Age of your credit accounts

matilda.cs

Hi all,

On my credit expert credit report, I have this comment - The age of your accounts indicates lenders are likely to view you as higher risk

If I were to close the account I last opened..would it help? (Or would they still take it into account?)

Thanks,

Neil x

[Deleted User]

In theory, yes, that would increase the average age of your accounts but you'd probably be better off keeping it open and operating it well.

I think the average age of accounts thing is only a minor part of what lenders take into account when assessing you for credit.

rb10

Often you will find fairly meaningless statements on sites like Credit Expert. They want you to think they are providing you with some useful info (in exchange for your money), so scrape the barrel with some of their comments.

If you have a large number of recently-opened accounts, this may count against you - put simply, it may look as though you are desperate for credit.

One or two will not materially impact your credit rating.

The best thing you can do is make sure you always make your repayments on time.

matilda.cs

I had a default come off my record yesterday (6years old)
Since this blip, my payments have ALWAYS been made on time.
Unfortunately, I was reliant in credit for the last few months due to my partners income considerably reduced. (Temporary issue, now resolved)
Essentially, I have £5k on credit cards (£1500 with Vanquis, £3k with Cap1, £400 on Next account, and £200 on a recently opened Aqua card)
I hoped that once my default comes off, I might hope to get a much better 'credit score' (how lenders see me, not how Credit Expert see me) which would give me a chance to get that amount onto a BT CC... Unfortunately, according to their 'credit matcher' and the MSE pre approval tool...I have little hope.

I know I have been using 'revolving credit' but this is now at an end and my debts should start to decrease from here on... (Rather than remain fairly constant)

Should I apply for a BT CC anyway, or wait 6 months for everything to show on my Report as above?

If I apply now for a BT CC and get declined, will it have a major impact on my chance of getting cd it in say, 3 months? Or 6?

lvm

matilda.cs wrote: »

I had a default come off my record yesterday (6years old)
Since this blip, my payments have ALWAYS been made on time.
Unfortunately, I was reliant in credit for the last few months due to my partners income considerably reduced. (Temporary issue, now resolved)
Essentially, I have £5k on credit cards (£1500 with Vanquis, £3k with Cap1, £400 on Next account, and £200 on a recently opened Aqua card)
I hoped that once my default comes off, I might hope to get a much better 'credit score' (how lenders see me, not how Credit Expert see me) which would give me a chance to get that amount onto a BT CC... Unfortunately, according to their 'credit matcher' and the MSE pre approval tool...I have little hope.

I know I have been using 'revolving credit' but this is now at an end and my debts should start to decrease from here on... (Rather than remain fairly constant)

Should I apply for a BT CC anyway, or wait 6 months for everything to show on my Report as above?

If I apply now for a BT CC and get declined, will it have a major impact on my chance of getting cd it in say, 3 months? Or 6?

If you've only taken these cards our or spent a lot more than usual on them over the last few months and are possibly only paying the interest, this will look worrying to any potential lender. If you are already at your limits, this will look more worrying.

I'd stop applying for anything for at least 3 months, pay as much as you can off these cards (definitely more than the interest only) and then see what you're situation is like and possibly apply for a card then.

[Deleted User]

lvm wrote: »

If you've only taken these cards our or spent a lot more than usual on them over the last few months and are possibly only paying the interest, this will look worrying to any potential lender. If you are already at your limits, this will look more worrying.

I'd stop applying for anything for at least 3 months, pay as much as you can off these cards (definitely more than the interest only) and then see what you're situation is like and possibly apply for a card then.

This makes sense, however, you could try applying for a balance transfer card now (assuming you are certain that the default has dropped off your file). Bear in mind that balance transfer cards are for transferring existing debt - they expect you to have debts already! Try Barclaycard - a friend of mine transferred a largish balance last year despite having been pretty crap with her money.

I'd apply now - if you are unsuccessful then you have lost nothing and one more search now will have little impact when you try again 3-6 months down the line. At best you could significantly reduce the interest that you're no doubt paying through the nose to Vanquis and Capital One.

If you do apply and are rejected then go through the appeals process. It might be a bit of a pain but at least you may be able to explain your situation to an actual human who will hopefully see that you're finances are now getting in order.

izools

I suggest avoiding any applications for a BT just yet.

Cut the cards up.

Pay them as much as you possibly can for three months.

Then apply for this card:

http://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/credit-cards/gold

But please don't try applying for it until at least December so that your credit file shows at least a few months of you putting serious money into clearing your current debt, not it just sitting still

Once you have done the balance transfers (hopefully in time for Christmas!)

> You will have one month of rolling interest to pay on the old cards
> Please close the old accounts fully rather than just destroying the cards
> Leave the Barclaycard in the back of a drawer never to see the light of day again
> Set up a DD with Barclaycard to pay the minimum each month
> Make manual extra payments for whatever you can afford each month