Poor Credit Rating

bbl_2

Hello everyone

Usually lurk forums on occasion. Looking for some assistance this time round.

Long story short, after some poor decisions (mainly helping others) my own finances have got out of hand. I put no blame onto anyone else but myself for not realizing there is a limit to helpful one can be without impacting on themselves.

After Checking my credit rating i found it to be at 346 :lipsrseal

Current debt amounts to 10K and change.

Debts are manageable. Monthly payments etc. Some of the debt is over 2 credit cards, some on overdraft and remainder mum and step-dad (no rush / whenever).

Will be prioritizing credit cards followed by overdraft. Followed swiftly by mum and step dad.

My main reason for posting is for any guidance with improving credit rating?

Found that i am not on the electoral role within new home (6 months). Have already registered so this should go through shortly.

Payments are on time across any credit agreements.

Any Suggestions

Thanks!

seanavfc92

bbl wrote: »

Hello everyone

Usually lurk forums on occasion. Looking for some assistance this time round.

Long story short, after some poor decisions (mainly helping others) my own finances have got out of hand. I put no blame onto anyone else but myself for not realizing there is a limit to helpful one can be without impacting on themselves.

After Checking my credit rating i found it to be at 346 :lipsrseal

Current debt amounts to 10K and change.

Debts are manageable. Monthly payments etc. Some of the debt is over 2 credit cards, some on overdraft and remainder mum and step-dad (no rush / whenever).

Will be prioritizing credit cards followed by overdraft. Followed swiftly by mum and step dad.

My main reason for posting is for any guidance with improving credit rating?

Found that i am not on the electoral role within new home (6 months). Have already registered so this should go through shortly.

Payments are on time across any credit agreements.

Any Suggestions

Thanks!

How big is each debt?

If your family are in no rush to be repaid then you need to prioritise the two CC's and overdraft based on the outstanding balances.

How much disposable income do you have at the end of every month (income minus household bills)?

You can pro-rate payments to the three debts based on your disposable income and balance of each debt using the following:

individual debt x surplus

---

overall outstanding balance

The bigger the balance of the debt, the more money you need to throw at it to clear it.

You may also want to check how much you're being charged per month on the overdraft. If the interest/charges are more on the overdraft than that of the CC's, then that needs to be the priority.

One final thing, if you're putting your income in to that current account, MOVE YOUR MONEY ASAP. Open a basic account with a bank you don't owe money to!

HTH.

bbl_2

Thanks for the input.

Credit card 1: 2400
Credit Card 2: 1333
Overdraft: 400

Overdraft limit is 3k. Nothing charged up to 1k.

I have worked out expenditure. Between 5-600 left a month. Already planning at least £200 a month on each credit card so will reduce in reasonable time frames.

Main concern at the minute is the credit rating. Long story short my father applied for multitudes of loans for a failing business in my name without consent some time back. I was unable to prove. Has been hard to recover since.

I know on time payments are a help, which is what i have done over the last 18 months. Sorted electoral role. Looking at the prepaid cards which count as a credit agreement. Anybody had success??

Any other input to increase credit rating from anyone would be great. By no means looking for a quick fix as i know it wont happen. Just solutions to work with on the long term.

bbl

Mort

Have you seen this Snowball calculator? It may help you to decide which debt to hit first.

I have just taken on a credit card again to try to improve my credit rating by spending and clearing each month. I am not sure how effective that will be.

bbl_2

I had a credit card which i cleared balance off in full every month. Worked well for 18 months but due to unforeseen circumstances for a couple of months i ended up racking a balance up onto it.

Thankyou for the snowball calculator. Did wonder if there was such a thing.

With the fact that overdraft is interest free it would be third debt to work on. Vanquis will take priority followed by Barclaycard.

Interest on my overdraft if relatively low for balances over 1k. Was considering paying off vanquis with overdraft. Will Still leave me with 1500 there if i need it and i am only a short way away from payday.

Been looking for overtime too :P

Brightspark87

If it is interest free, and you are sure you are going to pay it off, reduce the balance of the highest interest paying cc with the rest of the overdraft. (Up to £1,000) then see if the interest on your OD in less than CC and think about doing that.

But dont fall into the trap of using it to pay them off and then building up a balance! I've done this before and it quickly mounts up!

longtermplanner

bbl wrote: »

I know on time payments are a help, which is what i have done over the last 18 months. Sorted electoral role. Looking at the prepaid cards which count as a credit agreement.

If you are paying the minimum or more to two credit cards each month, then adding another card isn't going to improve your credit score any faster. It's an extra complication you don't need.

The applications by your dad (families! who needs them!) will gradually age away. Time cures all credit file problems if your debts are currently being paid off. Getting on the electoral roll is good. Overtime is a great idea. In a year's time your credit rating is going to be much healthier.