Creation/Sygma Bank the next "step-up" ?

Surfeit75

I have sub-prime cards with Cap1, Vanquis etc and have done so for about 18 months. Don't ALWAYS pay in full but I have never been late with payments or anything and have managed them well.

Have had a few limit increases with them but don't really want to use it because of the interest rates. I am now looking for the next "step-up" in terms of a decent credit card with a better APR.

There are defaults on my credit file, 2 are settled and 2 aren't. The 2 that aren't settled will be 3 years old in August this year and I have been told that defaults that are 3 years old or over (36 months) are disregarded by lenders? Or not taken so seriously. Is this true?

Considering applying for a Creation/Sygma Bank CC to get me on that next step but would I have more chance in August once the defaults are 36 months old?

Is Creation/Sygma the closest to "prime" that someone with bad credit history is likely to be accepted for?

TheGenerus1

I went from sub prime cards (Capital One, Vanquis, Aqua) to the Creation\Sigma cards as my next step.

I believe they are considered to be some where in between prime and sub prime.

Maybe don't expect to get the lowest APR they advertise (purely based on their assessment of you).

Instead of the 18.9% card that I went for, I was given 24.9% which was still better then Vanquis and Capital One cards I had.

After a couple of years with them, i step up to the prime cards with 6.9% apr's.

[Deleted User]

Unsettled defaults on your file will hamper any efforts to get further credit as lenders will doubt you will want to pay them back either.

I would look to settle them or at the very least, wait for them to drop off completely. But of course you run the risk of CCJs being issued before the 6 years is up.

Surfeit75

@TheGenerus1 - What sort of state was your credit report in when you got the Creation/Sigma card? I think I'd be applying for it at the moment more in hope than expectation.

@zx81 - The 2 unsettled defaults are with a DCA and I have a arrangement with them. I'm just intrigued about this 36 month thing because as from August this year my credit report would have been impeccable for 3 years.

TheGenerus1

While having the sub prime cards (Aqua, Vanquis, Capital One), I still had a couple of CCJs on file. I waited for them to drop off my file (a year left on both CCJ's till they fell off) as well as operating the cards with no hickups for 2 -3 years (green ticks).

Paid them all off (waited about a month till they showed as zero balances on my files and then applied for two creation cards (red one and the Flybe card in the space of a week).

Both applications got accepted.

When the CCJ's fell off, I had clean files with just a sea of greens on all accounts. Luckily I had a Monument credit card which I had since 2002, although closed it was still reporting green status every month.
I think this may have helped me out a bit as this was by far my oldest account spanning over a decade. Without this my oldest account would have been with Vanquis (3 years).

While having the sub prime cards, I also opened Shop Direct catalogue accounts (Littlewoods and Very) as I wanted to show I could handle different types of credit account such as revolving accounts, mail order accounts, communication accounts.

Mail order accounts are fairly lenient on past negative history.
They started me off with £700 credit on each account 3 years ago, now it has risen to £7000 on each (Closed the Littlewoods).
As long as you operate the account well (never order what you can't pay off) you will be seen as being trusted with high credit limits.

Note - I only ever use the catalogue account to take advantage of their By Now Pay Later offers.

Nasqueron

Surfeit75 wrote: »

I have sub-prime cards with Cap1, Vanquis etc and have done so for about 18 months. Don't ALWAYS pay in full but I have never been late with payments or anything and have managed them well.

Have had a few limit increases with them but don't really want to use it because of the interest rates. I am now looking for the next "step-up" in terms of a decent credit card with a better APR.

There are defaults on my credit file, 2 are settled and 2 aren't. The 2 that aren't settled will be 3 years old in August this year and I have been told that defaults that are 3 years old or over (36 months) are disregarded by lenders? Or not taken so seriously. Is this true?

Considering applying for a Creation/Sygma Bank CC to get me on that next step but would I have more chance in August once the defaults are 36 months old?

Is Creation/Sygma the closest to "prime" that someone with bad credit history is likely to be accepted for?

I believe (happy to be corrected) lenders don't see who you have cards with, just that you have cards and how you repay them. If this is right, getting a slightly better "status" card isn't going to make any difference to you unless the % rate is lower which will help if you don't pay off in full.

To be honest just paying the cards off in full every month and not paying bills late will do far more for your long term credit than worrying about the name on the card and if it is sub-prime, middle-prime or prime