Which has the greater negative impact?

smub99

According to my experian credit report two of my negative factors are that I have a high number of credit accounts, but also the usage of my available credit has a higher risk. In this situation which of these two factors are going to have a bigger negative impact on my credit rating? Also are store accounts taken into account when they calculate usage of available credit?

My % of total credit being used excluding mortgages is 31%.

Any advice would be appreciated.

OhReally_2

smub99 wrote: »

According to my experian credit report two of my negative factors are that I have a high number of credit accounts, but also the usage of my available credit has a higher risk. In this situation which of these two factors are going to have a bigger negative impact on my credit rating? Also are store accounts taken into account when they calculate usage of available credit?

My % of total credit being used excluding mortgages is 31%.

Any advice would be appreciated.

So you are using less than a third of your available credit (excl mortgage)? I don't see any issue as long as you are meeting your commitments.

smub99

OhReally wrote: »

So you are using less than a third of your available credit (excl mortgage)? I don't see any issue as long as you are meeting your commitments.

So I've got a card that is now zero balance, would you close it with that level of utilisation? Is a high number of credit accounts more frowned upon by lenders?

grumbler

smub99 wrote: »

According to my experian credit report two of my negative factors are that I have a high number of credit accounts,

I don't see why the number is of any importance. It's the total credit available that matters, not the number of accounts.

but also the usage of my available credit has a higher risk. In this situation which of these two factors are going to have a bigger negative impact on my credit rating?

Simple logic suggests that the total credit available is more important, as if it's, say, 10% of your income then the high used/total ratio would matter very little.

Also are store accounts taken into account when they calculate usage of available credit?

I don't see any reason for them not to be taken into account.

My % of total credit being used excluding mortgages is 31%.

IMO it's pretty low.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Don't overestimate the value of Experian's opinion as most lenders have their own scoring systems.

OhReally_2

smub99 wrote: »

So I've got a card that is now zero balance, would you close it with that level of utilisation? Is a high number of credit accounts more frowned upon by lenders?

No and yes, in that order.