Starting a-fresh, where to start?

fawnsinthegarden

Hello everyone, I'm new to MSE so please be gentle with me

When I was much younger (many moons ago) I had great credit but then life events and bad health, but mainly my stupidity and denial, caused me to default and get into a hole and struggled. I paid off a large chunk of my debts and the others I buried my head in the sand about. I'm not proud of this and decided no time like the present to get things sorted and stop being an ostrich. I would like to point out in those 15 years I have learnt to manage my finances better and set a little money aside in case I ever get into the same trouble again, i.e. loss of job, home etc. Paying for car and insurance upfront.

I have taken the first step and obtained my credit report with Experian to assess the damage, nothing negative showing except not on the electoral roll (will update this straight away) and no credit accounts settled meaning I have no credit anywhere or lines of credit paid off, but no defaults or current credit lines. I do have four positive points of no credit having been applied for recently or recent searches etc.

I know I need to sort the electoral roll side of things, but what is the next step for building credit with the eventual goal to get a mortgage within the next five years? I only have my bank account with no overdraft/credit facility showing. Would my next step to improve my rating as such be to get a sim only contract deal to establish a line of credit? And if so who would be best to go with? I have an unsettled account with Vodafone and Three but these were perhaps 12 years ago?

Once this has been established should I then apply for a credit card?

Thank you for reading

fawnsinthegarden

Have I posted in the wrong part of the forum?

matttye

I'd go straight for a credit card. Preferably one which advertises as being suitable for people with limited history.

Make one application and if that fails, then go with the SIM only idea for a while. It wouldn't hurt to have both.

fawnsinthegarden

Thank you mattye, is there any cards which are best to go for, or sim only contracts please?

[Deleted User]

Since you're effectively starting from scratch you have a few options. How is your current bank account? Is it suitable or do you have some money that would be worth earning interest on? If you're happy with it as it is then ask for a small overdraft.

As has already been said you could then go for a contract phone deal (although I'd say only go for this if it's going to benefit you/be cheaper than PAYG) and a starter credit card.

Vanquis, Aqua and Capital One are the most commonly talked about first cards but it may be worth asking your bank first as you're likely to get a better interest rate and/or limit.

After that just operate the facilities responsibly - try not to use the overdraft (I know, it seems pointless even having it!), make sure you pay the phone bill each month and try to use your credit card as much as possible while remaining within your limit (don't get too close to the limit though) and pay off in full each month.

A year of doing this will see your credit file well on it's way to recovery and you can then start applying for products that will actually benefit you with cash back/points etc.

Tixy

You might want to try applying to your current bank to see if they will offer you a credit card.

If they won't then I would wait until you are on the electoral roll and that this is showing on your credit file (can taken 2months or longer from the date you apply). Then I would try applying for one of the subprime cards on the market - as detailed in this article - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/bad-credit-credit-cards

matttye

fawnsinthegarden wrote: »

Thank you mattye, is there any cards which are best to go for, or sim only contracts please?

A Barclaycard Initial may be ideal.

Try filling in this pre-application checker and it will tell you whether you're eligible for any Barclaycards without actually doing a credit search. It only does a quotation search, which lenders can't see, so it won't affect your creditworthiness in any way

As for SIM only contracts, you can't really go wrong with any of them. I'd just pick the one that suits you best based on signal coverage where you live and what you'd like in terms of minutes etc.

Personally I like Three and I'd probably go with their "One Plan" if I wasn't already in a contract.

fawnsinthegarden

Thank you all, I have a good record with Barclays but had a credit card with them many moons ago, one of the debts I buried my head in the sand about, I did however pay it off. When I went into my bank earlier this year they wanted to discuss products I may consider in the future, and it showed on a screen something in relation to the Barclaycard debt and wouldn't be able to offer any credit until that was dealt with. I'm not sure what exactly was showing but nothing on my credit reports in regards to this.

Thank you all, gives me food for thought and lots of useful information

matttye

fawnsinthegarden wrote: »

Thank you all, I have a good record with Barclays but had a credit card with them many moons ago, one of the debts I buried my head in the sand about, I did however pay it off. When I went into my bank earlier this year they wanted to discuss products I may consider in the future, and it showed on a screen something in relation to the Barclaycard debt and wouldn't be able to offer any credit until that was dealt with. I'm not sure what exactly was showing but nothing on my credit reports in regards to this.

Thank you all, gives me food for thought and lots of useful information

When you do a barclaycard soft search it recommends other cards and a % likelihood of obtaining each one.

Vodafone

fawnsinthegarden wrote: »

Hello everyone, I'm new to MSE so please be gentle with me

...I have an unsettled account with Vodafone and Three but these were perhaps 12 years ago?

Once this has been established should I then apply for a credit card?

Thank you for reading

Hi fawnsinthegarden,

If you'd like me to get the Vodafone sides of things looked into further could you email me with your details via the link in our profile here?

All you need to do is copy and paste the link into your web browser and it'll take you to the Contact us form on our website. To make sure it reaches me could you also quote the code WRT135 - MSE in the subject line?

Once sent you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Could you update the thread with this and I'll get back to you as soon as possible?

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations

Vodafone UK

FireMS

If i was you i would start with a sim only contract then few months later apply for a sub-prime card and build your way up from there.