How to obtain credit reports

haukefh

I get mine at equifax - simple and accurate

Henri8

I have recently obtained my report from Equifax, and my old credit cards which I closed and cancelled show as SETTLED. Does this adversely affect my credit scoring?:eek:

Hazzinho

No settled means the cards are closed and paid off. All credit stays on your credit file for 6 years. You need well maintained accounts on you file to show good credit history. Negatives are CCJ's and defaults and IVA's and going bankrupt.

toddler9

i tend to purchase mine for Equifax for £14 when i want to do a check- i.e when i accidentally missed a MBNA payment! Have been told that they are all pretty worthless though and a creditor will have other lending criteria they use beside your credit score...

Dustykitten

Is it true that you have a personal allowance for credit and that this will show on the credit file?

I asked one of mine to increase the limit for me and they said no but could see no reason why other than that I may have too much unused credit on other cards - does that make any sense?

Scarpacci

Dustykitten wrote: »

Is it true that you have a personal allowance for credit and that this will show on the credit file?

I asked one of mine to increase the limit for me and they said no but could see no reason why other than that I may have too much unused credit on other cards - does that make any sense?

It's true that creditors keep an eye on how much credit you have and how much is used or available. The amounts show on your credit report, although a hard limit doesn't.

They don't like people to have too much credit compared to their annual income. The ratio isn't clear and probably varies by lender, but people speak of a 50% ratio.

Dustykitten

Thanks Scarpacci that is very useful. After looking at my limits I want to reduce the credit limit on some cards as I don't need that much and hardly use the cards. I just want to check that this won't go against me in anyway?

lisyloo

I just want to check that this won't go against me in anyway?

It's a trade-off.
If you have too much available credit it might stop you getting more.
If you are using too high a % of your available credit then you look maxed out then that can stop you getting more.
You also want to keep some lines of credit open.

So it's about finding a sensible balance.
If you have too much available credit then either shut some cards down or reduce limits but not so much that it makes you look maxed out and you have nothing available in an emergency.
It's impossible to give black and whilte answers just try to have some balance.

Dustykitten

Thanks - in any one month we usually use between 10-15% of our available credit and always pay off on full in time so I think reducing two a bit could be a good idea.

lisyloo

I think that's low, so you could consider reducing the available credit.
Personally I like to close cards for the following reasons.
1) Each open one is a fraud/theft risk.
2) Closing it down gives you access to "new customer" deals in future.
3) If you aren't actively monitoring all of them and there is fraud/theft there is a possibility you might not notice for a while. Having a low number makes it easier to monitor regularly.

But you can reduce limits as well - whatever suits you best personally.