pre-apply eligibility checker

Skrillex

Good morning,

I have a poor credit rating dating from when I was a student 3 years ago with missed mobile phone bills etc, I have circa 6-7 with a default on my account.

I recently competed your eligibility checker for the Aqua card (which I believe is the easiest to get with my poor scores) however it told me I have only a 10% success rate, while the Capital One Classic Extra (which i believed was more difficult to get) had a 50% success rate. So I am slightly confused at this point.

Basically I need any card I can get to build my credit score to get a mortgage. Some advice would be brilliant?

CherlokHomes

Eligibility checker sites are very unreliable due to them only accessing part of your credit files and actually missing out vital information which actually makes up the credit scoring on a hard search.

So in theory a soft search could just search for missed/late payments yet leaving out total debt and salary etc.

Skrillex

Thanks, that had crossed my mind. In the end I went for the Luma card and got accepted! All I am going to use it for is small - medium transactions then pay the debt off immanently to build my credit score. I will never miss a payment so it doesn't really matter which card it is...

CherlokHomes

Skrillex wrote: »

Thanks, that had crossed my mind. In the end I went for the Luma card and got accepted! All I am going to use it for is small - medium transactions then pay the debt off immanently to build my credit score. I will never miss a payment so it doesn't really matter which card it is...

Remember you're building your credit worthiness not credit score as these don't exist.

Skrillex

Innovate wrote: »

Remember you're building your credit worthiness not credit score as these don't exist.

Yes thats correct. Does anyone know how long it may take me to build a good rep assuming I have a terrible record?

Any tips on how often i need to use the card or does the value and amount matter as long as i pay it off within 30 days?

Tixy

Skrillex wrote: »

Yes thats correct. Does anyone know how long it may take me to build a good rep assuming I have a terrible record?

Depends on what shows on your credit files now. As you have defaults you won't have a 'good' rating until all those have dropped off your credit file. However after say a year of running this account well your chance of getting some other credit should improve.

Skrillex wrote: »

Any tips on how often i need to use the card or does the value and amount matter as long as i pay it off within 30 days?

Buy say a couple of items each (preferably don't spend more than say 40% of the total limit).
Repay in full each month - after the statement is sent to you and before the due date.

Skrillex

Tixy wrote: »

Depends on what shows on your credit files now. As you have defaults you won't have a 'good' rating until all those have dropped off your credit file. However after say a year of running this account well your chance of getting some other credit should improve.



Buy say a couple of items each (preferably don't spend more than say 40% of the total limit).
Repay in full each month - after the statement is sent to you and before the due date.

thanks, will follow this advice!