Poor credit score 562, what else can I do to improve it?

teabag29

As title says my credit score is 562 which is in the poor sector. I have a vanquis card which ive owned a year and this has pulled my score up from 391 (in July 2012) to 562 as I pay in full each month. I pay my bills on time but only have a basic bank account (got into alot of debt years ago). Is there anything else I can do to improve my credit score or will it keep going up gradually each month that I pay vanquis in full

Misty_Blue

Are you on the electoral roll? If not, make sure you get on it. Do you still have defaults or CCJs on your report? These will come off after 6 years from the date of default, and your score will go up hugely. Make sure your credit history is accurately reflected in terms of what accounts you have / had, and their payment status.

It is just an arbitrary number though. Each lender has its own criteria for lending.

JakeGreen

To strengthen your credit profile firstly you want to make sure your credit file is as clean as possible with no missed/late payments and definitely no defaults.

Keep all of your current lenders happy by not going over the limit or sailing too close to your limit and new lenders will look at you favourably.

Other things which lenders like to see is a history of you managing a larger credit limit. So that they can see that you won't go off the rails when given the option of spending a fair bit of money. If they see that you've only got a small limit, new lenders might only give you a small limit too. It's almost a catch 22.

Once you get some credit, and manage it well, it's easier to get more credit.

A number of people here will advise you that the 'score' number itself is meaningless.

The_Boss

JakeGreen wrote: »

If they see that you've only got a small limit, new lenders might only give you a small limit too. It's almost a catch 22.

Not necessarily, although I agree with your other advice.

OP - do you have any other credit accounts showing on your credit file? If so, what are they, what are the balances and what are credit limits (if applicable). As mentioned earlier, are you on the Electoral Roll? Have you had any recent credit searches?

Important stuff that hasn't fed into the CRA score are things such as your salary, time with employer, outgoings, time with current bank and these will feed into how a lender assesses you.

JakeGreen

The_Boss wrote: »

Important stuff that hasn't fed into the CRA score are things such as your salary, time with employer, outgoings, time with current bank and these will feed into how a lender assesses you.

Yep, well said.

To be given higher credit limits, with lower interest rates lenders want to see stability: by having the same employer for a number of years, a long time at one address and a well managed credit history.

It takes time to get all of these and a lot of conforming to what they want to see on the application form and when they search your file.