Improve Credit Score ASAP

gcorking

Hello there- I'm currently in the process of applying for my first mortgage with my girlfriend. We both have good incomes, a great despot and good savings(which i've just found out about from my parents). While her credit file is almost excellent, mine is only fair due to some late repayments on a phone bill and opening a credit account with Argos.

I have phoned Experian and they said the negative points affecting my score are more time matters, i.e the credit account is only 3 months old/virgin media account is only 6 months.

If I was to pay this credit account of £440, how many points could I see my score increase by? It's currently at 731.

Finally, if i can get the 'blemishes' removed from my account, will this improve my score?

Starting to worry a little that I'm going to cost us our dream house. Any advice will be lovely, Cheers!

DCFC79

I'll trump your score of 731 with a pack of hob nobs.

The late payments are a true reflection of your credit history, wouldnt be much point to it all if we could ask for the late payments to be removed from our credit files.

If the house isnt meant to be then it isn't.

Malmo

No one in the UK has a single or central "score". The scores sold by Credit Reference Agencies are marketing features for consumers - they are not seen or used by commercial (e.g. lenders) or public (e.g. councils) organisations. Therefore worrying about points and scores is a waste of time.

Best to have a read of this MSE article for general tips & information about how credit profiling works and how to boost your general credit worthiness.

There are also 3 Credit Reference Agencies in the UK and lenders may report to 1, 2 or all 3 of them depending on their commercial relationships. Obtain copies of your statutory credit reports from all 3 Credit Reference Agencies (Experian, Equifax, Callcredit/Noddle). You need all 3 agencies reports to obtain a full picture of your profiles. It is worth reviewing all 3 reports well ahead of time before meeting a broker you want to work with, to enable you to spot any errors and have them corrected in good time, or any adverse issues such as defaults, CCJs, missed payments, arrears etc that you may not be aware of. Doing this exercise will ensure that the data that lenders use to credit check you is up-to-date, correct & complete. There is no need to sign up for the monthly subscription services - the scores they generate are irrelevant to lenders and not visible to anyone except you and the credit reference agency.

See links below to each agency's statutory report.

Experian Statutory Report

Equifax Statutory Report

Callcredit Statutory Report AKA Noddle

Check that your current, previous and linked addresses are correct, that you're on the electoral register (this is a UK legal requirement anyway), that any financial associations derived from joint credit accounts are correct or have them disassociated if incorrect.

One suggested method to find a broker (as well as using Google), is to follow the steps in this post, which is to use a directory called unbiased.co.uk.

You can also call up London & Country, who are fee-free. However, my view is that the more adverse your credit history and/or complex your circumstances, the more a fee broker earns their money. You get what you pay for, basically.

The_Boss

gcorking wrote: »

Hello there- I'm currently in the process of applying for my first mortgage with my girlfriend. We both have good incomes, a great despot and good savings(which i've just found out about from my parents).

I don't usually comment on typos, but this was just too good to ignore!

Btw - as others have said the score is about as worthless as sand in a desert.

gcorking

I couldn't tell if this was sarcasm or not...

gcorking

Classic late night typo... Worthless as in the score is so bad no one will touch it or worthless as in the banks don't care about experian?

Tixy

Worthless in that a potential lender doesn't see the score from Experian etc.

Worthless in that the Experian etc score doesn't take in to account all of the information that a potential lender will assess.

In terms of a mortgage consider using a mortgage broker who will be best placed to know which lenders are likely to have issue with the negatives on your credit file, and which are still likely to lend to you.

gcorking

Thank you! So hard to convey tone on here.