past....you have nothing to lose trying.

ElkyElky

I'm considering applying for the Aqua cash back card. 3% is really good but it's just a pity they only pay out a max of £100 a year. Still, free cash and I like free cash regardless of the amount.

simax

Agreed. I'm getting myself one of these even though I have prime cards. I want some 3% cashback action lol

ElkyElky

Something I don't understand... it's common knowledge that having too much available credit of around 50%(?) or more of your income is bad and will be viewed as you being overstretched.

Yet, the total of my credit limits exceeds my income and the so-called 'responsible lenders' continue to increase my limits. Surely if they receive the daily feeds from the CRA, they'd see this?

I'm closing 3 of my cards soon which will bring my total credit down below my income. It's a good job I'm a responsible borrower and live within my means.

Willing2Learn

ElkyElky, Great thread and presentation on the opening post!

Any chance you could include links to Experian & Equifax £2 Statutory reports on your opening post please? It might discourage people from subscribing and focusing on artificial credit scores when it's the data that is important. Maybe mentioning the importance of data over the scores could be good too as well as checking your report for accuracy before making an application...

Just a humble suggestion.

BugsyBrowne

ElkyElky wrote: »

Something I don't understand... it's common knowledge that having too much available credit of around 50%(?) or more of your income is bad and will be viewed as you being overstretched.

Yet, the total of my credit limits exceeds my income and the so-called 'responsible lenders' continue to increase my limits. Surely if they receive the daily feeds from the CRA, they'd see this?

I'm closing 3 of my cards soon which will bring my total credit down below my income. It's a good job I'm a responsible borrower and live within my means.

I personally believe CRAs when searched only really look for adverse info as do banks with their monthly feed.

I would say the computers only flag up is when someone comes close to their income in debt.

ElkyElky

Willing2Learn wrote: »

ElkyElky, Great thread and presentation on the opening post!

Any chance you could include links to Experian & Equifax £2 Statutory reports on your opening post please? It might discourage people from subscribing and focusing on artificial credit scores when it's the data that is important. Maybe mentioning the importance of data over the scores could be good too as well as checking your report for accuracy before making an application...

Just a humble suggestion.

Oh yeah good suggestion, thanks! I'll go add all that information now. :beer:

EDIT: Added the statutory reports. I'll add a bit about the meaningless credit scores tomorrow.

stclair

Great thread very informative :-)

ElkyElky

Added a link to Underground's fantastic thread 'Credit Reference Agencies - Who Really Uses Who? II' under the credit report section.

Willing2Learn

Another interesting article for anyone reading this thread. (It a few years old now. But still very informative and valid).

There has been a lot written about credit scoring. Most of this is based on personal experience, assumptions and hearsay. We, at stoozing.com, would be the first to say that sharing information and personal customer experience is immensely valuable, but we felt that there was a real need to get the view from within the industry rather than from the outside.

To research this article we have spoken to the leading Credit Reference Agency (CRA), Experian, and to an industry professional who has worked for both a CRA and for a number of financial services companies. He is currently responsible for defining credit scoring policies for a lending portfolio (not credit cards). Most of the information in this article comes from the latter.

stoozing.com - Credit Scoring Explained (full 6 page article)